….and as our band of glorious heroes sally forth on their quest over treacherous mountains of Ang-Kor, past the murky moors of Bayden Hill, through the misty and haunted forest of Elder Wood and reluctantly across the smell swamps of Bad-Breath Bog, nothing would stand in their way of their destiny.

Sir Sirk Thunderstrike of Nosstgneb eyed his surrounded on his gallant steed, armed with his sword of might. But he furrowed his eyebrows with sheer focus.

Something was amiss.

"What seems to be the matter, o' brave Sir Sirk?" asked Nezmareth, the powerful court magician.

"I fear we are not alone, o' great wizard." declared the valiant knight as he drew his sword and prepared himself for anything.

Not a single challenge that crossed their path would ever be too great. The three-headed giant, Mo, Bree and Deb, of the East Micmock Barrens were indeed a formidable adversary, but their bumbling overconfidence became their grisly downfall. The beautiful, but carnivorous sirens of the Reflection Pools of Summer Isle may have been attractive and alluring on the outside, but it compared to nothing on the inside. Their seductive songs of temptation were no match for their pure souls. However, their mother, the Giant Sea Serpent, would ensure they rue the day. In the ashen fields of Luc where the battlefields that beheld many-a great wars, there was the white rabbit.

But alas, his adorable appearance was merely a trap. A weapon to lure its prey closer and let their guard, allowing it the advantage to strike and sink its deadly teeth into their flesh. Luckily, our heroes had the Holy Hand-Grenade at their disposal, which helped make short work of the small, but vicious beast. It's lucky foot would be taken as a trophy of their accomplishment.

But now a new enemy would soon fall prey to the power of friendship and valor.

"What shall we do, my lord?" asked the half-elf warrior, Wigglesnack the Bold, clutching his bow.

"We get ready for anything. We have the element of surprise."

"Indubitably so, high one." The ugly, but friendly dwarf, Pimple, agreed. "What could it be?"

"It matters not. Ready yourselves, men." Nezmereth proclaimed, readying his staff's magic power.

Dismounting from their steeds, the heroes moved through the thickets with their weapons of choice, ready for another fierce battle to the death. The silence layered the landscape uncomfortably and the sounds of bugs and birds all around only increased their anxiousness, but warriors do not show fear nor emotion. They must brave through every danger, every trial and tribulation until any threat they've dealt with meets its end.

"What now, Sir Sirk?" asked Wigglesnack.

No answer.

"My-my lord? My lord? Hello?" He asked again.

Still nothing. Quiet.

Until it came for them. The sound of a ferocious beast of mountainous proportions thundered towards their direction and the heroes braced themselves. Once the beast was within their vision, it revealed itself.

A gigantic dragon beast with three snake tails, four wings, two small bird wings, horns shaped like an upside-down C, with MASSIVE ROCKET AND MISSILE LAUNCHERS ON ITS-

"Stop! Stop! Stop!"

"Oh, come on!" Rudolf complained, throwing down his troll figurine.

Kris and the boys were hanging out in their usual hangout, The Heartstone Cafe, a place where folks can buy and even freely play their favorite tabletop role-playing card games like Dungeons and Dragons, Arcana Encanta, The Lords of Decay, Dragon's Keep and Mazemaster. It wasn't too big of a place, but there were tables and chairs all around, placed for customers to sit and play their games. They even sold medieval-themed snacks and beverages. On the walls, kiosks, shelves and stands were a bunch of other games to choose from, figurines, action figures and a plethora of other merchandise.

Right now, the boys were playing the game, Onward, with the main protagonists being two elf brothers and there were dozens of characters and avatars to portray. However, there were four of them, so they only selected the ones that best suited them. What is currently going on, you may ask?

Well, story-wise: the so-called "band of heroes" were on a great and noble quest across the lands of Mykoria, braving dangers and overcoming obstacles in order to seek out the legendary Ruby Heart in order to rescue Sir Sirk's love interest, Princess Memee, who has fallen into a deep slumber and help save Mykoria from the Lord of Death and Darkness, Rekroth, who intends to spread a dangerous plague and rule all.

Took a lot of teamwork, groupthink and imagination to piece their little tale together. But as of right now, Kris was a little distracted.

"Why do you gotta keep bringing rockets into everything?" demanded Stig, placing his sorcerer figurine down.

"I'm only adding to the excitement. Rockets are badass." Rudolf defended.

"Can't Pimple forge any non-modern weapons for us? Like maybe a halberd or a double-bladed staff?" asked Roar with his half-elf figurine.

"This is all fictional. We can do whatever we want." Rudolf answered with. "And what if we had enchanted bazookas instead, that fire flaming skulls at the enemy?"

"Oh, yeah!" Roar agreed, since his friend kinda had a point. "On that note, perhaps we could have an army of sentient androids with laser eyes?"

SLAP!

"Ow!" The two yelped in pain when the annoyed Stig slapped them both in the face.

"Hate to be that guy, but you two are ruining the medieval setting!" He bellowed. Looking over at his brother, Stig finally took in Kris's thousand yard stare into space. "Pardon me, my lord. Why's it gone quiet on the western front?"

Kris snapped back to reality, turning to his friends.

"Sorry, guys. I've just had something on my mind." He explained, grabbing his knight figurine.

"Thinking about Mei again, I see?" Roar giggled teasingly.

The Norwegian boy blushed and was just about to speak up when suddenly, the girl in question came bursting into the shop.

"Speak of the devil." Stig deadpanned.

"Guys!" Mei rushed over to their table, slapping her hands down, causing everything to shake and knock over.

"Woah, hey!" Rudolf yelled. "Watch it! Us mighty warriors are in the middle of the gallant quest here! That sleeping princess isn't gonna save herself, you know."

"Uh, yeah..." Mei remarked discombobulated then turned to Kris. "Hi, Kris. Listen, I really need you guys's help with something. Have you told them yet?"

She whispered that last question to him.

"Hey, what happened to your hair?" asked Rudolf, pointing at Mei's brand new red hair.

"I guess that's a no."

"What's going on, anyway?" asked Roar.

"Well, I need you guys to come with me. There's something you need to see. It's really important." Mei responded desperately.

"Why can't you tell us now?" Stig said.

"I can't do it here in public." She argued. "It needs to be somewhere private."

"Now?!" Rudolf whined. "That dragon with rocket launchers needs to be slayed so that the quest may continue!"

"Why would a dragon have-? You know what, never mind. Just follow me please."

"Come on, Dolf." Stig sighed as he got up with his brother and Roar to go with Mei as they all left the store.

Outside, everyone found a nice secluded spot on the outside of the building near the dumpsters. Mei didn't want anyone else outside of the school to see her red panda just yet.

"Alright, now what did you want to show us?" Stig asked with folded arms.

"Okay." Mei calmed herself. "Just promise me you won't freak out, okay?"

Each of the boys gave their own exclaims of affirmation.

"Go ahead, Mei." Kris gently urged her.

Then Mei closed her eyes and tried to think of something that would excite her. She's only thankful Kris could see what she was thinking or else she'd have a heart attack. Then…

POOF!

She transformed into a red panda right before their very eyes. They each had their own reaction.

"Woah! Holy crap!" Roar backed away in surprise. "Mei?"

"Yep, still me."

"No way!" Rudolf's eyes widened larger than dinner plates as he curiously and eagerly started caressing her furry body. "You can do that?"

"Yeah. I've only started doing it recently." She confessed.

"It's some kind of family trait she's gotten from her mom." Kris explained to his friends. "Each woman in her family is given the power to become a giant red panda."

"Wow." Stig said in a kind-of, sort-of awed voice.

"Every time I feel any strong emotion, I turn into this. Rudolf, please." Mei began, but then had to push Rudolf off of her since he was getting too absorbed in her soft red fur. Then she calmed herself down once again to poof back into a human.

"If this is what you look like as a giant raccoon thing, I'd hate to see what your mom looks like as one." retorted Stig.

"First off: red panda. Second off: my mom's red panda is already sealed away. There needs to be a ritual where we need to lock our pandas away for good." She enunciated.

"When?" asked Roar.

"The next red moon, which is on the 25th of May." Mei answered.

"Hey, that's Kris's birthday!" shouted Rudolf in realization.

"It is?!" Mei's eyes bugged open, her shock causing her to poof back into the panda. Though, nobody was too taken aback at this point.

"Yeah. I'm turning 15." He nodded.

"Oh my gosh!" Mei then wrapped her panda arms around him and hugged him. "Why didn't you tell me? What are you guys gonna do?"

"Nothing much, just-"

"Mei, your favor?" Stig interrupted impatiently.

"Oh, right." She sighed, then transformed back to human form. "So here's the thing. Everyone at school, they really love the red panda and so me and the girls came up with an idea to use that to make enough money to see the 4*Town concert on the 18th."

"Uh, what?" Rudolf didn't seem to understand.

"That's it?" Stig scoffed, already skeptical about her plan. "You're gonna capitalize this thing so that you can go to a boy band concert?"

"Well, yes! Exactly!"

"Mei, you realize you girls are taking a huge risk, right?" Roar suddenly asked her matter-of-factly.

"What do you mean?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"All I'm saying is that you're exploiting this red panda of yours and making money off of everyone for a personal gain." He reminded her warningly. "I mean, are your parents even okay with this?"

"No! That's the point!" Mei started to flip out, but not transform since she had a controlled reaction. "I asked my mom about it the other night and she said 'NO'!"

The girl smacked her hands against her face in utter frustration and growling.

"I had put everything together just to convince her to let me go. I made a whole powerpoint and everything! And I had sparklers! And she still refused." Mei thundered and roared with anger. Roar even put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Sparklers? Wow." Stig droned, less than impressed.

"So you're doing all this without them knowing?" asked Kris.

"Of course I am."

"Mei, I understand how desperate you are for this concert, but we both know how your mother is. If she finds out about this, she will not be happy." Kris tried to reason with her.

"But guys, you know much 4*Town means to me!" Mei begged them. "It's really hard for me to do anything I want for a change. It's always what my mom wants for me. I'm just so tired of being her perfect little Mei-Mei. I wanna have fun. I wanna go wild. I wanna be my own woman! I don't wanna be perfect! I don't! I just wanna be…me!"

Mei started to break down in tears, the emotional baggage she unloaded taking a toll on her. Kris watched with remorse. He hated seeing her like this. He's always known how difficult it was for Mei to have to push and commit herself into living up to her mother's expectations. How hard it was trying to be herself for once instead of dolling herself up and being her mother's showdog. And as long as Kris had known her, Mei's spirit and heart wasn't in math books or championship awards, but rather in living her life to the fullest and the sound of her favorite music, specifically, 4*Town.

Kris finally made up his mind and hugged Mei and she accepted the warmth of his embrace.

"Okay, Mei. We'll do it for you." He assured her comfortingly.

"Really? You will?" Mei lit up immediately, hope gleaming in her eyes as she wiped the tears from them.

"But if you get busted for this-" Stig was about to remark warningly, but Kris shut him down with a knowing look. "Oh, fine. We're in."

"I guess so." Roar shrugged.

"100%!" Rudolf cried.

"Thanks, guys. This means a lot." Mei smiled gratefully.

"So what do we gotta do?"

Operation 4*Town Shakedown was a-go.

So the plan was as follows: They were going to sell as many red panda merchandise to the masses enough to make money for the girls to go see the 4*Town concert and they're coming to Toronto on the 18th, so they needed to have made $800 dollars for four tickets until then.

Now on paper, the plan only seemed easy enough due to the reception the red panda received from their classmates, but it was going to take a village to make all that merchandise. They were going to need to spend their own free time constructing red panda toys, red panda keychains, red panda ears and tails, red-panda sunglasses, you name it. It felt like Kris was back at the temple, selling red panda items at the gift shop, except he wasn't being nagged, underappreciated or kicked while he was down.

First of all, they needed to take care of Ming first so that she didn't suspect anything. Easier said than done, but Mei was able to pull it off by telling her that she will be attending mathletes after school each day. And hopefully by some miracle that Ming wouldn't pick up on anything strange. Next step was to spread the word.

Everyone was to be discreet about it so as to not attract any unwanted attention from the teachers or else the whole operation will be ruined. Using either secret notes or texts on their cellphones, all their classmates were invited to an unused classroom to get a good look at the red panda and just like that, they were all hooked on it like children at an amusement park. Everyone came to see the red panda and buy some of the group's awesome merchandise, like Stacy Frick, who took an instant liking to Mei's red panda cuteness, the goth girl that Stig hung out with.

Hell, even that bastard Tyler wanted in on the action, too.

And there was no way they were going to let that weasel-faced douchebag anywhere near Mei. Rudolf even drew the sign on the outside of the room himself proclaiming this thusly; "No Tylers!".

They even filmed a dance video of the red panda with their video camera. Mei even brought Kris into a solo dance together. As she panda'ed out pulling a soaring eagle move, Kris lifted her up effortlessly with crazed strength, shocking the crap out of their friends. They were having so much fun together selling red panda items, in fact the most fun that Mei's ever had in her life. Kris could even admit he was having the time of his life. The only problem was keeping Ming off their backs. Rudolf and Abby were on door duty and in charge of taking the students' money before allowing them inside and keeping watch in case Mei's helicopter parent mother came waltzing into the school to check up on them.

For what it was worth, Kris just felt really sorry for the security guard that had to put up with her every time that woman trespassed on school property just to spy on her daughter.

As for the merchandise, Kris invited his friends, along with Miriam, Priya and Abby, over to make some more red panda stuff together.

"Oh, what's all this?" Elsa asked, coming over to the table.

"Oh, uh." Kris stammered, trying to think of something. "Mei asked us to help manufacture some new things for the gift shop at the temple."

Yes, that should stick.

"Yeah. Totally." Miriam agreed.

"Okay. Just don't let Mrs. Lee know about this or else she'll bite your head off, Kris." His mother warned him before walking about, which left some worried frowns on the girls' faces.

"What does she mean?" asked Miriam.

"Mei's mom treats Kris like a slave at work." answered Stig rather unapologetically for his brother. "She nags him, insults him and totally underpays him."

"믿을 수 없어! That is so unfair!" Abby cursed with fury. "I always knew she wasn't very pleasant, but to think you'd had to take all of that from her? God!"

"Maybe you're not properly dressing up for the job." Rudolf naively suggested.

"DOLF!" Everyone gripped at him sternly as he was not helping.

"It's for the best." Kris muttered pathetically. "I need to help my mom out with supporting our family before she gets a job herself. Right now, she's studying how to be a nurse."

"A nurse? Wow. She'll certainly make a lot of money doing that." Priya said encouragingly.

Both Gnasher and Grinder bleated in agreement who were sitting on the kitchen floor together. Fang was lazing around on Stig's shoulders. The green serpent had his coils around his master's neck protectively and snuggly.

"Your snake is freaking me out." Rudolf shivered when the reptile stared at him.

"Relax, he's not poisonous." Stig rolled his eyes.

"How is that any better?"

"Fang is harmless. See?" Stig removed his pet from his shoulders and showed him to Priya. The snake just curiously coiled himself around the goth girl's arm and she wasn't too afraid at all. In fact, she smiled and gave Fang a gentle stroke down his body.

"What kind of snake is he, anyway?" Abby asked nervously.

"Ball python." The goth boy responded. "He's not very active much."

"He's cute." Priya cooed.

"Cute and deadly." Rudolf remarked and Abby nodded.

"So, uh, 4*Town, huh?" Kris began, now interested in learning more about this band they love so much. "What is it all about?"

"You don't know?!" Abby shrieked with disbelief, almost making the boy regret asking. "They're the hottest, most handsome, hunky boy band in the whole world."

"There's Robaire, Tae Young, Aaron Z., Aaron T. and Jesse." Miriam listed the band members off.

"But they're called '4*Town' and yet, there's five of them. Right?" Roar pointed out.

"Who gives a shit?" Stig grunted. "Look, you girls have some nice taste and all, but I know some cooler music from a real band called Nörthfölk."

"North-what?" sputtered Priya.

"Nörthfölk!" Rudolf repeated.

"Who are they? Are they like a cult or something?" asked Abby.

"Are you kidding me?" Stig balked out loud. "They're like the most badass Norwegian black metal band that's ever lived. They've first debuted in Scandinavia and have toured throughout Europe since 1990. Made over 14 albums."

"Black metal?" asked Miriam, making a weird face. "Ummm, wow."

"Huh, doesn't sound too bad." Priya shrugged.

"What are they like?" Abby asked.

Taking a break from their work, Stig brought everyone down into the basement where his bedroom was; his crash pad, his man cave and his little home away from home, whatever you wanna call it. The interior of his bedroom was exactly what you'd expect to look like, given from a rebel goth like him. It was practically loaded with dark, macabre and gothic decor all around, death metal memorabilia, including from his favorite band. And there were large posters of not just of Nörthfölk, but of Stig's favorite horror movies such as Sleepless Nights, There's A Man in My House, Cakeman I and II, Black Dahlia: A Lady's Scorn, Here Comes Krampus, A Massacre on West Ave., Hellmouth Park and many, many more.

His bed was just two mattresses laying on the floor with his nightstand just being a thick cardboard box. His blanket was black with a spider web on it and his bedsheet was grayish-white with black skulls and bones and his pillowcase was black with the picture of Larry the Killer Marionette from the slasher-horror franchise, Dummy. There were a lot of action figures, collectables and other paraphernalia of horror film characters and monsters from those movies and TV shows that he enjoys.

He even had his own television set with a VHS placed a couple feet in front of his bed.

There were books on his bookshelf filled with horror novels and all sorts of gothic literature, a couch next to his bed with a coffee table and a couple of bean bag chairs and finally, Stig had a collection a death metal records, especially those of Nörthfölk along with a record player. Some say it was a bit old-fashioned, but he didn't care. Stig thought it was cooler that way.

The girls were a bit put off and unnerved by the looks of the boy's room, although Priya wasn't too bothered at all. In fact, she thought it looked way homier than the rest of the house. Stig placed Fang back into his terrarium next to another seemingly empty one for a pet named 'Cooper'.

"Hmm, a lot of interesting artwork for their album covers." Miriam noted.

"I know, right?" Stig agreed with a smirk while playing one of their songs right now at low volume, of course. He pointed to each band member on their poster individually. "There's the lead singer and guitarist, Stefan Ingebretson. Born and raised in Norway. There's his girlfriend, Diana Birk, another guitarist. Then there's the drummer, Georg Johannessan, the bassist, Hrafn Hjarnarsson, the other guitarist, Lars Piet Plaggenmersch and the keyboardist and lyricist, Marvin Fuchs."

"Too many names for me to remember, but neat." Miriam replied. "Though, I think Diana Birk was the only one I got."

"Dang, they look pretty sick." Priya commented as she eyed the poster with awe.

"Damn straight." Stig nodded.

Then he picked up all the albums to show the 4*Townies.

"Even their albums look awesome on their own. Check it out. Midgard and Beyond. Welcome to Asgard. The Grand and Glorious Valhalla, that's the double album. A Mystery in Jotunheim, an all-time favorite. In both Norwegian and Swedish. Scuffle and Skimble in Svartalfheim, that one was introduced via BBC. That's the seminal album. Up Above in Alfheim.Deep Below the Niðavellir. Our Path Within Vanaheim. Classic. Burn in Muspelheim, classic. The Mists of Niflheim, another classic. The Ghosts of Helheim, yet another classic. That's the top-selling album of all with all their greatest hits. And it's their first English-speaking album, when they started touring in America."

"I think I got, like, 3% of all that." Miriam admitted.

"No offense, Stig, but these names all sound….really weird." Abby commented.

"Oh, most of them are related to the nine realms of Norse mythology. They're way into that stuff." articulated the dark boy. "Ask Kris. He's a real mythology nut, if you ask me."

"Well, he's not wrong." Kris agreed while laying on his bed. "Our dad was a fan of these guys and he introduced them to us years back. Since then, we have been obsessed with them."

"So your dad was a rock fan? Interesting." Priya smiled with her usual deadpan. "What was he like, by the way?"

Despite the music playing over the record player, an eerie and cold silence fell upon both the brothers. Both of their faces turned sour and somber, though Kris looked as if he wanted everything to just devour him up. The girls soon realized the dour atmosphere that enveloped the room and looked at each other with a combination of confusion, worry and curiosity.

"They don't like to talk about it. It's a very tense subject." Roar reminded them with a sad face.

"Oh. I see." Miriam let her eyes face elsewhere, besides the boys' faces.

"So who's that black bear on the covers?" Abby asked Stig to try and change the subject.

"That's Benny the Bear." Roar immediately answered to try and forget about the 'dad' topic. "He's their mascot. Well, not an actual bear they own. Just a cartoon character they made up. You know, like Mickey Mouse or Ronald McDonald."

"Wait, you mean Ronald McDonald isn't real?!" Rudolf gasped. "I'VE ALWAYS WANTED TO MEET THAT GUY!"

"Yes, Rudolf. It's obvious." sighed Roar, massaging his eyes in exasperation.

"How would you not know that?" Abby turned to her boyfriend. "What you see in the commercials is just some actor dressed up like him."

"Hey, here comes the best part here." Stig shut them both up to circle the conversation back around and turned everyone's attention to the song playing on the record player and turned up the volume a few decibels. It was the song, "Throw Your Head (and Scream)" from the Our Path in Vanaheim album. Of course, it was in Norwegian, so Stig sang it in English for them.

"...a grip at your legs
Love and lady begs
Air knocked from her lungs
Let the dread taint your tongue
Drown your sorrow
Come tomorrow
Thus begin anew

Just open your eyes
And when you see skies
Just throw your head and scream!

(SCCREEEEAAAMMMMMMMM!) ~"

Then all the boys in the room started doing wild electric guitar riff gestures with their hands and began violently thrashing their heads all around, head banging to the song's final crescendo. Stig's long hair whipped all around as his head jerked all around, making him look like a true rock star. The girls could only watch with mild bafflement, giving each other uneasy looks.

As soon as the song ended, the boys all ceased their thrashing and hand motions, all posing as if awaiting a standing ovation from the audience. Hesitantly, the girls gave a very half-assed round of applause, still unsure what to make of the loud, shrieking music.

"Anyway." Stig exhaled, brushing his hair out of his eyes. "Can we all agree that we each have our taste in music?"

"I agree." Miriam nodded. "I may not be a black metal fan like you, but if you guys like these Nörthfölk dudes, then that's fine with me."

"Right on." The goth boy responded back with gratitude.

"Even though, I praise 4*Town, I wouldn't mind coming over some time to have a listen to these songs. If you're interested, that is." Priya stated honestly, coming closer to Stig and bringing him into a one-arm hug.

"I'd really love that." Stig smirked and they both shared a passionate kiss.

"Priya! Are you betraying us 4*Townies for some black metal band?!" Abby shrieked with mock betrayal. "Again, no offense."

"Abby, please. I would never betray Jesse. But Stig here has a style that I just really love about him." Priya kissed him on the cheek. "He's my Gomez."

"And you're my Morticia." replied Stig looking deep into her eyes, kissing her hand much like the character did in the show.

Kris rolled his eyes at them. It came to no surprise that they now had pet names for each other based on the two characters from The Addams Family. But regardless, seeing them like this made him feel jealous once more. Seeing them kiss and address each other with cute nicknames made him imagine himself with Mei.

"You know, Kris." Roar began, sitting next to him. "We're aware that you have a crush on Mei."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah, it's like, totally obvious." Abby added, jumping on the bed with him. "We see the way you look at her and the way you speak with her at times. Like that time you called her cute."

"Don't bother denying it, pal." Miriam smirked at him with smug confidence. "Admit it. You are madly in love with her."

Kris sighed and said truthfully, "Yes, it's true. I'm in love with Mei."

"I KNEW IT!" Abby screamed proudly, making Kris wince. "YOU DO LIKE HER! I KNEW IT!"

"Yeah, yeah. We get the picture." Stig groaned with an eye-roll, pushing down on the plump Korean girl's head to settle her down. "Look, brother. All things considered, you really oughta start telling her how you feel."

"And if you don't, she may be gone and you'll regret it for the rest of your life." Roar explained to him.

"I don't know, you guys." Kris sighed sadly. "I really want to, okay? But I just can't. And it's not just that I get nervous about it or what she might say to me, but it's also her mom. She hates me."

"So?" Priya scoffed. "You shouldn't let that stop you."

"How? Mrs. Lee has hated me since day one." Kris complained. "She hates it when I interact with Mei, she hated it when I asked her if Mei was okay and she hates it when I call her 'Mei-Mei'. I'm the last person she'd want Mei to fall in love with. She would never let us be together."

Miriam sighed and sat down on the bed as well.

"Kris, I get it." She started. "You're afraid. And that's okay. It's okay to be afraid. But the more you hide behind your shell, the more it's gonna hurt your chances of moving forward. You need to tell her soon."

The boy knew she had a point, but what would happen if Ming ever caught Mei and him together kissing. Not only would she fire him, but she'll probably have him arrested or worse, kill him. And Ming has been a constant thorn in his side for as long as he could remember. That woman would stop at nothing to prevent her perfect little daughter from leaving her side. But how could he even begin to say it? His heart tells him to speak, but his mouth won't allow it.

Whether it's a fear of heartbreak or pissing Ming off any worse than before since he's already on her shit list, Kris was definitely afraid. But the skater girl was right. He can't stay afraid forever. He needed to be brave somehow, sooner or later. Not just for himself, but for Mei.

And it they're selling red panda perch for a concert. Guess Mei wasn't that successful at convincing her mom to let her go.

So now she's asked for the help of Kris and the boys. Days go by when they start loading up on cash from selling their red panda stuff to the whole school. With their love for 4*Town on their minds, Stig has decided to introduce the girls to the boys' favorite band, Nörthfölk. Of course, the girls aren't too interested in it, but they support their different tastes in music, nonetheless. Because it's not a bad thing if friends have different interests, right? And Kris is insecure about confessing his feelings for Mei, mostly due to her opinionated mother.

The scene where the boys are playing a tabletop roleplaying game; I took some inspiration from Monty Python and the Holy Grail and other known tabletop games like Dungeons and Dragons. And in case you didn't notice, I implanted a tiny Easter egg on the game they were playing, Onward - named after another Pixar movie that involved two elf brothers.

And I enjoyed writing the part where Stig talks about the band's album titles. Each one named after a Norse mythological location. And the horror movies have taken some inspiration from your common horror flicks like Dummy (Child's Play), There's A Man in My House (Halloween), Cakeman (Candyman), A Massacre on West Ave. (A Nightmare on Elm Street), and so on and so forth.

Next Chapter: As their Red Panda business continues to flourish, Mei's nemesis, Tyler, invites her to bring her Red Panda to his birthday party. At the party, Mei and Kris have the best night of their lives and Kris plans on telling Mei how he really feels. Unfortunately enough, Mei winds up attacking Tyler and gets busted by her mother, who promptly fires Kris, thinking him to be a bad influence on her daughter.

Next Update: February 28, 2023