AN: Well, this took a while. College classes and the demon that is procrastination do not go hand-in-hand. That said, don't assume I've given up on the fic if I take a few months to put out a new chapter; I want to make sure each chapter is as good as I can make it. Enjoy!
Chapter 7: Panda Power, Part Two
Mei and her friends couldn't believe their eyes; the scream had come from their old friend, panda-enthusiast Stacy Frick. She quivered in fear as the two girls that followed her everywhere – Tammy and Jocelyn – cowered behind her. There was no escape; the three were backed into a wall by a small army of men, all wearing fine black suits and wielding various weapons.
One of the goons brandished an aluminium baseball bat threateningly. "I'm not going to ask again. WHERE'S THE RED PANDA?!"
Another goon, this one wielding a cattle prod, nodded in agreement. "You'd better answer his question. Our boss doesn't like senseless violence."
"Leave us alone!" Stacy held up her arms. As always, she and her friends donned the ears and tails they bought from the 4*Townies during Mei's money-making scheme a month ago; Mei's eyes widened as she made the connection. They're searching for me.
"Yeah!" Her black friend, Tammy, added. "We don't know where Mei is!"
"Heard that before!" The third man cracked his whip. "Now talk!" Behind him, another man readied a pair of brass knuckles while a fifth man merely cracked his wrists.
"OMG, if you wanted some panda merch, all you had to do was ask!" The dark-haired girl, Jocelyn, responded senselessly, before recoiling under the glare of the whip-wielding man.
As the confrontation continued, the 4*Townies shrunk back in fear as they realised the scope of the situation; their friends were in very real danger, way beyond what any of them could have ever imagined. If they didn't do something, one of them could get hurt. Or worse!
Before any of the goons could see them, the five hastily ducked behind a wall to contemplate their options.
Priya spoke first, whispering to make sure the men didn't hear her. "That's… a lot of guys."
"Who the heck are they?" Miriam questioned, fearfully. I thought it'd be a purse thief or something, not… this! "And why are they looking for you, Mei?"
"Mom told me about guys like these. They're called triads." Mei answered, recognising them from the dramas they watched together. "Basically, Chinese gangsters. I dunno what they're the heck they're doing over here, though…"
"G-g-gangsters?" Tyler shivered. "I didn't sign up for this!" He squeaked.
"They look uber tough." Miriam mumbled, now very quiet. Despite the power she felt in her new form, even she felt just unsure about her odds. "But we gotta do something to save Stacy and her posse."
"Maybe we should just call the cops." Priya noted. Despite her usual dreary expression, she too felt just slightly scared. "This is totally out of our wavelength."
"[You kidding me?!]" Abby loudly whispered, one step away from just leaping into the fray right then and there. "You guys have super-mega-strong panda forms and you don't wanna use them?! Let's just beat the crap out of those guys!"
"No way." Mei shut her down, shaking her head. "You guys could get totally hurt! Let's just go ahead with the cop idea. Tyler?"
"Way ahead of ya!" Tyler had his phone out in seconds. However, before he could make the call…
"FINE!" Without warning, the bat-wielding man grabbed Stacy's wrist in a vice grip. "If you won't tell us about the red panda, perhaps you and your friends would like to meet our boss!"
"Let us go!" Stacy screamed, hitting the goon's arm to no avail as he began to drag her to a nearby limo. "HEEEEEEELP!"
The five's eyes widened at that. Immediately, Mei made a hasty decision. Screw it. "I'm going out there. You guys hide somewhere safe and call the cops."
"Wait, you're going out there alone?" Priya raised an eyebrow.
"Fat chance." Miriam snarked. Despite her own fear, there's no way she'd let her BFF go out there alone and get hurt. "No way we're gonna leave you out there."
"C'mon, Mei!" Abby said, brandishing her claws. If her friends were willing, she was too. "Give us a chance to use these uber-cool panda powers for GOOD!"
"Uh, yeah, panda girl." Tyler added, trying to hide his fear. Regardless of his disagreements with Mei, he wasn't gonna leave her to get hurt either. "If these forms are as crazy strong as you say, we might be able to take these guys!"
For a moment, Mei considered accepting their help. But then she flashed back to the Skydome incident where her friends almost got crushed because of her, and she shook her head. "No way, you guys aren't ready yet." As the four raised their hands/paws to object, she went on. "Look, I've had the panda way longer than you guys. I'll be fine."
"Girl, you've only had a panda for a couple of months." Priya questioned.
"Oh, suuuure. I guess you'll be totally fine going up against those crazy guys by yourself!" Tyler muttered, sarcastically.
"Mei…" Miriam spoke, grasping her friend's hand to comfort her. "Give us a chance. We're never not by your side, right?"
"I said NO, Mir!" Mei yelled, eyes red, shocking her fellow pandas into silence. "Now you guys stay here, I'll only take a minute!" Before any of them could respond, she'd already leapt into the alley where Stacy and her friends were.
"YOU WANT THE PANDA?" Mei landed before the goons, forcing them back with the force of her massive body. "YOU'RE GETTING THE PANDA!"
The prod-wielding goon smirked, releasing his hold on Tammy. The rest of the men did the same, leaving the three girls to scurry to safety. "So, you're the mythic red panda we've been searching for…"
"Aw, you came all this way just for me?" Mei cracked, crossing her arms while trying to keep the waver out of her voice. Even knowing how strong she was, she felt just slightly nervous going against so many guys at once. "I'm touched, but you guys shoulda just waited for one of my shows if you wanted to see me that badly."
"That won't be necessary." A goon with brass knuckles growled, cracking his neck. "You're coming with us, Meilin Lee. Our boss has plans for you."
"Nah, I don't think so." Mei shook her head. Whoever this boss guy is, he seems pretty dangerous. "If he wants to see me, he can come find me himself!"
"That wasn't a REQUEST!" Another man yelled, swinging at Mei with his bat.
"WOAH!" Mei hastily shapeshifted into her human form and ducked to dodge the telegraphed attack, before shifting back and knocking him away with her belly.
As the hapless goon clumsily tumbled across the ground, Mei turned to greet the remaining goons. "Okay, that wasn't very nice, but if you guys give up now, I'll go easy on you." Please give up…
The goons looked unsure before one of them spoke up. "Come on, it's just a cuddly panda! We trained for this!"
And with that, the battle was on.
As the goons rushed her, Mei clumsily swung her arms, knocking several goons back. Despite her lack of fighting ability, the panda's strength and resilience allowed her to fight the goons on even ground, just as Sun Yee intended.
As the goons kept getting up, a tiny voice inside advised Mei to use the panda's claws, but she quashed the idea. Never again, not when Tyler could have been… no.
Hearing a crack, Mei hastily leapt out of the way to dodge another goon with a whip. Undaunted, the goon kept whipping at her, forcing her on the defensive; despite the panda's strength, getting jabbed like that would probably hurt.
Finally, as she got backed up against a wall, Mei made a desperate plea to the goons surrounding her. "C-can't we just talk about this?"
"No talk." The goon muttered. "You're coming with us, one way or another."
"No thanks. I choose 'life'." Thinking fast, Mei launched into the air over the goon, using the explosive nature of her transformations to gain height. Before the assailant knew it, he found himself being headbutted into the wall and knocked unconscious.
Another goon punched where Mei was a second later, but a carefully timed dodge allowed her to avoid the worst of it. Although her human form wasn't anywhere near as tough or as strong as her panda form, it was a way smaller target. Indeed, the hapless man couldn't land a single blow on her as she continued to dodge in puffs of pink smoke.
Another puff of smoke obscured the goon's vision before he found himself being picked up and thrown into a trash can.
As Mei flashed a triumphant grin, she suddenly let out a scream as volts of electricity coursed through her body; one of the thugs had managed to take her by surprise and jammed a cattle prod into her back.
Though the pain was relatively minor, before she knew it, Mei was forced to the ground in her human form. Her eyes widened as one of the goons pulled out a metallic collar, and another a strange syringe full of some unknown liquid. Unable to move from the sheer number of men weighing her down, Mei could do nothing but close her eyes as the goons moved closer.
Mir, Ty, Abby, Priya, Mom, Dad, Sun Yee… I'm sorry.
"BOOYAKASHA!"
Miriam suddenly burst into the scene, riding a dumpster like a skateboard, and bowled several of the men away like bowling pins. "And it's a STRIKE!" Triads disposed of, Miriam whacked the collar away with her tail and crushed the syringe before helping her red-headed friend to her feet. "You okay, Mei?"
"That took a lot outta me, but I'll be cool." Mei took a breath before immediately poofing back into her panda form. "Thanks for saving my butt."
"What are friends for?" The two high fived. "So, what now?"
"We do what these things were meant for, duh!" Sharing a grin, Mei and Miriam immediately rushed forwards together, paws bared.
"What the hell?! There's more of them?!" One hapless goon yelled, desperately trying to dodge the green panda's swipes.
"S-shut up and keep fighting!" Another yelled back, sidestepping another blow from the red panda. "I'm getting that promotion if it kills me!"
Another goon tried to sneak up on Mei from behind, grasping the bat his fallen comrade dropped.
"Heads up!" Only for Tyler to grab him. The triad member tried to squirm free, but the giant panda's paws were too strong. Tyler leapt into the air and dunked the man into the dumpster Miriam rode in on.
"Yeah, go Tyler, it's your birthday!" As he began to dance victoriously, Tyler suddenly noticed a bunch of goons surrounding him and raised his arms in the air fearfully. "Uh oh."
While Tyler ran off in fear and Mei chuckled at his sudden cowardice, a sniper readied a tranquilizer gun to fire at her from afar.
"Boo."
A still-human Priya waved her hands in front of the man as if to cast a magic spell. When he realised she wasn't actually a panda, he raised his gun…
…only for her to immediately panda out – that bout of fear having been enough to finally let her go full-panda - and send him flying with a single swipe. She then crushed the tiny pistol to pieces with her foot.
"And you've just been banished." She murmured, kicking a trash can at some goons to send them flying. Thanks, freaky fight adrenaline.
Several of the men had the sense to look a bit scared now. However, as they tried to regroup, they found themselves running face first into a big, pink, furry wall.
"[FEAR THE FLUFF, FOOLS]!" Abby yelled in Korean, grabbing one of the men by the ankles and spinning around, knocking more goons away with the force of the goon's body. With a maniacal grin and a ferocious roar, she leapt into a mass of goons and batted them away like flies.
Quickly putting on brass knuckles, one of the men nailed her in the jaw…
Only for her to merely spit out a tooth and headbutt him.
In the chaos of the battle, Mei easily dodged every strike the goons tried to land on her through a combination of natural agility and carefully timed shapeshifting before knocking them out with her transformation-induced momentum.
Her friends, being less skilled than her, stayed in their panda forms and simply struck down whoever tried attacking them with pure strength; what few attacks the men did land were easily shrugged off.
Ultimately, despite the triads' greater numbers and years of fighting experience, they were no match for the 4*Townies' brute strength and power and were forced to retreat in short order.
"It's no use!" One goon yelled, narrowly dodging a butt bash from Miriam. "There's too many of them!"
"Retreat!" A man with a whip gestured for the men who weren't knocked out to follow him through an alleyway. "You will not escape our grasp, Meilin. Nor will your friends." He murmured, disappearing into the darkness.
"Yeah, you posers better run!" Mei screamed, panting. She knew she could probably catch up, but all the flailing and dodging took a lot out of her; Mei had used the panda for countless physical activities before, but a super intense fight like this? Totally exhausting.
And judging from her friends' slumped postures and heavy breathing, they were just as weary – possibly even more so, considering they didn't have time to get used to their pandas like she did. She turned to her friends, now exhausted and a bit embarrassed. "You guys okay?"
"Yeah." Tyler mumbled, his heart racing. It felt nice not being attacked by the panda for a change. "That was super scary. Fun. But scary."
Priya hummed in agreement. "I thought we were totally dead for sure."
"That was… awesome…" Abby weakly raised her arms, having used up all her energy in the battle.
"Heh, you're telling me." Miriam agreed. She hadn't felt that kind of adrenaline since that skateboarding championship a while back (which she won, naturally). "That was… crazy."
Mei awkwardly laughed before trailing off. "I'm sorry."
"What for, Mei?" Miriam questioned, slightly confused.
"What for?! I blew you guys off when you tried to help me. I yelled at all of you, and I screwed up. If you guys hadn't stepped in, then…" She trailed off again, now on the verge of tears, only to immediately get enveloped in a massive furry embrace by Miriam, Tyler, Priya, and Abby.
"Chill, girlfriend! You were just trying to protect us." Abby spoke quietly, a rarity for her.
"You gotta have more faith in yourself, Mei." Priya assured. "You taught us how to use these things like a champ."
"You shoulda trusted us, idiot." Tyler blushed. "You're a real pain in the butt, you know that?"
"We're 4*Townies, Mei. 4*Town never abandons one of their own, so we ain't abandoning you either." Miriam flashed a brace-filled grin. "So just trust us."
Mei returned her grin with one of her own. "You got it, Mir! We're 4*Townies for life! And we all know what that means…"
Miriam took the cue. "You're never not on my mind…"
Mei followed it up. "Oh my…"
"Oh my!" Abby and Priya joined in.
Even Tyler found himself joining in too. "I'll never not be your ride, or die…"
"ALL RIGHT!" The besties posed in panda form. The sheer absurdity of five giant pandas singing 4*Town music was enough to get them all laughing, and all was forgiven in short order.
Mei frowned, having just remembered why they were out there to begin with. "Crap! Did Stacy and her posse get out-"
Three obnoxiously high-pitched squeals interrupted her musings. Speak of the devil.
Mei and her friends turned to see Stacy, Tammy and Jocelyn racing towards them, stars in their eyes. Before they knew it, Miriam, Priya, and Abby found themselves the target of several bone-crushing hugs as if they were giant plush toys, much to Mei's amusement. Tyler quietly hid behind her, trying to look as inconspicuous as a giant blue panda could.
"Our heroes…" Stacy moaned into Miriam's fur. Miriam happily returned her hug.
"You all look so cuuuuuuute!" Jocelyn squealed, looking like she was one step away from fainting. Abby returned her hug with a super strong one of her own.
"Thanks for saving our butts, freaky adorable magic pandas…" Tammy trailed off. Priya glanced around, unsure of what to do, before ultimately accepting her hug.
"No problem." Mei grinned. Her friends were adapting to the panda-hugging-thing like pros. "But what the heck was with those guys?"
"Oh, Mei!" Stacy overdramatically yelled, almost swooning if not for Miriam's grip. "It was horrible!"
"Basically, we were just going about, doing our usual girl stuff, when I saw these freaks in suits following us! So, we ducked into this alley to get away, but more of them showed up and surrounded us!" Tammy spoke, unnerved.
"They wanted our sweet merch!" Jocelyn wailed. The besties raised a collective brow, so she continued. "At least, I think they did, they were going on and on about wanting to see the panda. They were gonna kidnap us!"
"It's okay, girls. You're totally safe under our watchful paws." Miriam assured.
Sensing that they were close to tears again, Mei hastily thought up a solution. "Hey, girls!" Stacy, Tammy and Jocelyn all looked to her, eyes wobbling. "I think Tyler," she moved out of the way, "could do with a hug too…"
"H-hey! Wait a sec, I didn't-!" Tyler couldn't get a word out before he found himself surrounded, the three girls hugging him just as hard as they did the rest of Mei's friends. All he could do was helplessly glare at Mei, who merely whistled innocently as her friends chuckled.
"Who'd have thought that Tyler of people would be a ladies' man?" Priya deadpanned.
"Yeah, Ty! You got that sweet animal magnetism!" Abby added!
Despite his embarrassment, Tyler grinned, bravado on full display yet again. "Admit it, you girls totally love me. Hotter than Robaire, right?"
Everyone broke into laughter at that. Mei lightly jabbed the blue panda's shoulder, now blushing herself. "Not on your life, basketball brain."
More laughter. Eventually, after everything had calmed down, Tammy popped the question. "So, why the heck are you guys pandas?"
"And can we be pandas too?" Stacy added. "I'd, like, totally sell my patch to be a cute, fluffy panda like you guys!"
"Pleeeeeease?" Jocelyn whined.
"Oh yeah, basically Mei wish-" Abby started, only to be hastily shushed by Mei. The redhead really, really wanted to let Abby speak, but she promised her mom she wouldn't tell anyone about the whole "giving others pandas" thing.
"What Abby means to say is that… uh…" Mei started, but paused, unsure of how to proceed. She'd lied to her mom plenty in the past, but she'd been trying to stop lying in general. Plus, as her nose twitched and she awkwardly stumbled over her words, she kind of sucked at the whole lying thing to begin with.
Thankfully, Miriam picked up the slack, with a knowing wink to Mei. "We all kinda just woke up this way. I dunno how it happened, sorry."
"Yeah, total mystery." Priya nodded.
"Totally." Tyler rolled his eyes.
"Awww…" Stacy and her posse groaned, disappointed. Abby slumped; she too was disappointed that she couldn't share her fluffiness with them.
An ear-piercing scream interrupted them. Whipping around, the 4*Townies were greeted with a most terrifying sight.
An exhausted Ming stood panting, her eye twitching as she took in the scene in front of her: five slightly bruised pandas, property damage everywhere and… injured men?! Jin followed a few seconds later, just as exhausted as his wife.
"MEI-MEI?! WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?" Ming strode forward, scrunching up her face, trying to regain control of her emotions while carefully stepping over one of the men's prone bodies. "Did you and your friends… attack these men?!" For a moment, she feared the absolute worst: that her daughter's friends had lost control the same way she had.
"W-what?! No, mom!" Mei indignantly responded, stepping forward as her friends hid behind her. As Ming raised an eyebrow, Mei hurried to clarify, throwing her hands up in defense. "I mean, yeah, okay, we kinda sorta did, but there's a totally good explanation, I swear!"
"Oh, this was a mistake, I never should have left them alone, they could never-" Ming ignored them, mumbling to herself, about one step away from another nervous breakdown. However, as Jin put his hand on her shoulder and shook his head, she immediately took a breath to calm down.
Now focused again, Ming saw those girls from school – Stacy, Tammy, and Jocelyn, was it? – clinging to the Nyugen-Baker boy's fur.
She massaged her temples. This situation was clearly different from whatever happened during Tyler's party. "Very well. I shall give you all a chance to explain yourselves."
Before Mei or her friends could respond, the alley was surrounded by police officers from every which way.
"Crud." Tyler mumbled.
"[Why do the cops always come after the bad guys escape?!]" Abby complained.
"So, let me get this straight…" Ming muttered as the police hauled in the few triad members who hadn't escaped the 4*Townies' assault. A nearby security camera had caught the entire incident, and so the 4*Townies were let off the hook for the time being.
Mei and her friends had all reverted to their human forms – the intensity of the fight having finally taken its toll – and now stood before Ming, nervously awaiting her judgement. Despite having took down a horde of triad members intent on hurting them, Ming would always be the number one scariest thing in the world, bar none.
"You heard a scream while you were in the park and went to investigate."
"Yup." Priya nodded.
"Then, after running for approximately one mile, you found the girls being harassed by men in suits?"
"Yeah, pretty much." Miriam noted.
"But how in the world did you know they were there?"
"I dunno." Tyler shrugged. "It's like something told us to go there."
"Like some freaky PANDA SENSE!" Abby added.
"And you decided, rather than simply calling the police, that you'd just run in and attack them?"
"We didn't have a choice, mom…" Mei trailed off. "Tyler did call the cops and stuff," Tyler nodded, "but we didn't know what the heck those guys were gonna do with Stacy and her posse."
"It's true, Mrs. Lee." Tammy piped in, with Stacy and Jocelyn nodding in response. "They were gonna drag us into their limo and take us to their boss. It was so freaky!"
Ming rubbed her temples again. She was going to have a panda-sized migraine by the end of this month, she swore. "Mei-Mei, you and your friends could have gotten hurt! You said you were going to be careful!" She turned to address Mei's friends, particularly Miriam. "Did any of you force her to do this?!"
"What, no, Mrs. Lee!" Miriam interjected, trying to keep her voice level against Ming's glare. "She totally wanted us to stay behind while she fought those creeps by herself."
"Yeah, she wanted to protect us, Mrs. L!" Tyler responded. "Not that I needed her protection, but still…"
"TRUTH!" Abby yelled, Priya agreeing with a nod.
"They're right, mom!" Mei flashed an exhausted grin. "On my honour as a totally awesome teacher, there's no way I'd let my BFFs get hurt!"
"But why in the world would you endanger yourself?" Try as she might, Ming couldn't comprehend why her daughter would risk her life to save anyone with nothing to gain from it.
Mei shrugged. "It just felt like the right thing to do." Ming raised her brow again. "I mean, I was super scared, but I couldn't just let those guys hurt them, they're my friends! And if Sun Yee gave me and my BFFs these awesome panda powers, why not do something good with them?"
"I… see…" Ming muttered. Her thoughts were a tornado of conflict. One side of her sorely wanted to punish her little Mei-Mei for endangering herself and her friends. Any of them could have been hurt or even killed! And all because she wanted to use her panda to help someone.
But another side of her was proud of her daughter for standing up for what she believed in. For risking herself to help someone who needed it. Like… like…
…like Sun Yee.
What would Sun Yee have wanted?
"Are we in trouble, mom?" Mei quietly asked, sensing the conflict on her mother's face.
In response, Ming glanced at Jin, who simply shrugged. "They did save those girls." And with that, Ming knew she couldn't punish her daughter for doing what Mei thought was the right thing. Instead, she enveloped Mei in a hug, which she happily returned.
"No, Mei-Mei, you're not in trouble." Ming assured. "Just promise me you won't do anything so reckless again. That goes for the rest of you, too."
"I promise." Mei smiled, grateful she wasn't in trouble. "Thanks, mom!"
"We promise, Mrs. Lee." Her friends said in unison, not wanting to push their chances any further. "Don't have to tell me twice, Mrs. L." Tyler added.
"Good girls. And Tyler." Ming smiled. releasing her daughter. "Now, I'll be right back after I have a word with the police."
"Uh, that won't be necess-" Mei tried to interject, knowing where her mom was going. Her friends cringed behind her, having been the recipient of her wrath before. Even Stacy and her posse looked a bit nervous, having run into her a couple times in the school halls during the 4*Townies' panda racket.
"Nonsense. This will only take a minute." Ming strode over to a group of cops – to Mei's dismay and Tyler's amusement – no doubt about to launch into another tirade about how they absolutely had to "apprehend the evil men who dared to harm her precious little Mei-Mei".
Jin hung back for a second, smiling. "You were very brave, Mei. Your friends, too." And with that, he left to join his wife before she did anything rash.
Once they were gone, the 4*Townies sighed in relief. That went well.
After all the chaos, the sun began to set. Ming had dragged Mei home to make sure she wasn't hurt (despite the latter's insistence on being fine; the panda protected its users even when they weren't in their panda forms). The remaining 4*Townies had elected to return home and do more "cool panda stuff" tomorrow. They had all collectively agreed to keep quiet about their epic battle, knowing full-well their parents would totally freak if they found out.
Tyler stood outside his front door, hesitant to enter. He nervously felt his blue hair and instantly regretted not wearing his favourite grey hoodie that day. How the heck am I gonna explain THIS to dad?! Urgh, stupid Mei!
Still, he couldn't stay out forever. It was getting pretty chilly, and his bed was indoors. Gotta be a man. With no better option, he opened the door…
…and was immediately wrapped up in a hug by his dad. "Son, you're back!"
"H-hey, dad." Panda ears poofed out from his head. Crud.
Tyler's dad gasped, obviously taken aback. "So Mrs. Lee wasn't joking when she called…" Despite this, he simply hugged his son tighter. "Don't worry, champ, we'll fix this somehow. It was that Meilin girl's fault, wasn't it?"
"Uh… kinda, but dad-" Tyler responded, only to be cut off.
"I knew it! That thing is bad news, I just knew it. I aughta sue those Lees for everything they have!" The man ranted. "First that freak mauls you, then her mom turns into an even bigger furry monster and almost stomps on you, and now this?!"
Regardless, Tyler felt the need to offer a rebuttal. "Look, dad. It's cool." He assured, trying to play it cool even as a tail sprouted from his butt. "Mei taught me how to… uh, not panda out. Mostly."
"Mostly?!" Regardless, his father continued ranting out of sheer disbelief with the situation. "How could she do this?! How can you play in the big leagues when you keep turning into a furry abomination?!"
Crud. Tyler could only groan, having never considered that until now. Would they even let pandas play basketball?! Is that a thing?
Tired of his dad's ranting and wanting this conversation to just be done with already, Tyler threw up his paws. "Look, there's a red moon next month. When it comes, Mei and her family'll just do her freaky panda ritual and I'll be me again!"
"And you're absolutely sure they can fix this, kiddo?"
"Probably." Tyler shrugged. The mystical side of Mei's family traditions eluded him, but he got the gist of it well enough.
"I see." Tyler's dad muttered, not entirely convinced. "Well, just to be safe, I want you to stay far, far away from that Meilin girl until then. She's probably infected you somehow."
"B-but, dad…"
"No buts, son. I don't want you anywhere near that… monster." The man said, sternly. "Look, this is for your own good. Don't you want to be normal again?"
His son had no response to that, the past couple days ringing fresh in his mind. The embarrassment of being cute and fluffy, the strength he felt as a panda, the fear for his life as he fought the Black Fang, the fun he had hanging out with Mei and the besties…
For once in his life, Tyler didn't know what he wanted. Without a word, the boy broke free from his father's hug and walked upstairs to his room, closing the door behind him.
"It's okay, champ!" Tyler's dad shouted up, deciding to leave his son be for now. "We'll get through this together!"
Tyler ignored him and laid on his (now very uneven) bed. His bedroom was exactly how it was – sports trophies lining the walls, basketballs on the floor and games for pretty much every console under the sun on his shelves – when he left yesterday, much to his relief. Too exhausted to ponder the tough, confusing choices he now had ahead of him, Tyler pulled out his high-end MP3 player and let the sweet, soothing tones of 4*Town (no, he didn't have a crush on any of them – especially not Aaron Z., shut up) fill his mind.
Still, as he watched the sun set outside, he may have felt just slightly lonely. Subconsciously, he grasped his bushy blue tail, feeling the fuzz under his fingernails.
Darn it, dork-narc, why'd you have to make everything so complicated with your freaky panda thing?!
"No. Now get that horrible dye out of your hair this instant, Priyanka!"
Priya could only sigh at that. Her efforts to convince her parents to accept her newfound pandahood were not going as planned. "It's not dye, mom. This is what the panda… thing does."
"Your mother's right, Priya." Her father added. "Those spirits are dangerous. There's no place for one in this family."
"But I've got total control over it. Watch." Priya closed her eyes and tried to summon her ears and tail as Mei did, but to no avail.
"Well?"
"Just… a… sec…" No matter how much Priya tried, she couldn't panda out. Even the thought of Megan didn't dredge anything from her dark heart that time. Darn. Must be all panda-ed out.
Her dad shook his head. "My answer is still no, Priya. You may not keep this… thing come the 'red moon'." After a moment of thought, he added: "And I think you should stop hanging around that Meilin girl altogether."
"Wait, what?" Priya answered, confused.
"She has clearly mutated you in some way." Her mother answered, as if it was obvious. "It would be best if you stayed away from her until this whole mess is sorted out."
"Nah, I don't really feel like it." Priya shot back, the panda within her burning at the suggestion.
"What did you say, young lady?"
"I said: 'Nah, I don't really feel like it.'" Priya groaned. "You lame-os never let me do anything cool." Which was true; they'd never really approved of a lot of the stuff she wanted to do. She couldn't even wear black makeup, never mind black clothing, and they'd probably throw a fit if they ever found out about her thing with Megan.
"LAME-OS?!" Her parents looked offended at that. Her mom stood up and pointed to the hall. "Go to your room, young lady!"
"Fine." Ignoring her parents' shocked looks, she left for her bedroom. Shoulda seen that coming. Years of reading Nightfall and other romance novels taught her that there was always someone who irrationally feared the hot misunderstood monster.
"[WHAT DO YOU MEAN I CAN'T KEEP IT?!]"
Abby's mom sat on the couch, unfazed by her daughter's outburst. "You're clumsy and destructive even without that thing, and right when you got it, you destroyed your room and caused untold property damage!"
"Yeah, and it was awesome!" Abby shot back, proud.
"And you're leaving fur everywhere."
"You work in a saloon, mom! You're fine with hair but not panda fur?!"
"Human hair doesn't stink up the house!" The older woman shot back. "And that's not the point, Abigail. Can you even control that dreadful thing?"
"[Sure, watch this]!" Abby closed her eyes and went to her happy place, just as Mei taught her. Indeed, she actually poofed back to normal…
…only to then panda out less than a second later, still too excited to stay normal. "Ta-da!"
Abby's mom was not impressed. "Heavens, this is worse than the time your cousin Mary went missing for a day and came back obsessed with this blue 'kitty'…"
"KITTY!" As if on cue, a small girl wearing a pink shirt and pigtails – no older than three – came running into the living room.
Abby's mom screamed in horror, futilely holding out her hand as if to stop the little girl in her tracks. "Mary, no! Get away from that… that thing!"
Undaunted, Mary had latched onto Abby's tail, ignoring her aunt's pleas. Fighting her instinct to squee – love for fluff clearly ran in the family – Abby merely chucked and gently rubbed her younger cousin on the head with her paw. "At least someone appreciates my totes awesome gift." Her mom could only facepalm at that.
Miriam lounged on her bed, munching on a slice of pepperoni pizza. Her dad had been shocked – unsurprisingly – about the whole panda thing, but a cursory poof of her ears and tail and a promise of learning to control it was enough to make him say he'd think about maybe letting her keep it if she wanted.
Of course, it probably helped that she'd left out the whole 'fighting freaky guys' thing. Some things were better left unsaid. The heck was with those guys anyways?
As she ate, Miriam glanced at the splintered remains of her bedside table and thought about everything that had happened over the past couple of days. It still felt so… weird, being able to turn into a giant green ball of cuteness just by thinking about it. Even now, Mei continued to surprise her in new, weird ways.
The green-haired teen smiled upon thinking of her BFF. Since kindergarten, they'd been besties, always pushing each other to live life to the fullest. Yet even as Priya, Abby and Tyler entered the picture, their bond never wavered, and only grew stronger.
She meant it when she said she was proud. Mei had come so far these past few months, and really became someone who wasn't afraid to be… well, her, and do what she thought was right.
Sure, Miriam never actually asked to become a giant fuzzball, but she couldn't fault her BFF for wanting her to give it a shot. And sure, trying to fight those freaky guys in suits by herself was kind of dumb, but it was so brave, braver than Miriam could have ever expected. So… selfless, so… Mei.
Poof!
Miriam blushed, realizing she'd panda-ed out again. Mei always brought that out. Rather than try to shift back, Miriam lay on her bed, simply enjoying the warmth the thought of her BFF brought. Why the heck would Mei's relatives wanna get rid of this thing?
Sure, the emotional control thing sounds kind of tricky, but I'm Miriam Wexler Mendelsohn! I'm totally chill.
Well, 'sept for the whole 'panda-ing out around your crush' thing. The thought of going through school with someone who probably didn't like her the same way was kinda scary. Not 'fighting crazy armed guys who want to hurt you' scary, but pretty close. Urgh, why can't I just be the kind of girl who ONLY likes dudes?
As Mei finished off her homework for the night (no sexy doodles, she'd learned to save those for the super-secret notebook under her bed) while listening to 4*Town music, she too mentally went over the insane couple of days she and her besties had.
She was so happy her friends got to experience the joys of being a panda with her. Sure, it wasn't a complete picnic, but they'd adapted super well, no doubt because of her totally awesome teaching skills. They'd be flying in no time!
Mei's mind was already racing with new ideas. There was so much she could still teach about the arts of pandaology before the red moon came! Climbing buildings, dancing, running across the rooftops, taking awesome selfies, the list went on.
The budding little entrepreneur inside her thought of all the panda merch they could sell. Sure, the panda craze at school had died down by now, but add four more adorable pandas to the mix and they'd be swimming in cash again!
As she contemplated her options, something Stacy's posse said stuck with her.
"Our heroes…"
Fighting those goons was totally scary, but she and her besties pulled it off as a team, and in STYLE! She felt so alive, and proud of her BFFs! And Stacy and her friends looked so happy to be saved. Like they were furry panda superheroes…
…like Sun Yee, who used her own panda to protect the innocent. Maybe they could do the same?
Wait, darn. Mom'd never approve. She already totally freaked out when she found us in that alley.
But Sun Yee was always about protecting others. Would she be cool with this?
And the heck's with those creepy goons saying they'd be back?!
She turned to the other occupant in her room. "What'd you think, Robaire the Third?"
The Tamagotchi merely beeped impatiently.
"Oh, crud! I totally forgot to feed you during all the training." Quickly mashing the button to feed her new friend – the successor to Robaire Jr., who was now adorning her mom's neck – Mei smiled in relief as the digital pet ate its food. "You must've been starving! Sorry, lil' guy."
Sensing she wasn't going to get anything more out of her pet, Mei resumed her homework, but not before quickly jotting all of her ideas away in her notebook. Such was the life of a red panda.
"Sir!" One of the goons burst in, looking rather beaten and dishevelled.
"This better be good." Mr. Blacktooth growled from his office chair, taking a hit from his cigar.
"We encountered the red panda, sir." The man choked, trying to ignore the smoke filling the room. "Unfortunately, we were unable to capture her."
The boss sighed. "And why not?"
"Well, we almost had her collared and sedated, but some unexpected… interference came in the form of other pandas of different colors."
"As I thought. They're connected." Blacktooth contemplated. "And what of my men?"
"We tried to fight the pandas off, but they were too strong and decimated our forces. Several of the men were knocked out and have been taken into police custody."
Blacktooth only growled further. As the heavyset Chinese man got up from his chair, his hapless subordinate abruptly felt a hand around his neck, lifting him into the air. "Fool. Even as a cub, just one panda is already enough to take on armies. Five is practically asking for defeat."
"What do we do… sir?" The man choked, gasping for air.
"Sweep the area. Resume both the search and the Black Fang's usual operations. If the red panda… Meilin… and her associates are around, then the temple must be close." Orders given, Mr. Blacktooth dropped his subordinate to the ground with a thud and took another puff from his cigar.
"Yes, sir. And if we encounter the pandas again?" The man mumbled as air (and smoke) began to fill his lungs again. His inquiry was answered when Blacktooth, with a ferocious, black-fanged grin, pulled out a talisman and lit up the room with an ominous green glow.
"These should give you fools a fighting chance. Those from the mainland say they ward off… spirits."
AN: Next chapter: Mei and her friends brave the concrete jungle that is SCHOOL! Things were already complex before, but with more pandas thrown into the mix, things can only get weirder...
Also, I threw in a nod to the overarching Pixarverse (expect a few more as the fic goes on). Mary, Abby's cousin, is actually Boo from Monsters Inc. I figured it'd be a neat nod to that old fan theory about Abby actually being Boo, due to their similar appearances and love for fluffy things.