DISCLAIMER: So Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is out now and the theater where I work will by certainly busy as crap the next few days. I haven't seen it yet, but I will soon. Anywho, here's the new chapter.
"Hey, Mei!" Kris went over to hug her warmly, though she didn't hug him back. In fact, she looked too incredibly nervous and edgy. He lets her go and takes everything in.
"Uh, you okay there?" He asked her, raising an eyebrow.
"I'm fine!" She pretty much shouted rather too forcefully, but she froze and recollected herself, clearing her throat. "I mean, I'm fine. Nothing to worry about."
"Okay, then….?"
Then the two met up with the rest of her friends, who were just as worried and confused as he was.
"Mei!" They all cried.
"What's up, girlfriends and boyfriends?" Mei false-grinned at them, continuing her awkward walk and everyone followed her.
"Uh, what's with the toque?" asked Miriam strangely.
"Umm….bad hair day?" answered Mei nervously, protectively holding onto the red cap like she was hiding something. Which she probably was.
"Looks kinda cute on you." Kris involuntarily spoke.
"Wait, really?" Mei stopped and looked at him with surprise when he said that. The others eyed them with curiosity.
"I mean, not that….you weren't cute before. It's just that, uh…..pffftt." And with that, Kris became a stuttering mess, trying to hide his blushing face from her view. Their friends started to grin and smirk at this display. They've always known Kris had a secret crush on Mei, but never had the guts to speak up about it.
"What's that smell?" Then Rudolf had to spoil the moment when he caught a whiff of something funky. Mei instinctively looked at her underarms and flattened her arms against her sides. "Did you just fart?"
"NO!" Mei blushed madly when he asked before calming down. "That's just…some of my B.O."
"So did you, like, work out this morning?" Abby added as everyone continued walking.
"I got you, girl." Priya said, whipping out some deodorant for Mei, who took it and started smearing her face with it, making Kris look at her weirdly.
"Mei, we need to talk." Miriam started, getting serious. "Tyler's been telling everyone about the Daisy Mart."
"Yeah. What exactly happened here?" Roar asked, adjusting his glasses. "He said your mom went batshit crazy last night."
"Note my lack of surprise." Stig quipped, making Priya lightly smack his arm and giving him a stern look, though he just shook his head in response.
"He even said you were a perv." She chimed in.
"I AM NOT A-!" Mei quickly stopped herself mid-tirade before she could make a scene in front of her friends and the whole school entirely, taking a deep breath to calm herself down. Kris even brought his hands to her shoulders to massage them to help sooth her, which she gratefully smiled at him for before facing everyone with a restrained, robotic expression.
"Tyler is an insecure jerkwad." She clarified gently as possible, returning Priya's deodorant. "Words were exchanged. Slightly uncomfortable words revealed. End of story…"
But then she trailed off when she spotted another classmate walking by them. But not just any classmate; it was one of the goth kids that Stig hung around with, Carter Murphy-Mayhew. Mei instantly started staring at him with those big, puppy eyes, now suddenly drooling over this guy. Kris grimaced even more so than Stig as this brought an unnatural sense of jealousy to him.
"Mei? Hello? Mei!" Miriam snapped her friend out of it, bringing her back to reality. "Why were you staring at Carter Murphy-Mayhew?"
"I wasn't." The bespectacled girl denied.
"Yes, you were." Kris pressed with a frown. "Why?"
"Hormones, what else?" Stig rolled his eyes with his usual deadpan swagger, not even sure why Mei would even go for Carter anyway. "First Devon, now him? Goddamn. Say did you guys know that Kris drew on his bedroom walls?"
"Wait, what?" Mei and the girls exclaimed, looking straight at Kris, who hid his face.
"Pardon?" asked Rudolf.
"Yeah, there were these weird symbols and runes sketched all over the walls, even the ceiling. Didn't really think he could even do that. And he was speaking in some weird gibberish. I dunno. Probably related to markings."
"What were you writing down runes for?" asked Roar, now curious about it.
"Kris, is there something we should know?" asked Mei, lifting an eyebrow at the boy.
"I don't have a good explanation for it, okay? I don't know what happened. I don't even remember doing any of it."
Stig and the rest eyed him skeptically, unsure of whether to buy into his story or not. It seemed impossible for Kris to be doing something while not remembering it.
"Maybe you were sleepwalking?" suggested Roar.
"Yeah, that could be it." Miriam nodded in agreement.
"Not possible. Was it because you got your ass kicked by the Monroes after school yesterday?" Stig suggested.
"WHAT?!"
"I-I dunno. Maybe." Kris could only come up with, since he was at a loss for explanations.
"Those idiots!" Abby roared with fire on her breath like a dragon that has arisen from its slumber. "God, I really wish I could give those assholes a piece of my mind!"
"Yeah. They're even worse than Tyler." articulated Priya.
"But don't worry. Mei helped with my wounds. Right, Mei?" He asked her. Mei smiled sweetly at him.
"That's no excuse!" Miriam argued. "You really gonna get letting those Three Stooges walk all over you like that? The school needs to call their parents about this!"
"Or have them arrested!" shouted Abby.
Then Rudolf and Roar both hugged Kris tightly with exclaims of worry.
"I can't believe you actually endured the Crunch and lived." Roar said to him. "You're a real hero."
"The Crunch? Really?" Priya deadpanned.
"That's what they call it, yeah." Rudolf nodded. "They give all their moves funny names like the Crunch. There's the Twist-Tie, the Thunder Slam, the Two-by-Four, the 'I'm Gonna Make You Cry to Yo' Mama', the 'You Smelt It, You Dealt It', the Knuckle Hammer, the Tidal Wave, the Thumb Drive, but nothing more terrifying, more insidious and more groundbreaking than the Crunch! Plus, the Moose got me with the Melvin yesterday."
"Oh!" Abby cried with shock and anger.
"Those bunion-brains need a year's worth of therapy for sure." sighed Miriam, rolling her eyes and shaking her head.
"Anyway, have you noticed this yet?"
The sharp-tongued goth boy raised the 'Mei + Devon' poster up for Mei to see and all of the sudden, Mei felt as if the world began to crash down upon her like plaid glass. It was like she had just walked into a waking nightmare. Then she noticed another larger poster on the locker doors and started freaking the hell out.
"No!" Mei ripped it right off the lockers with fierce strength.
"Yeah, Tyler keeps putting all these up." Miriam thundered in annoyance.
"Oh, speak of the devil." Roar pointed toward the little prick who was over there now, putting some more of those incrimination posters up, laughing mockingly all the while as the eight friends all glared towards him with fury.
"Hey, asswipe! Knock it off or else!" Stig roared threateningly.
"Or what, Dracula? You gonna suck my blood?" Tyler taunted back, acting like a vampire, which infuriated Stig even more.
"Not funny, Tyler!" snarled Abby, looking ready for a throw-down.
"Devon, my precious manly man!" Tyler jabbed with a girl's voice, pretending to be Mei making out with Devon.
Kris, on the other hand, looked far more furious than any of them combined. While the others shouted insults and threats his way, Kris felt a somewhat superhuman power coursing through his muscles and veins the more Tyler acted like his usual douchebag self, fueling his rage even further, giving Kris the need to want to punch something. Then suddenly from out of nowhere, Kris sucker-punched a locker door next to him so incredibly hard that it actually left a huge dent in it the size of his fist.
Then he gasped when he realized what just happened. Though, he quickly stood in front of it to shield it from view once the others turned to him with confusion once they heard the sound. Tyler stopped for a brief moment, then eyed Kris with a smirk.
"Oh, no. Is the big, fat homeless guy jealous that Mr. Manly Man is stealing his babe? Huh?" Then he howled with obnoxious laughter, now making the friends angrier and madder and even more compelled to start a fight with the guy in Mei and Kris's honor. Kris blushed with embarrassment, though Mei looked ready to attack Tyler.
"I'm gonna kill him." She snarled, but then, unknown to everyone (including Kris who was looking away and avoiding everyone's gazes at this point), her hand turned into a giant red furry paw, which she covered up, but then grew a furry red tail out of her butt. Her fury turned to fear once this occurred.
At the moment, the boys decided to get even with Tyler once they came up with a plan. Noticing the Monroes further down the hallway, Stig came forward and gave Tyler an exaggerated handshake, confusing the Vietnamese boy.
"Well, I gotta admit, Tyler, my boy. That was pretty funny to be honest." said Stig with fake approval, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Maybe we oughta hang some, ya know?"
While Stig had him distracted, Rudolf took one of the posters off the wall behind them, wrote something on the back of it then handed it to Roar, who rearranged the tape on it then placed it right on Tyler's back, who then turned to face him.
"Yeah, bro. Come here." Roar brought the boy into a huge bear hug, much to his chagrin. Then both Stig and Rudolf joined in on the hug, all three embracing him tightly, purposely invading Tyler's personal space. The girls eyed the scene with confusion and gave each other odd glances.
Tyler finally had enough of this as he shoved all three boys off of him in anger.
"Get off of me, you dweebs!" He yelled. "I'm a man! Men don't hug!"
"Right." Stig smirked, pulling on the boy's sweatband and stretching it before letting it snap against his head.
"Ow! And don't touch the 'band! Smell you later, dorks."
"Bye!" Rudolf waved as the boy left down the hallway, coincidentally in the same direction where the trio of doom were, to which they snickered slyly to themselves about. As the girls watched the jerkwad leave, they saw the sheet they had snuck on him now read the words 'Kick me!' on it.
"You sneaky devil, you." Priya smirked at Stig, impressed.
"But what's that even gonna do?" Miriam had to ask.
"Just wait." Stig only said as they waited until Tyler was just farther enough away from them before calling out, "HEY, TYLER!"
"Ugh, what?!" Tyler groaned with irritation before turning around to aim his impatient glare at them. However, when he did, the 'Kick me' sign on his back was now on full display, allowing the Monroe's behind him, most notably Moose, to catch sight of it.
…..and guess what happens next.
KICK!
"OW!" Tyler howled in pain once he literally got his ass kicked.
At that, all of the friends, sans Mei and Kris, shared a good laugh at seeing Tyler get his comeuppance. It should be known that not even Tyler, coming from a rich family no less, was safe from the deadly wrath of the Monroes. Mei, however, was still trying to hide her fluffy tail from sight. Then she forcefully chuckled as she started inching away from them, still facing them so that they don't notice the fuzzy appendage sticking out from under her skirt.
"Gotta go. Uh, see you guys at lunch." Mei fake-smiled, getting further away.
"Mei?" asked Kris, concerned.
But then without another word to be spoken, Mei hurriedly bolted away to class in a mad haste with her hands still covering her butt. But thankfully for her, nobody saw the tail.
The boys and girls watched her go with dazed and confused silence.
"Seriously, though. Is she okay? What's up with her today?" asked Roar.
"Uh, I think it's a number two." Rudolf suggested with a slight whisper.
"What's this?" The irate Stig held out his fist for him to see.
"A fist."
BAM!
"Oh!" Rudolf cried when Stig punched his head.
"Boys, boys. Please. Not here, okay?" Miriam interjected as she got between the two to separate them, not wanting them to cause a ruckus.
"Yeah, we better get to class. First period is starting soon." Priya rejoined, giving Stig a kiss on the cheek. "See ya."
"Bye!" Abby boldly smooched Rudolf on the lips. "Don't miss me too much!"
"Catch you later." Miriam hugged Roar and kissed his forehead, then took off to go join up with Mei in their classroom.
"We should probably go then. Later, guys." Rudolf and Roar took as well to separate classes of their own.
"Hang in there, Kris. Try not to go crazy, okay?" Stig patted his shoulder, before he, too, was gone.
Kris was in a different class from Mei's, which kinda made him feel a little sad. However, they did share the same class in the final period before school ended each day. As he sat there, he thought about how jealous he felt that his buddies already had girlfriends of their own, while he had yet to confess to Mei his own feelings for her. But how could he possibly bring himself to do so? Her mother already hated him, which made things complicated for him. He just wants Mei to see him as more than just a friend, because deep down, he really liked her. But not like-like, mind you.
Yes, Kris Bengtsson was in love with Meilin Lee. He loved her smile, he loved the way she dressed, he loved her soft, flowing hair, he loved her spirit, he loved everything else about her. The way her hair moved along the wind made his heart flutter. The way she flaunts her sauve-faire with glory and pride gave him butterflies in his stomach. And the way she looked at him with those innocent, wide hazel eyes just made him feel safe around her. But alas, her barking mother would only try to get between them since she hates seeing them together. Why would Ming want to allow her perfect little Mei-Mei to go out with an unmotivated, neurodivergent loser like him anyway?
It really breaks Kris's heart to have to be bossed around, mistreated and berated constantly by the mother of his crush. A woman who scowls with scorn at him every time she sees him. Who readily yells at him, insults him, condescends him, treats him like an underling rather than an employee. Dealing with Moose and his twosome was bad enough, but having to deal with Ming every afternoon after school was worse.
Perhaps by not saying anything at all, Kris would be doing himself a favor. To save himself from getting murdered by an angry mother accusing him of commiting…..things to her little girl.
Just as the teacher came in and began his lecture, Kris just eyed him blankly with disinterest. Perhaps if he could take himself away, it would help ease his boredom. While the teacher yakked away in front of the class, Kris's mind went elsewhere.
He imagined himself in a field full of roses in a wide, open space away from civilization. Then there were cherry blossoms that caught his eye, turning right around to see a large cherry blossom tree in the middle of a clearing. But as he veered closer, that wasn't the most beautiful thing he saw. For resting in the tree on a branch was Mei herself, only looking far more radiant that he thought of her as. Her long hair fluttered against the breeze, she wore red eyeshadow, mascara, blood red lipstick and had on a light pink sleeveless summer dress.
As soon as she saw Kris, she eyed with a half-lidded beckoning stare with a warm smile, blowing some blossom petals over to him, which danced along the wind and twirled around him all as a slight gesture of seduction. Kris took it and drew nearer and nearer and just then, Mei hops off the branch into Kris's arms, allowing him to embrace her lovingly.
Then the couple laid together in the soft, green grass, enjoying each other's company as they stared into each other's eyes. Mei gingerly rubbed Kris's cheek with her soft, warm hand and Kris held a hand to her waist. Then slowly, they were bringing their lips in for a kiss.
Unfortunately for them, their happy moment was about to come to an end. For in the distance behind where Mei laid on the ground before their lips could touch, a humongous figure arose from the horizon. As it got bigger and bigger, the once clear blue sky turned dark and filled with raging thunderclouds and roared and lightning struck, the roses in the field wilted and the cherry blossom tree lost all of its beautiful blossoms, the landscape losing all its color and and all its life.
For there towering about the worried couple was Ming Lee herself, now a massive giantess with an intimidating stature, her gigantic shadow cast down upon the two, fists on her hips and a deep, scary glare on her face as her eyes glowed bright red like that of a demon.
Before either of them could do anything, Ming reached down with a giant hand and scooped up Mei, clutching her in her fist. Mei tried to escape, but it was no use because there was no escaping the fury like a mother scorned. Mei looked back at Kris looking scared and even remorseful as she was lifted up in her giantess mother's hand like an action figure. Then Ming glowered down at Kris, who whimpered and shook before the gargantuan middle-aged woman lifted a foot over him and then brought it right down upon him with the intention of crushing him flat.
Then Kris screamed bloody-murder then snapped out of it. He was back in his classroom. His fantasy was over. Everyone was now staring at him funny, even the teacher. Kris panted and sweated before he excused himself to the bathroom, full-on running out of the classroom and into the boy's restroom to have a moment.
He had to pull himself together. Stay calm and stay collected. Now wasn't the time for delusions. As Kris rested his hands on the basin of the sink, he lifted his head up to see not his reflection staring back at him, but rather a tall, obese man with ginger red hair and beard. Kris yelped again and stumbled back against the stall doors. Then he started slapping himself silly, punching himself even, trying to wake himself up. He must still be asleep. He just needed to wake up.
Looking back at the mirror, the man was gone and he saw himself once more. Kris pants and heavily breathes as he tries to settle his breathing. He then approached the sink and got angry. Then with a growl, he punched the sink, which then shattered into pieces on the floor, to which Kris gasped. How could he have done that?
No. This was not the time. He's seen enough for right now. Now he had to return to class immediately.
He had just stepped out of the bathroom when suddenly a tall creature of some sort dashed down the hallway to his left. He was just able to take a brief glimpse of its red fur just as it disappeared from his view. Another hallucination perhaps?
"No. No. We're not having this today." Kris shook his head and returned to class without a second thought.
The rest of the day proceeded as normal.
Normal-ish, to exact.
The following day after that, however,...less so.
Peculiarly enough, Kris hadn't seen Mei again in school the whole day, which was weird. Not even during lunch. She just didn't show up at all. Mei's never been one to skip school and cut classes. Perhaps she came down with something and had to go home early yesterday?
Highly unlikely. She looked perfectly healthy last he checked.
Either way, he decided to listen to some music to calm his nerves. He put on his headphones, opened up his iPod and played his favorite band's biggest hit song: "Reap What You Sow/Høste det du sår" - Nörthfölk, from their first English-speaking album, The Ghosts of Helheim.
"~ Shot down from the sky
'Twas the sight before thine eye
Blood, pus and tears rain down
Red crimson that flows
Like a river of hate
In a valley of woe
Mistreated, mishandled
Mistaken, misunderstood
You know what they say
You reap what you sow!
You reap what you sow!
(YEAAAAHHHHH!)
(:chorus)
Rain down from the sky
The hammer of the gods
Arisen from the ash
Blood ready to spill
It may be your last
I get the last laugh
Why must you declare
I am not unaware
Of the hate that you give me
While it's care I give you
As I swing with such rigor
This you should know
If you ever should cross me
Then you reap what you sow
You reap what you sow!
You reap what you sow!
You reap what you sow!
I am not your clown
I am not your shadow
Let me tell you
You reap what you sow!
(YEAAAAHHHHH!-
Kris stopped in his tracks once he arrived at the Lee Temple and there was Mrs. Lee there, austere as usual.
"Hmph. And here I was expecting you to not show up at all, Mr. Bengtsson." She remarked coolly. "What are you listening to, anyway?"
"Just my favorite band." He answered.
Then Ming snatched his headphones off and placed it to her ear for a listen. Then she scowled with disgust at what she was hearing.
"Ugh! This music is even worse than that delinquent boy band, 4*Town!" She yowled, throwing them back to him. "Who in their right mind would listen to such tasteless garbage? Blasting all that loud, angry noise in their ears? Ridiculous."
Kris fought back a groan of frustration at Ming insulting his favorite music as well as his favorite band. To think she would go so far as to talk smack about his taste in music. Who was she to know anyway?
"So where's Mei anyway? Haven't seen her all day today. Is she alright?" Kris gently asked.
"Mind your own business!" Ming screamed at him angrily, flaring her nostrils and making him jump back in surprise by her tone before she began breathing in and out to chill out, pushing her hair back. "That is a private family matter. Now get to work."
"Alright." He sighed heading over to the gift shop, muttering, "No need to snap at me. Just asking a question."
"What was that?"
"Nothing!"
"Remember who you're speaking to, boy." Ming warned him, pointing a cautionary finger at him before walking away.
Another tiresome day at the temple as usual. Still no Mei around, making Kris more worried. This was so unlike her. To not even be here to help out at the temple with her mother? It was like she just vanished into thin air. It was a pretty slow day today. Not very much of a crowd. Only some people came and left, bought a few things at the shop and that was about it. Ming wasn't even there to give tours for the tourists and talk about Sun Yee. It was just him today. What the hell was going on in that house?
But it wasn't his place to know. Then again, there were times where Ming didn't always give speeches to their customers. It's not like this was a giant city museum or anything.
Deciding to take a quick break, Kris put up a small sign saying he was out to lunch and will be back in five minutes. Ming wasn't around to give him orders, so hopefully he should be good for now. But then overheard voices near a window of the Lee house. Biting back the fear of being seen by his boss, he sauntered over and saw the girls over by Mei's bedroom window. What were they doing here? Don't they know Mei's mom doesn't approve of their presence?
"Kris! Come here! Quick!" Miriam said, ushering him over.
"What are you guys doing here?!"
"We're worried about Mei." Abby explained. "She hasn't been in school all day."
"Mei, it's us. Open up!" Miriam called.
"Guys, what are you doing?! Go away!" Kris heard Mei's scared voice call from inside, but he couldn't see through the blinds.
"Are you okay?" Priya asked. "Tap if you can hear us."
"One for yes, two for no!" Abby shouted impatiently.
"Abby, shut up!" hissed Kris.
"We were so worried." Miriam attempted to reason with her. "We thought you'd died of embarrassment."
"You need pads? I brought extras." offered Priya.
Kris opened his mouth to ask, but his teenage mind flew straight to the only logical source of the Indian girl's question.
"I…I don't even wanna know." He groaned.
"Well, forget that!" Abby shouted, whipping out a flier about their favorite band. "4*TOWN'S COMING TO TORONTO!"
"What?!"
Suddenly, the head of a giant red panda creature poked out of the window just as Abby announced her piece out loud and answered with a voice that suspiciously sounded a lot like Mei's.
And then everyone screamed upon seeing the familiar beast before them and the animal screamed back with its paws high above its head. Then it grabbed all four of them in its arms and swooped them all inside Mei's room.
Oh my gosh! Kris and the girls have found out something weird about Mei and it's gonna get stranger from there. But how is Kris gonna be able to take it?
So Kris is still struggling at school thanks to some new changes of his own. He's starting to have hallucinations of a man from his dreams. But he hasn't got a clue of what it all means. Not only that, but he appears to be gaining some freakish new powers, like super strength. What's happening to him doesn't sound like normal puberty at all. And yes, even in his imagination, Ming still gets in between him and Mei. That's just show how confidence he is in himself. *Note the sarcasm*
Also, how do you guys like the song I made for Kris's favorite band, Nörthfölk? I made it all up myself on the spot. The lyrics are meant to correspond to Kris's situation at the Lee Temple where he's abused and mistreated by Ming every day and they also contain a teensy, subtle bit of foreshadowing.
Next Chapter: As days go by while Mei is made to remain home until her Panda is under control, Kris continues to catch glimpses of the same man from his dream and have more odd visions involving strange creatures as he begins to feel his own self changing in more….unnatural ways than normal.
Next Update: February 21, 2023