So I watched Turning Red the other day, and it was a great movie. This fanfiction explores what if the panda gets stronger even after Mei keeps it, and what if stronger meant you literally couldn't change out of it.

Enjoy!

Jokia Text Transcript, 11:00 AM

Mei: Hey! There's this new pizza place down the block from my house, want to go for lunch?

Miriam: Of course! You know I love pizza!

Abby: New pizza place? Count me in!

Tyler: I'll go, but isn't it dangerous? You know, with you keeping the panda?

Mei: Don't you worry, I got this in da bag. Priya, you on?

Priya: I just got on my phone a few seconds ago, thank you for asking. I will go, too.

Mei: Nice! Let's meet by the Daisy Mart, then we'll figure out what to do.

Mei raced down the hallway from her bedroom, a smile on her face as she swung around the corner. "Meimei, what's gotten into you?" Ming asked.

"I'm going to meet my friends at the Daisy Mart to go to that new pizza place!"

"Be back by dinner, okay?"

"Got it!" As she ran out the exit to her house, her mother smiled. That girl's smile is so contagious.

Five minutes later, she arrived at the Daisy Mart, only a few blocks from home. Ever since she had told her mother her true feelings, Ming left her alone most of the time. She wasn't happy she went to the Daisy Mart, but she was cool about it. She also wasn't happy she kept her panda, but Ming respected her decisions now, so she could go to the Daisy Mart.

"Hey fam!" Miriam yelled from afar, joined by Priya and Abby. "Took ya long enough!"

"Ha, I know. I kind of wish I could say that my mother kept me up…" she said awkwardly. "It was just me sleeping late." She rubbed the back of her neck.

"Yeah, I feel you," Priya said in her usual bored tone, although the look in her eyes was one of laughter.

"By any chance, where's Tyler?" Mei asked.

"I dunno," Abby spoke up. "He should hopefully be arriving soon?"

At that moment, a black car pulled up, almost on cue. Tyler stepped out of the passenger side, wearing his signature purple jersey. He turned back for a second. "No, mom, I'm fine. I'll take it from here, goodbye!" he pleaded desperately.

"Hey, Tyler!" Miriam shouted as his mother drove away.

"Sorry, guys, traffic was HORRIBLE. Wait, so how do we get to the pizzeria?"

Mei raised her hand with a goofy grin on her face. "Me!"

"Oh no." Tyler took a step back. "Oh no, no, no. We're not going on your back, are we?"

Mei turned into the red panda and stood on all fours, and the girls all got onto her back. "Get on!" she prompted, and Tyler hesitantly got on.

"Hang on tight, I'm going fast!" she told them.

"Wait wha-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Tyler screamed as she suddenly took off, dashing through the streets of Toronto. "MY HAT!"

"Do you really think we care about your hat?!" Miriam yelled at him, also a bit shocked, even though they had been doing this for a while now.

"Okay, sorry!" he answered.

Mei zipped through the streets, passing cars full of people who were used to the red panda. Occasionally, she would pass tourists, who widened their eyes at the huge red panda with four kids riding on its back, but none of the five ever noticed that. Finally, they arrived at the Pizzemporium.

"I'm so excited. I've heard they have such good food!" Abby said while punching her fist in the air.

"Yes. I've done a little research and this place has a 4.6 star review average. It should be really good food," Priya told the group.

The five friends walked inside the building to order some pizza. Tyler got the bacon and pepperoni pizza, which was a classic. Priya got the plain cheese, and Miriam got the plain pepperoni. Abby got their dessert pizza, which had a crepe for the dough, a chocolate spread for the pizza sauce, and M&Ms for toppings. She also got some frosting on it. Finally, Mei got a double bacon, double sausage, and double pepperoni pizza, to "feed herself and her panda."

They sat down at a table, in one of the bigger booths due to their party size, and caught up on each other's activities during the summer break so far. Mei had just been "hanging around the temple," serving people there to learn about the Lees' culture. Abby had gone to 3 bounce houses (despite there only being 1 week since school ended). Miriam had been going to the skate park frequently, and Priya had set up a book club for people in Toronto like her. (Her mom had to supervise as a chaperone.) Tyler had been watching a lot of sports, and playing them himself. He said he was learning lacrosse, and he had gone to soccer and football twice in the past week. Finally, they finished their pizzas and left, after a scare about if they had enough money because everyone but Priya forgot their wallets ("I knew this would happen," she said with a faint smirk).

"OH. MY. GOD. THAT WAS SO GOOD!" Abby yelled out to the world.

"I know, right?" Miriam told them. "Hey, Mei, can you feel the panda? How is it feeling?" she joked, not expecting an answer.

"Feeling… satisfied." Mei told her with a grin.

Tyler was noticeably quiet, so Mei asked, "Hey, Tyler, what's up?"

"N-Nothing, I'm just surprised you guys let me be your friend after… what I did…"

"It's fine! We don't have any hard feelings towards you anymore," Miriam spoke up.

Suddenly, Mei's head diverted to look down an alley, where a maybe 30-year-old man was getting harassed by some teenagers. She was obviously going to try to stop them. "Oh no, Mei. Don't do this," Tyler whispered.

"I'm doing it," she growled in response. And suddenly, she shifted into the panda. With a loud roar and a facepalm from Priya, she charged into the alley, and scared off the teenagers.

"Who… What… How…" the man babbled in utter confusion.

"My name is Meilin Lee, and I'm the daughter of Ming Lee, the caretaker of the temple down Panda Avenue, our nickname for our street. It's a long story about the panda thing, but all you should know is that I've saved you."

"Thank you… Meilin," he told the red panda. "Those kids were really bothering me badly."

They both left the alley, Mei to her friends, the man to some undisclosed place.

"Wasn't that so cool? How I just scared them away with a single roar? I love the panda!"

"Yeah, that's cool and all, but can you turn back to human?" Tyler said a bit impatiently.

"What, are you scared?" Mei did what she always did to turn back, which was imagine her friends comforting her in her head. But when she did, the strangest thing happened. The sky turned red, and her friends all fled, leaving her alone. She tried again, harder this time, but the same thing happened. She opened her eyes with a sick expression on her face, and turned to her real-life friends. "Um… I don't think I can change back."

Yum, crepe pizza with Nutella sauce!

So i really don't have an idea on how to progress. If you have any ideas, feel free to PM. It can't be anything like a potion (it doesn't really fit) and it can't entail getting rid of it (Mei wouldn't want that!)

Please comment if you want to share how you liked it, and have a great day (or night)!