Chapter Text
“I’m still impressed you and Xia managed to take down a rogue government agent,” Miriam said, looking towards Mei, the two of them walking beside each other down the corridors of Lester B. Pearson Middle school, passing by several noisy classrooms as they went, the sounds of excited children echoing from within. Miriam and the rest of Mei’s friends, Abby and Priya, remembered how she and her cousin had defeated Jason Vaugn, the head of a black-ops government organisation known as the Panda Control Agency, saving them from any further harm after he had abducted them.
“Why do you always have to bring that up, Mir?” Mei responded, rolling her eyes, a loud sigh escaping her mouth. She had been wanting to forget about Jason for several months, all the horrific things he had done to herself and her family still scarring her mind. Her friends seemed adamant on bringing him up all the time, however, much to her dismay. She knew they meant well, simply trying to say how proud they were of her, but she still didn’t like it.
Miriam, noticing Mei’s troubled expression, placed a hand on Mei’s right shoulder as the two of them reached their next class, waiting for Mr. K to arrive. They stood outside the door, talking in hushed voices like secret agents so no-one could overhear them; this was a conversation they preferred to keep private as much as possible. Not many knew of Mei’s struggles with the PCA, and they wanted to keep it that way.
“I know you don’t like us talking about it, Mei. But you still have to remember how many innocent people you had saved, which includes us,” Miriam said, giving Mei a warm smile. Mei liked this, and gave Miriam a brief hug.
“Yeah, if it weren’t for you and Xia, none of us would be here right now!” Abby yelled, panting for breath as she caught up with them. She arrived a few minutes later, after getting stuck in bad traffic on the way to school. She informed the two of them Priya had fallen ill, and decided to stay home for the past few days. Neither of them had any idea where Tyler was, however; it seemed strange for him to be off without telling them why, and they all felt concerned. The teacher, Mr. K, arrived outside the classroom and opened the door for them, entering the class and walking towards his desk where he sat down, preparing for the day’s lesson.
The students all stormed in and took their seats, Mei and Miriam sitting next to each-other as they normally did. Abby told them she had science with Miss Lee, Mei’s cousin, and went off to her class, which was not far down the hall from where they were.
“It’s nice to know your cousin’s still teaching here,” Miriam said, while also looking at the equations Mr. K had written on the whiteboard in front of them; they were studying algebra that day. Mei had started taking notes, knowing they might be useful in their next exam coming up in a few weeks.
“You’re right, Mir. Perhaps I should speak with her after class is over,” Mei replied, wondering what kind of animals Abby and the others would be learning about this time; a few months ago, Xia had taught them about red pandas.
There was a small puff of pink smoke, and two giant red panda ears appeared on top of Mei’s head. She looked up and gave a small smile; she liked being in class with her panda ears, and almost everyone else at school found her panda form adorable after she accidentally revealed it to them the previous year while she was raising money to go to the 4*Town concert. Mr. K allowed her to do this as it helped improve the otherwise dull atmosphere of the class, while reminding the students they still needed to concentrate on the lesson.
Once the lesson had ended, everyone got out of their seats, saying goodbye to Mr. K as they left the classroom, making their way down the corridors towards the science class, where Xia would be waiting for them. They all spoke in hushed whispers, too indistinct for anyone to decipher what they were saying.
The distinctive sound of sirens came blaring from outside just as they had neared the classroom, getting louder by the second; whatever was making the noise was getting closer. Everyone in the corridor looked towards the large double doors, trying to work out what was going on as flashes of red and blue light seeped through the gap between the doors. Someone outside knocked loudly on the doors, which rattled with each bang.
“Toronto Police Department, open up!” A voice on the other side commanded, loud enough to be heard over the sound of the sirens.
“I’ve got it!” Xia said, running down the corridor with a slight limp, her light grey coat and red hair covered in dirt. Mei had always wondered how she got the limp, but that was a story she never told anyone, even those she trusted.
Xia, having reached the doors, brushed herself off and pulled them open to see who was outside, not expecting anyone to be there at that moment.
Two uniformed police officers, a man and a woman, stood on the other side, both with very stern looks on their faces. It was apparent these two officers weren’t there to celebrate a birthday or deliver presents for the children, they were there for something else, or perhaps someone.
“Miss Lee, we need you to come with us to the station for questioning,” the male officer said, looking directly at Mei, who seemed both shocked and worried; what do these officers want with me? She thought, recounting the last run-in she had with government authorities, and Jason’s plans to sell her family for profit while deceiving everyone into thinking he was helping the city.
The male officer, the older of the two, had short grey hair, with some stubble visible on his face. Mei’s face was reflected in his icy blue eyes, which had narrowed as he looked at her, his lips pursed, hands hidden in his trouser pockets.
“Okay, I’m coming,” Mei groaned, pushing her way past the large crowd of people that had soon formed around the doors, heading towards the entrance where the two officers were waiting. She stood next to Xia, who was trying to figure out what was going on, why these two officers were there. She knew something was very wrong, but she wasn’t sure what.
“I’ll come, too, if that’s OK with you guys?” Xia added, informing everyone else science class had been cancelled for the day. She introduced herself to the two officers, who allowed her to join them, and followed Mei and the two officers outside, using her ornate cane to support herself as she walked down the ramp towards the street, where several police cars were waiting.
The female officer, a younger woman who was much shorter than her partner, brushed a few strands of long, dark red hair back with her hands as the wind kept blowing it in front of her hazel eyes. Each time she looked towards the other officer, she shuddered, her heart racing, forcing her to look away each time. A black bag was slung over her shoulder, and Mei wondered what was inside.
The two officers led them towards a black and white police car waiting outside the school gate, opening the back doors so they could get in before she and her partner got in the front. Mei and Xia were both curious as to why the officers wanted to speak with them, asking questions along the way as they set off towards the station. The female officer, the more well-mannered of the two, noticed their confused expressions and told them everything would be explained once they had reached the police station.
After a short journey, they arrived at the Toronto police station, a large building towards the north-east side of the city. The officers opened the back doors of the car, letting out the two passengers, and guided them through the front doors, down several corridors, towards the interrogation room. The female officer held the door open, allowing the others to enter, ordering Mei and Xia to sit down by the table in the middle of the room. The two officers sat opposite them, their arms crossed, resting on the table. The female officer reached into her bag, which had dropped onto the floor, and pulled out a folder, sliding it across the table to Mei and Xia, who both looked down; the words ‘TOP SECRET’ were visible at the top, written in large, red letters. This was a case only they could know about.
“Meilin Lee, I am officer Jessica Reynolds, this is my partner, officer Harvey Johnson,” The female officer said, gesturing towards her partner when she mentioned his name, “We regret to inform you your friend, Tyler Nguyen-Baker, was murdered earlier this morning.” She looked at Mei, her eyebrows angled downwards towards the bridge of her nose. Jessica knew how much Mei’s friends meant to her, having spoken with them before; she was also close friends with Miriam’s mother, the two of them having known each-other since they were at school.
Mei wiped away a single tear that trickled down her cheek. She could hardly believe this news, and tried her best to keep her emotions in check, lest she panda out in front of the two officers, who for all she knew could be PCA agents.
“What? Tyler, killed? How?” She asked. These questions, and many more, came rushing into her head, her heart started beating faster as she started losing focus on what the two officers were saying. She had to remain as calm as possible, so she took deep breaths, slowing her heart rate to a normal pace, and she managed to refocus on the two officers once more.
Before any of the officers could answer questions, Xia spoke up, giving them her own thoughts on the matter. “I might not know who’s responsible, if that’s what you want to know. But I do have my suspicions on who they might be working for; I believe whomever’s responsible is a member of a top-secret government agency known as the PCA,” she told them. She looked towards Mei, allowing her to rest her head on her shoulder.
The two officers looked towards each-other, confused expressions on their faces.
“Who are these ‘PCA’ people you speak of, Xia?” Harvey asked, as though he were unfamiliar with the name. He knew about quite a lot of government agencies, but it seemed this was one he had never heard of during his entire career, and he wondered if they were even real.
Xia, seeing the disbelief on the officers' faces, told them everything she knew about the PCA, and the horrific things they had done to herself, Mei and the rest of her family throughout the past few months. She didn’t mention the fact herself and Mei happened to also have the ability to transform into giant red pandas,however, as she didn’t want to raise any suspicion in case any PCA agents were around who might be listening in.
“Hmm, perhaps you should be honest with us and not tell fables, Miss Lee,” Jessica said, eying Xia as if she was trying to work out whether she was lying. She told her she had heard about the red pandas, but had always dismissed them as mere fantasies as she didn’t believe in the supernatural, only scientifically proven facts, but also added she did find normal red pandas adorable.
“These aren’t fantasies, they’re the truth!” Mei remarked, barely managing to restrain herself from strangling Jessica. She knew Jessica didn’t mean it that way, however. Wanting to prove Xia wasn’t lying about their abilities, she got out of her chair, walked towards the back of the room, and transformed into her giant red panda form. The officers both looked at her, their jaws almost dropping to the ground as they took a moment to take in what they were seeing.
Jessica prevented herself from squealing upon seeing just how cute Mei was in her panda form. She wished she could run up and hug her, to pet her soft red fur, but knew she had to act professional, so remained where she was, allowing only a small smile to form on her face. Harvey didn’t seem anywhere near as happy to see Mei’s panda form. Quite the opposite, in fact; he stood up out of his seat and marched like an angry parent over to Mei, who had transformed back to her human form, satisfied that the officers now believed Xia. Stopping Mei from going back to the table, Harvey slapped a pair of handcuffs around her wrists and started to escort her out of the room, much to the shock of the others in the room.
“Harvey, what the hell are you doing?” Jessica asked, her eyes widened, looking straight at Harvey. She took a quick glance towards Xia, who was as mortified as she was, seeing how aggressive Harvey was acting.
Xia got up and stood there, frozen to the spot. Despite everything she had done to protect Mei, she knew, now, she couldn’t keep her cousin safe from the PCA forever. She picked up the file and looked through it; there was information regarding his identity and his last known location. But there was one thing at the end of the file that made her eyes go even wider. As she reached the last page, she saw the list of suspects, and there were two names on there; herself, and Mei. She slammed the file down on the table, and made her way towards Harvey and Jessica, looking ready to punch the former in the face.
“I’ve heard people like her are dangerous, Jessica. And, personally, I’d rather keep danger locked away for safekeeping, rather than risking any more innocent lives. And I’m quite certain you read through the file earlier, did you not?” Harvey responded, as though Jessica had said something that had offended him. He gestured towards Mei and Xia, “I believe you already know how these two had killed an innocent boy: Tyler Nguyen-Baker.”
Xia pushed past Jessica, trying to rescue her cousin from Harvey’s clutches. It was no use, however, as Harvey was much stronger and more skilled at combat than her and managed to throw her to the ground with ease.
“Please, Harvey. Can’t you see she’s an innocent young woman? She didn’t do anything. What has gotten into you?” Jessica screamed, trying to bring her partner to his senses.
“That’s enough, Sar… Jessica!” Harvey snapped, slapping Jessica across the face with his free hand. He left the room, grabbing Mei by the arm and guiding her forcefully through the prison complex like she was some sort of dangerous animal rather than a person, not even bothering to tell her where they were going.