14

Ashley and John watched the green and red mask floating around each other, their voices loud and ringing. Straining their ears, they heard what they were arguing about, although John was not comfortable eavesdropping on a private conversation.

"How much longer will you continue with this miserable life, Colvo? For heaven's sake, it has been a year since the stupid cat died…" raged the red mask, only to be interrupted. John and Ashley looked at each other, their eyes widening as they realized that the green mask was none other than Colvo, the administrator they were looking for.

"Don't you dare say anything about my beloved, you villain! I know it was you who took my poor fur ball away from me. Do you deny it?" asked the green mask, its voice brimming with anger and emotion. John noticed that as Colvo floated in the air, the leaves on the ground blew away as if enormous wings were beating above the ground.

"And what good has the elimination of the cat done?" said the red mask, "you are even more unproductive than before! I did what had to be done to get you to focus on work, Colvo. That pestilential pet of yours was nothing but a distraction from the important things in life!"

"That pet was my family!" screamed Colvo, on the verge of tears. He was clearly distressed, and John noticed that all the animals in the clearing were getting worked up because of his distress. The cats and rabbits stopped to look at the two masks in the air, as did the squirrels.

"For heaven's sake, Colvo! Use your brains; what good are senseless, brainless animals that serve no purpose? Of what use is a cat that doesn't help in any way to earn points? But rather, what does one do with a pet that is nothing but a distraction from earning points?" questioned the red mask.

"You have no soul, you foul creature! There are more important things in life than just points. Every one of these creatures," John assumed that Colvo was talking about the other animals, "serve a purpose in the scheme of things. Your materialistic perspective is just too narrow to see it!"

Colvo's last comment had clearly angered the other administrator. The red mask expanded and swelled. It bulged with lines of anger appearing into it. The grass beneath it began to experience more tremendous pressure as if something heavy was pressing the soil inward. The mask stretched outwards and rose into the air as if the administrator's invisible parts were bulging. John imagined that if the administrator's body were visible, it would have been a behemoth monster, overbearing and hulking. In the flash of an eye, an enormous crashing sound rent the air. It was as if there had been a violent collision. Colvo was flung into the air as if struck by a massive fist. The green mask soared into the air and fluttered in an unstable way before hitting one of the trees (this confirmed John's hunch that there were invisible wings attached to the administrator's body). Colvo let out a cry of enormous pain.

John's entire body was shaking as he saw the mayhem below. The massive red mask bashed and rammed the invisible car-like hands into the ground. Craters appeared wherever there was contact, but the green mask was better prepared now. Colvo zoomed in and out of the trees, avoiding the hammering from the red mask. All the animals surrounded Colvo as if they were trying to protect him in some way. John held his breath as he watched all of this, his heart pumping faster and faster in his chest. Ashley was surveying the wreckage with a kind of excitement in her purple eyes.

Then, another mighty crash echoed in the air as the red mask's blows hit Colvo. All the animals cried out at this tremendous impact as the green mask was thrown many feet before it landed on the ground with a thud. Then, something strange and blood-curdling happened. John smelled a very foul stench. He immediately knew what it was…blood.

The air was filled with a certain aura that could not come from anything other than blood. John's stomach churned upon smelling the horrible stench. His entire body shivered with disgust, and he felt like throwing up. He was sure that if the blood was visible, then the whole clearing would have been bathed in red. Unable to control themselves, the animals began to take action to protect Colvo. They started circling the red mask, hissing at it. Caught by the distracting net, the red mask began targeting the animals.

John had had enough. He could no longer bear to be a silent spectator of all this violence. Climbing down from the tree, John headed towards the red mask to capture its attention and protect the innocent animals from harm. Ashley screamed for him to come back, but he turned a deaf ear at her. John shouted at the red mask, calling it a coward and an evil monster. Provoked, the red mask began targeting John with fists that he could not see.

John jumped and skipped around, out of instinct, to avoid getting hit. He succeeded for a while before something horrible happened. One of the strikes caught a rabbit, squishing it into a bloody mass of pulp.

Shocked, John was rooted to the spot. His mind numb and blank. This pause was enough for the evil red mask to land its hit on John. The blow struck him on the shoulder, making him stagger onto the ground as if he was run over by a car. Suddenly, everything went hazy as the force of the impact knocked all wind out of him. Clutching his right arm, John realized that the bone had shattered. Excruciating pain shot throughout his body, bringing tears of pain in his eyes.

Ashley could not stay away anymore. She, too, jumped down from the tree and ran towards John, with her eyes locked on the raging red mask. John thought that he was sure to lose his life at any moment now. But then, something extraordinary happened. Colvo, the depressed administrator, was back in the air. He shouted something, which made a portal appear out of thin air. It was like space had been torn to reveal another world…dark and gloomy. This portal sucked in the red mask and closed as if the opening was being stitched back. A great wave of relief washed over John, who was barely hanging on to consciousness. He had an explosion of questions in his mind.

What was the dead cat the administrators had been arguing about?

How had Colvo produced that portal in the air?

What was going to happen to his arms now? Who would fix it, and how?

He observed one last thing before passing out. Colvo was talking in a strange language that the animals, apparently, listened to closely. John knew this because they started to calm down.