AN: Well, this took a while. Sorry for the months-long-wait, but college, procrastination and my constant perfectionism ate my time again. This chapter went through, like, a thousand rewrites because I found myself constantly shifting between different POVs and wanting to get into every character's mindset.
Now that Blacktooth's goons have been dealt with (for the time being), Mei and her friends must tackle the most dangerous game of all: SCHOOL! With five colorful pandas thrown into the mix, things could get... chaotic.
Chapter 8: My Gym Partner's a Panda
Mei skipped out her front door, humming a 4*Town song and enjoying the morning sun. It was now June: her and her besties' last month of middle school, and they were gonna take it by storm! She'd already brushed her teeth, gulped down her congee, and now she had a ton of new ideas for her besties! And the best part? She didn't have any freaky nightmares last night!
This month is gonna be great!
"Mei-Mei! WAIT!" Ming interrupted, rushing to block her daughter before she left. "Maybe I should drive you to school today."
"But Mo-om…"
"No buts, Mei-Mei." She pinched her daughter's cheek and began dragging Mei to the car by her arm. "With those horrible men skulking around, who knows what'll happen if I let you go alone?"
"Mom, please! I'll be fi-WHOA!" Mei could barely get out as she stumbled.
"Why, those ruffians are probably out there right now, just waiting to sink their claws into you. Well, that's not going to happen on my watch!" Ming rambled, ignoring Mei's desperate struggling behind her.
"MOM! STOP!" Mei abruptly flashed back to the SkyDome again – especially her mom's giant claws coming down on her – and panda-ed out on the spot, before planting herself on the ground, now very fed up.
"Mei-Mei… you change back… this instant!" Unsurprisingly, Ming couldn't budge her daughter and resorted to giving her best 'mom stare'.
Mei simply crossed her arms, unmoved. "My panda, my choice."
Ming sighed; ever since Pandapocalypse 2002, her daughter had taken to saying that silly phrase as a reminder of her newfound independence. Immediately, she tried a calmer approach. "Mei-Mei, are you sure you wish to go to school by yourself?"
"Yeah, mom." Mei re-asserted herself, grinning. Nothing would keep her down for long. "I gotta help my besties, remember?"
Ming sighed again, conflicted, and remembered her vow to put more faith in her daughter. Her little Mei-Mei was more capable than she gave her credit for (no doubt because of that infernal spirit inside her) and she'd shown that numerous times over the course of last month, and especially yesterday.
And Mei-Mei had done exceptionally well grade-wise up to now; perhaps she could cut her some… 'slack' for her last month of middle school.
Well, that and Ming had come to realise she was on thin ice; the security guards, the school board and the police all made their displeasure with her constant intrusions very clear, even before the incident at the stadium. (Not that Mei-Mei needed to know that, of course.)
"Very well. You may attend school by yourself." Ming gently rubbed her daughter's giant, fluffy cheek. As Mei smiled, Ming hastily added "But if you see any more of those awful men…"
"…run the other way as fast as I can and call the cops from a safe distance." Mei recited, robotically. She'd already gotten this lecture at least a thousand times since Ming caught her yesterday. "C'mon, those guys are probably licking their wounds right now! We'll be fine, mom."
"Mei-Mei…"
"Alright, we'll stay far away from them. Promise!"
"Good, good." Ming nodded. The police would handle it, she tried to reassure herself. "Have you got the tea?"
"You know it!" Mei gestured to the large flask poking out of her backpack. Robaire the Third hung from the side of the pack, as he usually did. "You think this'll be enough?"
Before Mei could react, she suddenly found her hands full with chocolate, hot water bottles and pads.
"That should be enough for all of your friends. And if you need anything else to sooth the-"
"I think we're all covered, mom." Mei cut her off, furiously blushing as she handed some of the items back (though she kept the chocolate for later). "But thanks anyway."
"Right." Ming lightly chuckled, assured, though slightly forced. "You suppose your friends will be ready for the kitten test at some point?"
Mei froze for a moment as she considered the prospect. Her methods were working well so far, but the kittens were super-duper-cute… "Uh, yeah…" She awkwardly stammered out, after a pause.
"That's my favourite overachiever. Now, if you or your friends require anything, anything at all, don't hesitate to contact me."
"You sure, mom? I know you're not super entirely cool with my besties being pandas and all…"
"Oh, hush. We'll get through this together." Ming insisted. Just as she was there for her daughter, she would at least try to be there for her daughter's friends. Her smile turned uneasy. "Inform me if anything comes up."
"Sure! And don't worry, I'll totally be at the temple after school. I'm gonna be the best tourist attraction ever!" Mei grinned, wrapping her mom in another hug, this time in human form. "And… thanks for giving my besties this chance."
Once Ming returned the hug, Mei raced down the street to school with a hasty "Love you!" and more agility than one could expect from a giant panda.
Ming waved her daughter off as she returned to the temple. "Take care, Mei-Mei."
After lighting the incense – both to honour her ancestors, and to calm her frazzled nerves with the familiar scent – Ming swept the temple leaves away in preparation for the upcoming influx of visitors. To her dismay, news spread fast about the SkyDome incident, and now people from all over Canada were coming, both for her daughter and to see if the rumours about the giant red panda that destroyed the stadium were true.
In many ways, Ming regarded the red panda as both a blessing and a curse, and this was no exception. Normally, Ming would have disapproved of using her daughter's panda for their usual temple shows, but the sheer profit – Mei-Mei had gotten more in one day than Ming could recall making in years – couldn't be ignored, and Ming reluctantly recognised that she needed to repair the SkyDome if she could ever hope to make up for everything she's done.
Plus, it made Mei-Mei happy, and who was she to try to put her down?
As she swept away some leaves the breeze dragged in, her eyes fell on that 'selfie' Mei took with 4*Town. After all the chaos that day, everyone had saw fit to join in; Mei-Mei and her friends, all of 4*Town, Mr. Gao, Jin, the aunties and even, surprisingly, Mother.
It had been a rather impromptu, spontaneous affair with none of the careful planning the other pictures had involved. A tiny voice inside Ming screamed to take it down, that it violated the sacred order she'd set beforehand, but she kept it up. It looked… nice, like a splash of color atop a blank canvas.
Oh, Mei-Mei… what did I do to deserve your forgiveness?
Jin walked up to her, now wearing his own panda suit. "Are you okay?"
Immediately, Ming snapped out of her daze with a quick shake of the head. "Yes. I'm fine." Jin didn't miss the subtle twitching and the way she was now pacing around the room clutching her stress ball (provided by her court-mandated anger-management classes).
He decided to harbour a guess. "You're worried about Mei and her friends."
Ming raised her finger to object, but no sound came out. He was right, and they both knew it. She slumped. "I know I should trust Mei-Mei, and I do, but… I cannot help but worry. This situation is beyond everything I knew… everything Mother taught me about how the blessing is supposed to work."
"I wouldn't worry." Jin reassured. "Mei has done a wonderful job helping her friends with this change."
"It is… impressive how quickly they've adapted thus far." Even if Ming wasn't fond of the panda situation, even she could recognise her little Mei-Mei had indeed done an excellent job at helping her friends come to terms with their pandas. She would surely succeed in her endeavour long before the red moon came. "Still, I fear some of their temperaments may not be suited for the raw power the panda spirit grants."
"As long as they have each other, they'll be fine." Jin assured. "And if they need us, we'll be there for them."
"I suppose…" Ming mumbled, not entirely convinced but electing to drop the subject for now. It cannot be that easy. "Remind me to examine the scrolls again at some point before Mother arrives later this week."
"Do you think Wu knows anything about… this specifically? About the idea of anyone else being pandas? She seemedvery adamant about sealing them away before the red moon."
Ming's features twisted with an emotion Jin couldn't place. Finally, she spoke quietly, and slightly distantly. "I'm not sure. She never informed me about this matter before."
For a moment, neither spoke, unsure of how to proceed.
Jin wasn't entirely sure what had gone on in the spirit realm, but when his family returned, Mei still had her panda – much to his relief; he secretly hoped she'd keep it, but he couldn't go against the family's wishes – and though Ming hadn't kept her own panda, she still looked as though a massive load had been taken off her back.
For what felt like the first time in a long while, she looked… hopeful.
From there, the past few days had seen the two's relationship evolve into something healthier. Mei had become more assertive and confident in herself, while Ming had become more open and less… smothering, for lack of a better word. Ming didn't even hate 4*Town anymore; her image of them had become a lot more positive since they helped with the ritual (and paid her bail).
Jin wasn't a fool; he knew it would take a while for everyone to recover from the terror that was Pandamonium 2002. He saw how Mei sometimes flinched around Ming, even if she tried to hide it, the repentant look Ming wore when she thought no one else was looking – never mind how panicked this new situation had made her – and the uneasy looks his wife occasionally garnered, as if she would suddenly transform again and eat them all.
Jin himself tried not to think about how he or any of Mei's friends could have been hurt – or worse – had any of them gotten just a bit too close to Ming that night. None of them had the protection of the panda spirits at the time, and he didn't want to think about how Ming or Mei would have reacted after the fact.
Still, they would get through this. Tenacity ran in the Lees' blood, and Mei's friends were capable even before they obtained pandas of their own. He'd learned to expect the unexpected since the day he learned his wife could become a giant panda.
As Jin pondered on how to lift his wife's spirits, his gaze fell on the selfie, particularly on Ming posing for the camera. "You look nice when you loosen up."
"What in the heavens do you mean by…?" Ming looked confused before she saw the photo and realised what he meant. Her stern mask briefly slipped once again before Ming composed herself. "Well, I suppose it did seem like an appropriate sentiment for the moment."
Indeed, a small, long-repressed part of her knew it felt nice to cut loose and have fun that wasn't planned out beforehand, without having to worry about keeping up appearances for the public. Of course, she couldn't stay that way; not with the panda being what it was.
As if on cue, Robaire Junior beeped again, almost sounding angry. "Oh, for the love of…" Ming muttered as she fumbled through the game to feed the spirit before it got cranky. Exactly why a spirit from a time before technology existed had taken a liking to virtual data, Ming had no idea.
As Ming left to open the temple doors – silently grateful to her daughter for teaching her how to play the blasted thing – Jin followed, after one last wistful glance at the selfie.
Mei grinned as the wind blew through her fur. This was the kind of thing she'd never have dreamed of doing a couple months ago, when she was a normal girl. She loved her mom – even with the nightmares and awkwardness between them – but ever since she raced to the SkyDome that night, she couldn't deny how awesome it felt to go full-sprint in her panda form with nothing but her and the freedom to go at her own speed.
Plus, not getting stuck in traffic was a sweet change of pace.
Atop one building, she leapt to another with a graceful twirl that even surprised herself. As the panda's fire burned within her, Mei swore that sometimes, she felt more graceful as a panda than a human…
Until she failed to stick the landing and barely stopped herself from ungracefully tumbling off the building into a nearby dumpster, anyways. Human or panda, she always kind of stunk at sticking the landing.
Still, as she regained her bearings and leapt to another rooftop, sending wayward tiles clattering to the ground, Mei thought about how her friends would take their first day of school as pandas.
Gosh, I sure hope they all came today. They seemed pretty nervous yesterday… especially Tyler. Mei's heart sunk at the idea of them – even her former rival – being alone at home like she was on that awful day. Darn, why the heck'd I make that wish NOW when I probably could've waited until after school was done? Stupid! She silently cursed her lack of foresight– sure, she didn't think it would work to begin with, but still-
"WOAH!" She narrowly avoided running head-first into a chimney, and quickly refocused. Her besties had adapted super well so far – no doubt because of her awesome teachings – so they'd be fine. The school already loved her, so Mei knew they'd love her besties too! Right?
Elsewhere, Abby raced through the streets in her panda form, knocking people over and narrowly dodging speeding traffic. This is TOTALLY A.W.E.S.O.M.E! Why the heck would anyone wanna give this up?!
Sure, her mom suggested staying home (and possibly away from Mei since she thought the panda thing was contagious or whatever) until the red moon, but pffft! No way was she staying home when she'd get to go to school as a PANDA!
She leapt over a car with unexpected grace, too lost in excitement to notice the driver honking their horn or the various civilians shouting obscenities at her. This month was gonna be awesome!
Seeing her school, Abby picked up the pace and grinned wildly. In the distance, she could see a red-colored lump also coming her way…
"MEI!"
"ABBY!" Mei's features twisted in fear as she realized they were right in each other's path and moving too fast to stop. "OUTTA THE WAY-WOAH!"
Before either of them knew it, their heads collided in a rainbow of stars and color. The resulting shockwave cracked windows, sent some cars off-balance and knocked the two pandas onto their butts.
As Mei rubbed her head, still on the ground, Abby jumped up, now vibrating with energy. "[THAT WAS THE COOLEST THING EVER]!"
"Nice to see ya too, Abby." Mei mumbled, glancing around as Abby helped her to her feet. A couple of their classmates watched in confusion, both at the destruction caused and the mere sight of two giant pandas talking. "Just… try to be a bit more careful next time, 'kay?"
"Uh… my bad." Abby grinned, slightly apologetic. "But this panda stuff is just so cool! Why'd anyone want to throw this away when it's so cute and strong?! 'Sides, you were all like 'don't hold the panda back' and stuff!"
Mei chuckled. "You got me there!" And with that, the two pandas bounced their bellies together, laughing at the way they jiggled. Bounce, bounce, bounce…
"Looks like you guys are having fun." Priya deadpanned, glancing at one of the cracked windows. The telltale sound of skateboard wheels on concrete let Mei know that Miriam had pulled up too.
"Mir, Priya, my panda sisters! Nice to see ya!" And with that, the four friends did their usual 4*Townie handshake, though they quickly realised something – or rather, someone – was missing. "Wait a sec, where's Tyler?"
"Beats me. I don't see him anywhere." Miriam could only offer a sympathetic shrug. Priya and Abby did the same.
"You think he stayed home?" Abby asked, slightly quieter than she usually would. Tyler was a recent addition to their group, but he was still a fellow 4*Townie. Despite his obnoxious, showy nature, none of the girls wanted him gone!
Mei slumped at that; concern was present on her face. "Darn. You don't think I…"
Despite her own uncertainty, Miriam was quick to assure her friend before she slipped again. "Hey, maybe he's already inside. We just gotta find Tyler and make sure he knows we're there for him."
"Yeah, and if he stayed at home, we'll just, like, visit him later." Priya added.
"Right, we just gotta find him and show our support." Mei immediately turned determined; she'd get through to him if it killed her! "Now, you girls ready for the next step of pandahood?"
"You know it, girlfriend." In truth, Miriam was just slightly nervous about the idea, but she figured she could probably get through with her natural chill. "I mean, sure, it's different, but hey, we got the world's best teacher on our side!"
"Ditto." Priya nodded. "It's weird. Freaky. Cool. They'll never see us coming…"
"Look out, school!" Abby added, gyrating her furry body for emphasis. "Gaze in awe at the new, improved, sexy Abby!" The entire group laughed at their Korean friend's antics, and with that, a lot of the tension and nervous atmosphere vanished.
Well, mostly. Mei noticed Miriam awkwardly glancing around, as if searching for someone. "What's up, Mir? You worried about those guys from yesterday?"
"Nah, we beat their butts pretty good." Miriam nervously chuckled, clearly unsure of how to phrase her thought. "It's just… uh, your mom's not gonna… y'know…?" She trailed off, clearly wanting to avoid this conversation.
"Don't worry." Mei knew what Miriam was getting at, recognising the uneasy history between the two. "Mom totally promised not to come unless it's, like, a super epic emergency or something."
The entire group slumped in relief at that. Even if most of them liked Mei's mom, she was still kind of… well, "wacko" when it came to the red panda.
"WE'RE COMING FOR YOU, TYLER! THE PANDA SISTERHOOD LIVES ON!" Abby suddenly yelled, unable to contain her excitement anymore. Before anyone could stop her, she bolted through the school doors – still in her panda form – with reckless abandon.
The other 4*Townies could only watch in confused silence before Priya spoke. "Well, that just happened."
Tyler slinked through the halls, desperately trying not to draw attention to himself on the way to his locker. To hide his newfound furriness, he wore his favourite grey hoodie with the hood up to cover his purplish-blue hair.
His parents – especially his dad, who'd drove him to school that day – heavily suggested staying away from Mei because of the whole panda thing, and Tyler, still conflicted about everything that'd happened up to that point, obliged. Guys weren't meant to hang with girls anyways.
Internally, he was freaking out, scared and just wanted a moment by himself; it felt like his panda came out for basically everything, be it the thoughts of his red-headed former nemesis, that other kind-of-hot guy on his team or the constant urge to sing 4*Town music at the top of his lungs.
As the blue-haired boy moved to get his stuff, a mocking voice accompanied a tap on his shoulder. He cursed his luck again, knowing full well who it was.
"What's wrong, lame-o? Your girl squad finally kick you out?" Nat laughed, nudging Tyler hard with his elbow. Much like Tyler, the beige-skinned boy was a member of the school's basketball team and thus donned the iconic bluish-purple uniform.
When Tyler ignored him – the last time he listened to Nat, he got mauled by an angry red panda – Nat simply nudged him harder. "Hey, I'm talking to you, buttface!"
"Yeah, you too girly to hang with them, Ty-hard?" Nat's crony, a Caucasian boy named Callum, added. The two boys laughed maniacally at that.
"L-leave me alone." Tyler growled, gritting his teeth. What little confidence he still had coming into school evaporated by the second as he tried not to let his panda show.
"Or what? Your freaky panda girlfriend's gonna hug us? Ooh, I'm so scared!" After glancing around to make sure no one was about, Nat abruptly shoved Tyler against a locker, before sending him tumbling to the ground.
"SHE'S NOT MY-!" Tyler yelled, before abruptly shutting up when his tail came out. He hastily tucked it into the back of his hoodie before the bullies could notice… only for one of his hands to become a paw, which he desperately stuffed into his pocket.
As the Blasian boy writhed on the ground, desperately trying to stay calm, Nat laughed and began mimicking a make-out session as Callum readied a punch. "Yeah, you're a total freak who likes guys like a fa-"
"LEAVE HIM ALONE!"
Only to his fist to abruptly hit a big, red wall of fur. Behind Mei, Tyler breathed a sigh of relief and quickly poofed away his rogue parts before anyone could see. Miriam, Priya, and Abby rushed to join them a moment later.
"Oh, you're… here…" Nat tried to stand up tall. "We were just, y'know, playing and…"
When Mei growled, Abby unsheathed her claws, and both Miriam and Priya sent mean death glares their way, the two bullies quickly got the hint and disappeared around the corner. Priya simply stuck her tongue out in response.
This wasn't the 4*Townies' first run-in with the jerks; several of the basketball team, including the two they'd just scared away, had taken to bullying Tyler for being richer than them and supposedly 'liking dudes', and now they'd started mocking him for hanging with girls.
"Those guys don't know when to quit!" Abby yelled as Miriam helped Tyler to his feet.
"T-thanks..." Tyler quietly mumbled after a moment, embarrassed that he even needed the help. With the whole panda thing, he wanted nothing more than for the ground to swallow him up at that very moment.
Miriam, sensing his concern, put her arm around his shoulder. "You cool, dude?"
"Y… yeah. Never better…!" He half-grinned, though internally he was totally freaking out.
"Well, Ty, I'm just happy to see you hereeeeeee…" Mei assured. She trailed off as Carter Murphy-Mayhew walked by the group, and her jaw dropped as she immediately panda-ed out.
"Mei?" Priya piped in, jolting Mei out of her daze. "What're you doing?"
"Uhhh, just a sec…!" With speed that surprised even herself, Mei rushed to greet her gothic crush in full panda mode. She nervously raised a paw to wave at him. "H-hey, Carter…"
Carter impassively glanced at her, folding his arms, completely nonplussed by the giant panda standing before him. "Yo."
As Mei stumbled through in what her besties could only interpret as a hilariously awkward attempt at flirting, Priya observed how Miriam offered a thumbs up when Mei briefly turned to the green-haired girl. Abby simply wolf-whistled and yelled "Go Mei!" in response.
When Mei turned away, Miriam took a moment to push down the burning feeling in her chest. She wasn't exactly sure what the heck her red panda friend saw in Carter – sure, he gave off that cool, unflappable 'I don't care about anything' vibe and his hair-flip game was kinda hot but, still, he was just dark and mysterious… okay, now she kinda got why her bestie liked him so much.
Meanwhile, Tyler mimed a gagging motion, unenthused by the sheer awkwardness transpiring before him. He and Carter never got along anyways. Stupid emo poser. The heck's that overachieving nerd see in a guy who prefers a dumb metal band over 4*Town? He hastily tried to force his ears down as they poked through his hood.
Priya had a sarcastic comment about this bizarre situation on the edge of her tongue, but before she could say anything, her 'panda senses' tingled again.
"Just, ever get the feeling this place is… fluffier than normal?" A dull, monotone voice echoed around the corner.
"Urgh, tell me about it, Meg. It's so… saccharine."
Crap. Wherever Carter went, Meg and Justine followed. They were basically joined at the hip through their shared love of all things dark.
Priya still wasn't sure if she wanted Meg to see her like… this, so, while nobody was looking, she stealthily slipped away from the group and left for her next class.
Not a moment later, Megan and Justine walked into the scene. "Yo, Major Weirdo." Megan nudged Mei, instantly jolting her out of her lovestruck babbling.
"Huh?" Mei quickly reverted to her human form, unphased by the rude interruption. "Oh, hey, Megan, what's up?"
Megan scanned the 4*Townies, searching for the yellow-haired girl. "You see Priya anywhere? I've been meaning to talk to her about some… stuff."
"Oh, Priya? She's right…" Mei started, only to realise her yellow-haired friend was nowhere in sight. "Priya?"
"PRIYA?!" Abby loudly called for her friend. No response.
"Guess she went to class early…" Miriam mused.
Megan, Justine, and Carter's eyes all widened for a second at the giant pink fluffball standing before them, before they regained their usual composure. Justine and Megan immediately exchanged glances at the sight before Megan turned to leave. "Whatever."
And with that, the darkly dressed trio left, but not before Carter glanced at Mei one last time. When Tyler glared at him, Carter glared back as he turned the corner.
"Bye, Carter…" Mei simply waved back, too lovestruck by the mysterious boy to notice the stare-down. She sighed. "He's so dreamy…"
"Yeah, dreamy…" Tyler snarked as he walked off to class. "I'm outta here."
"Tyler? Are you…" Mei questioned, but she couldn't finish before he closed the door behind him. "…okay?"
The bell abruptly rang, and the remaining 4*Townies quickly realized they were the only ones left in the halls.
"Crap!" And with that, Mei, Miriam, and Abby hastily split off to their own classes.
As Mr. Klesowski rambled on about algebra for the umpteenth time that year, Mei listened intently and wrote down each solution as they came up.
Miriam, on the other hand, found herself constantly sneaking glances at her red-headed best friend against her will. She couldn't help it; Mei was just so… nice to look at with her newfound air of confidence. Her heart fluttered every time her bestie flashed that sincere, all-knowing smile; Miriam still wasn't sure if it was her or the panda, but she kinda dug the feeling.
The panda inside her screamed to come out, but – although she totally wanted to let it out right then and there – Miriam hastily looked away, retreating to her happy place to silence it. She was cool with being a panda after the initial shock faded, but there was no way she could let it out in class around Mei with… well, this going on.
She'd never look at me the same again. And her mom would probs – no, totally – kill me for sure.
Mei caught one of those glances out the corner of her eye. After a quick glance to make sure the teacher was distracted, she quietly tore a scrap of paper off her notebook and wrote on it before passing the scrap to her green-haired friend.
Miriam smiled upon receiving the note, remembering when she wrote the exact same thing to Mei. The paper only had two words written on it: 'You okay?'.
She took a breath to stop the trembling in her fingers and wrote 'yeah' (plus a little heart at the end) on the other side before sending it back, even flashing a smile of her own to assure her bestie that yeah, she was cool.
Mei didn't look entirely convinced, but she smiled at Miriam and continued taking notes. Miriam quietly sighed in relief and returned her focus to the blackboard. She could get through this. She was chill.
As long as Mei's cool, I'm cool.
"Now, now, Mei-Mei. I'll be back soon." Ming kissed a young Meilin on the forehead.
"Bye, mommy." Meilin mumbled, clutching her beloved Wilfred plush, which looked huge in her tiny hands.
As her mother left, Meilin shyly looked around the daycare room she found herself in. The room was bustling with activity as kids from different families ran around, doing various activities. To a girl who'd rarely interacted with other kids before – her mom having tried to keep her safe at home before temple duties started getting in the way – it was just a bit scary.
The black-haired girl wasn't sure where to start, frozen in place at the sheer number of kids around. This was a huge step from her room, and she really, really missed her mom. She shrunk into her little red sweater.
"Boots-and-cats, boots-and-cats…" Meilin turned to see a brunette girl wearing a green hat singing slightly off-key. Mei had no idea why, but she found herself trying to approach the person; there was something… not scary about her singing.
The girl stopped to stare inquisitively as Meilin approached her. Meilin timidly waved in response. "H-hi…"
"Hi!" She happily waved back. "I haven't seen you here before." The girl, who wore a green t-shirt, questioned. As Mei remained silent, she continued, careful not to scare the newcomer. "What's your name?"
"M-meilin." Despite her nervousness, young Meilin found it increasingly easier to talk to the stranger before her. "And it's my first time."
"Nice to meet ya, Meilin. I'm Miriam." She answered confidently, having been here a few times before. "But you can call me Mir."
"My mom calls me Mei-Mei."
Miriam put her finger to her chin in thought, little gears whirring in her head. "How about… Mei?"
Meilin didn't know why, but something about that name just clicked with her. "I love it!" She smiled, to which Miriam flashed a smile of her own.
"Nice to hear it, Mei. So, why'd you come to see me?"
"Your singing sounds funny…" Mei immediately responded, before darting to cover her mouth. How could she say something so awful?! "Aw, stupid, stupid!"
"Hey, chill." To her surprise, Miriam just chuckled. "It's cool! Dad calls it beatboxing."
What awkwardness there was dissolved as the two little girls began talking about their shared interests, and Mei's fear of the unknown vanished.
Mei told stories of her mom's temple and her many, many ancestors. An impressed Miriam told tales about her mom's job at a printing company (which Mei found just as amazing).
Soon, the two were beatboxing in rhythm, and Mei even let Miriam pet Wilfred.
Eventually, Ming returned to take Mei home, enveloping the young girl in her arms and smothering her with kisses.
"Oh, Mei-Mei! I'm so glad you're safe! Those kids didn't hurt you, did they?!" Before Mei could respond, Ming changed course. "Oh, my, I'm getting ahead of myself. How was daycare?"
"Awesome!" Mei shot back, far more confident now than she was when she came in. "I made a new friend, mommy! Her name's Miriam!" She grinned, gesturing to Miriam, who gave the two a cheerful thumbs up.
"I… see…" Ming uttered, torn between pride for how quickly her daughter made a friend, relief that her daughter had survived the day, and slight jealousy for the newcomer, who simply waved obliviously.
And from there, a beautiful friendship was born.
Meanwhile, Priya and Abby sat together for Geometry as they usually did. As Priya looked out the window, she took a moment to contemplate how much weirder her life had gotten lately. Red pandas, 4*Town concerts, goth girlfriends, giant monster pandas, and now she was a panda too.
It was like her life had spontaneously turned into a real-life fanfic or something. Cool.
Or, at least, it would be cool if I could use the thing.
In retrospect, Sun Yee probably had a sick sense of humour to make it so the two 4*Townies who were cool with being pandas from the start couldn't control them properly, Priya noted, glancing at Abby, who now had her face scrunched up as she tried to resist the urge to panda out. "Stay chill, Abby. Happy place." Priya whispered, rubbing her bestie's shoulder in a bid to calm her down.
Priya could feel her own panda burning within, just dying to come out, but she was so chill that her efforts had, thus far, ended in failure. She knew Miriam and Tyler were doing way better at the whole 'shifting' thing, but they had something going on with Mei that she basically had no idea how to approach.
Like her and Meg, now that she thought about it. Now how am I gonna break this to her? She was cool with Mei at the party, but we're, like, serious and stuff…
Poof!
Priya found herself squashed against the window as Abby abruptly poofed out, sending pink smoke everywhere. The pink-furred beast sighed in relief. "Ahhhhh..."
"Abby…" Priya groaned. Abby could only nervously laugh at that.
"Oops, my bad!"
That… probably isn't gonna reflect well on Mei. Priya reflected as she waved some of the smoke away.
Tyler sat alone in the boys' bathroom, silently nursing his wounded masculinity. His massive blue panda form barely fit in the stall, but it was either that or risking someone seeing him out in the open, so into the stall he went.
Normally, he'd have been in class doing… whatever, but this time he'd snuck off to the boys' room.
He knew full-well how strong the panda was (oh, how he knew), but why did it have to be so darn cute?! If he did basically anything, he'd panda out again, and the entire school would either laugh at him or find him adorable, and he wasn't sure which was worse!
This had to have been Mei's idea of a joke, giving a panda – that she knew only girls got from the start – to him, a boy! Sure, 4*Town's basically the best thing ever… and Aaron Z.'s kind of super-hot… and it was kind of fun putting on makeup… but that doesn't make me a girl! …Does it?
Argh, this is so complicated! I don't know if I should lo- Tyler immediately felt his body heat up again and hastily changed the subject. -LIKE or hate that dork for this!
Still, as the image of the panda girl's face – and her smug smile – took root in his mind, Tyler abruptly felt something tense up and immediately felt super relieved. Okay, yeah, defo a boy panda.
Nonetheless, the Blasian boy held his adorably fluffy face in his paws, trying to calm down. He thought of his other besties, and his greatest love… basketball. Eventually, he calmed down enough to poof back to normal.
How the heck am I gonna get through an entire month of THIS?! The dork-narc made it look so easy!
Poof!
And he was a panda again.
…Great. Why the heck couldn't I be something cooler, like a liger or a snow leopard?!
During the lunch period, the 4*Townies gathered on the basketball stands for their usual best friend meeting. Tyler had sent a message stating he'd be busy with practice, so they'd decided to head to the court and show him their support (and maybe watch a few hot boys in the process). Mei grinned, excited as she usually was. "Okay, besties! How was your first class as pandas?"
"I'd say it went pretty well." Miriam chuckled.
"Eh." Priya shrugged.
"IT. WAS. AWESOME!" Abby yelled, throwing the stands off-balance with her weight.
As her friends tried not to fall off, Priya fixed Abby with a stare. Abby awkwardly chuckled in response. "Okay, I kinda… got in trouble with the teacher. APPARENTLY, I'm not allowed to have my panda out in class!"
"Abby!" Mei scolded, her own teacher mode shining through again. "You know you gotta control the panda in class if you wanna keep it. Mom's rules!"
"I'm sorry!" She had the decency to look just slightly ashamed. "It's just so cute and warm though! I can't resist the FLUFF! [IT'S MY SOUL]!"
"Abby..."
"Hey, these things happen." Miriam put a hand on Mei's shoulder to calm her down. Mei had learned to loosen up a fair deal since the panda came, but the urge to have perfect control over everything was still ingrained within her to some extent. "Besides, it just means there's more to love!" Miriam rubbed Abby's ear as Priya leaned into the pink panda's belly.
"Right." Mei conceded – the pandas were pretty cute, that was just a fact – and took a breath to calm herself, remembering how long it took her to fully control her own panda. "Oh, totally slipped my mind! I brought tea if anyone needs it!" She suddenly added, bringing out her flask.
"Tea me, Sensei." Miriam chuckled. When Mei handed her the flask, she took a sip and relaxed as warm comfort filled her soul.
"You cool, Mir? You looked all nervous and, well, totally twitchy in class. Everything okay?"
"Y-yeah. I'm cool. Promise." Miriam stammered out, for once unsure of how much she wanted to spill to her bestie. "It's just… wow. I knew the panda was, like, super energetic and stuff, but man, it's still totally different feeling it inside me." Abby and Priya hummed in agreement.
"Feels great, doesn't it?" Mei smiled, seemingly assured and with just a hint of pride. When her three besties all nodded, she continued. "Don't worry, you'll get used to it. Trust me, I know! And if you need anything else, I gotcha covered!"
"Right back at ya, Mei." The two girls fist bumped.
"At least you can actually go panda…" Priya bemoaned her inability to bring out her panda on command. Her werewolf-panda dreams were crashing down before her eyes.
"The heck? You poofed out just fine when Mei was training us!" Abby piped in, confused.
"Adrenaline's a heck of a motivator." Priya shrugged. "If I think about hot stuff like 4*Town or werewolves or vampires, some of the panda comes out, but it's not like I can control what comes out or anything." She closed her eyes as her besties looked at her, and her head poofed into a big furry panda face.
"See? Whoa-whoa-whoa-" Priya almost stumbled off the stands – her panda head much too large for her skinny body to support – before Abby yanked her back by the collar and she poofed back to normal. "Thanks."
Mei, Miriam, and Abby all held back chuckles, to Priya's confusion. "What?"
Miriam pulled out a mirror. The reflection showed Priya's face… now adorned with panda fangs.
"Whoa-ho, Priya!" She cheered. "You're like a real-life vampire!"
"Cool…" Priya examined her new fangs before they abruptly poofed away. "Darn. Guess I'm just too chill or something."
"We'll keep working on that." Mei put a paw to her chin in thought. The 'happy place' thing totes worked for me, but maybe I gotta try something else…
"You…" She pointed at Priya. "…just gotta find that spark that really makes you wanna just, y'know, POW!" Priya hesitantly nodded her head.
"And you…" Mei then pointed at Abby. "…gotta find that one thing that makes you feel super chill and safe."
As Priya and Abby looked deep in thought, trying to figure out the one thing that would help them gain control of their pandas, Mei pulled out her notebook and hoisted it into the air as a golden glow surrounded her. "Don't worry, I got, like, billions of ideas! Mom and Sun Yee trusted us with these pandas, and we ain't gonna let them down!"
"Hey, I think Sun Yee'd be pretty proud as-is." Miriam felt that nice little flutter in her chest again as she looked into Mei's eyes.
"You really think so, Mir?"
"Any reason I shouldn't?" Miriam grinned, with both Abby and Priya nodding in agreement. Miriam had never met Sun Yee personally, but she got the feeling she would have approved of everything her red-headed bestie had accomplished – and how far she'd come – since she got the blessing. "Now, who's the coolest panda teacher in the world?"
"I am…" Mei cockily grinned. Of course, it helped that she was, as far as she knew, the only panda teacher in the world, but that didn't diminish the pride she now felt in the slightest.
"OH! OH! TYLER'S COMING OUT!" Abby gestured to the basketball court, where the players – including Tyler – were beginning to flood in for their usual practice session.
"Now, wanna take a break and watch some boys while we wait for ol' blue-hair to finish?" Boys were familiar, safe, simple, and Miriam knew they all still liked hot boys.
"You read my mind, Mir!" Miriam wrapped her arm around Mei in response, and they took a nice, calming breath together. Mei felt a bit flustered at the close contact, but quickly dismissed it – she knew how affectionate her bestie got sometimes – and leaned in further.
"YO, TOM!" Abby waved enthusiastically at one of the players. "NICE CALVES!"
"Lookin' good, Michael." Priya nodded.
"You got this, Tyler!" Mei couldn't resist. Tyler could only wave nervously in response as he slowly walked onto the court, still donning his grey hoodie.
As the Blasian boy played, the four girls watched in awe. None of them were basketball aficionados the same way he was, but they had to admit: it was pretty fun watching the boys (and their muscles) jostling for the ball.
However, as the game went on, Miriam sensed something was… off. She was pretty good at sensing when something was troubling her besties, and Tyler was no exception. She turned to Mei.
"Hey, Mei?"
"Yeah, Mir?"
"Something's totally eating Tyler…" Miriam gestured to the court.
As Mei watched, she immediately knew what her bestie was getting at. Normally, Tyler practically sweated confidence on the court, and as much as they fought, Mei knew he was a dang good player who could easily back up his bravado. Even yesterday, his new form hadn't diminished his skills at all (and Mei blushed at the memory, but that's irrelevant).
Here, however, he seemed a lot stiffer and more… restrained. An easy shot missed, a glance at his teammate too long. Whenever any of his parts came out, Tyler forced them back in, either by breathing in or hitting them before any of his teammates could notice. Having done this dance before, Mei gasped upon realizing exactly what her bestie was doing.
Tyler, you jerkwad, I told you NOT to hold the panda back!
As Tyler stared, distracted by one of his teammates, the ball – which he normally would have caught without blinking – nailed him in the groin, and he painfully stumbled to the ground.
"Ouch." Priya winced.
"Hold on, buddy!" Miriam yelled. The 4*Townies immediately raced down to help their fallen comrade; she and Mei pulled Tyler up while Abby and Priya tried to shield him from any more wayward basketballs.
Nat took the chance to rub it in. "Aw, does little sissy Tyler need help from his loser girl posse?!" He chuckled, mockingly flicking his wrist. Some players joined in the laughter, while others stood and watched the confrontation between them, unsure of how to react.
"Yeah, you loser!" Callum added to more laughter.
As Tyler growled, his eyes flashed an ominous red again. Miriam quickly put her hand on Tyler's shoulder to calm him down. "Ignore them, Ty. They're just jealous of your mad skills."
"Yeah, breathe, Tyler. Don't let those jerks get to ya!" Mei tried to comfort him while Abby loudly insulted the hecklers – who seemed intimidated by her large size – in Korean and Priya tried to 'curse' them as she usually did.
For a moment, Tyler returned to his happy place and took a calming breath, no longer feeling the panda trying to claw its way out. "Sure, whatever." He sighed, about to leave with the two…
"Yeah, get outta here, hoser! I bet your dad's proud of the GIRL he raised!"
Something snapped inside Tyler as the anger, and fear, and embarrassment he'd felt that day finally unleashed itself. The 4*Townies and players all got blasted across the playground by the sheer force of Tyler's roar. Before Tyler could stop himself, he picked up a basketball and flung it so hard that he could only hear a loud crashing sound.
As Tyler panted, he realised, with increasingly dawning horror, that the world had just gotten a whole lot smaller.
Uh oh.
Before the purplish-blue smoke cleared, Tyler fled into the streets, still in his panda form.
As Mei's vision cleared and she got to her feet, she and the other 4*Townies immediately realised their friend was missing. A basketball-sized hole in the metal court fence near a shaken, but unhurt Nat (whose pants were just a shade darker) filled in the gaps.
"Great…" Mei turned to her besties. "Mir, Priya, Abby! Distract 'em, I'm going after Tyler!"
"On it!" Miriam nodded, pulling out a boombox and throwing her toque on the ground, before poofing into her panda form. As she began beatboxing to the tune of "Nobody Like U", Abby and Priya danced to the beat.
PLEASE don't get too far, Tyler… And with that, Mei gave chase, desperate to salvage the situation before her bestie did something reckless in his panicked state.
AN: Uh oh, another cliffhanger! This chapter was getting pretty long as-is, so I've decided to end it here.
Given how I've wrote Tyler as still being pretty insecure about his masculinity and who he is in general, and since he's fairly new to Mei's friend group (especially since I revised the timeframe for the fic from a month to just a few days after Pandapocalypse 2002), I feel like he'd probably still hate the idea of having people seeing him turn into a cute, fluffy, 'girly' thing, even with the fun he's had over the past couple days.
As a side note, Nat's the boy who egged Tyler on at his party ("Are you gonna take that, Tyler?"); he doesn't appear to have a given name, so Nat's what I'm going with. Since Tyler has very un-manly interests, there would definitely be a few jerks who'd pick on him for that, and especially for hanging with girls.