Ming: And that was when Woods rescued you?

Adler: It was one heck of a rescue, I tell you.

Ming: So this Stitch, put numbers inside your head?

Adler: Yeah. There are some times when I can't think straight or I make some dumb decisions because of the numbers. Like what happened earlier. And occasionally, "he" talks to me through my mind.

Ming: You need to see a doctor for that.

Adler: How could I here? Nobody knows such program as I and several others in the CIA do.

Ming: Don't worry, Adler. I know you'll get through this.

Adler: Thanks for understanding, Ming.

--------------------

While Adler was telling Ming about the events that had led up to now, from Adler being captured by Stitch at the Pines Mall to being rescued by Woods and his team in Verdansk, Mei was in her room, busy being upset at herself for drawing herself with Devon. To make matters worse, she worried about how Adler would see her now.

Mei: You sicko! What were you thinking?! Why would you draw those things?! Those horrible, awful, sexy things?! And Adler saw all of that! What would he think of me now?!

After considering moving to another city and change her identity, yelling in her pillow, tearfully apologizing to a picture of Ming, and some more pillow yelling, Mei ripped all of the drawing pages of her and Devon in the trash bin before throwing the entire notebook in it.

Mei: This will never happen again.

--------------------

Adler was quite comfortable using the couch as a bed. After all, it was better than being strapped onto a stretcher for days under his captors. He thought he would finally be at peace in this world, but with Stitch still in his mind, he couldn't. Adler had fallen asleep, but he soon engaged in a conversation with "Stitch".

"How was your first day here, Adler?"

Adler (mind): To be honest, good. I finally take a break from all that action that you put me through.

"Ah, Adler. Thinking that you're the good guy in the story and I'm the bad guy."

Adler (mind): "Thinking?" You're a madman. Your plans will fail.

"How do we know if I'll succeed or not? We cannot see through the future."

Adler (mind): You and Perseus aren't mentioned in this world. The Soviet Union's gone, too. It looks like we beat you.

"Ah ah ah. That's where you're wrong. Perseus will live on forever, even if you would think you have vanquished them."

Adler (mind): I don't think so.

"I have said enough for today. Have a good night's rest, Adler."

--------------------

Adler woke up to the smell of food on the table. Ming was cooking breakfast while Jin was eating on the table.

Ming: Good morning, Adler.

Adler: Morning, Ming. Is Mei awake?

Ming: She's still asleep. Mei-Mei, are you up?

No answer. Adler got up on from the couch and sat down at the table. He started eating the porridge, which tasted good.

Adler: Mmm. This is good.

Ming: Breakfast is ready!

Jin: [sees the donuts] Mmm.

Ming: [sees Jin reaching for the donuts] Hey! No sugar.

Mei: [from afar] Coming!

Without anyone seeing her, Mei walked from her room into the bathroom for her daily routine. However, what she didn't know was that she had transformed into a big red panda.

Mei: Mmm. Porridge.

Mei yawned and then looked at the mirror. She didn't recognize her reflection until she bent down and saw herself as a big red panda.

Mei: [screams]

Mei closed the door to the bathroom, getting Ming and Adler's attention. Jin sneakily ate a donut while the two were distracted.

Mei: [breathing heavily] This isn't happening. This isn't happening.

Mei panicked and tried to "wake" up from her "dream" but soon realized that it was reality. She was a red panda. In her house. In the morning.

Mei: Wake up, wake up, wake up!

Adler knocked on the bathroom door.

Adler: Mei, is everything alright in there?

Mei: [gasps] Don't come in here!

"Jeez, Adler. What if she's doing her business in there?"

Adler (mind): Quiet, you. What if she's in trouble?

Ming: Let me handle this. [moves Adler out of the way] Mei-Mei, what's going on, honey? Are you sick? Is it a fever? A stomach ache? Chills? Constipation?

Mei: No!

Ming: Wait. Is it... that?

Once Ming said that, Jin, who was watching, slowly back out. Adler still stayed by Ming, confused at what that meant.

Ming: Did the... Did the red peony bloom?

Adler: "Red peony?"

Ming: It's, err...

Ming did a very brief explanation to Adler about what a "red peony" is, and I'm not gonna add the exact dialogue.

Adler: Oh...

Mei: No! [after a moment] ...Maybe?

Ming: [gasps] But it's too soon. Don't worry, Mei-Mei. I'll get everything you need. Mommy's here. [to Jin] Jin. Jin! It's happening! Adler, go to that cabinet!

Adler: Got it!

While Adler and Jin got the supplies out of the cabinet, Mei attempted to escape from the bathroom to prevent her mother from finding out, but her gigantic size prevented her from squeezing out the window.

Mei: [straining] Come on! Please! [groans]

Ming: Mei-Mei, I'm coming.

Mei: Crud.

Ming: I'm coming.

Mei: No!

Mei stepped into the bathtub and hid behind the shower curtain. Ming then entered the restroom.

Ming: It's going to be okay.

Mei: No, it's not! Will you just get out?

Ming: Excuse me?

Mei: [sputters] I didn't mean that. I'm a gross red monster! [sobbing] Stop it! Stop talking!

Mei slapped herself to stop talking. Her efforts to indicate that she's a red panda failed.

Ming: [clears throat] Mei-Mei, I know this is upsetting, but we are going to get through this together.

Ming then set the supplies on the bathroom sink.

Ming: I have ibuprofen, vitamin B, a hot water bottle, and pads. Regular, overnight, scented, unscented, thin, ultrathin, ultrathin with wings...

Mei: [while Ming is talking] Uh -huh. All right. Awesome. Just leave them by the sink.

Ming: Mei-Mei. Perhaps, we should talk about why this is happening...

Mei: No! I mean, nag, it's okay.

Ming: You are a woman now, and your body is starting to change.

Mei: [muffled] Mmm-hmm.

Ming: It's nothing to be embarrassed about.

Mei: Mom, please!

Ming started pulling slowly at the shower curtain.

Ming: You are now a beautiful, strong flower...

Mei: Nonononono.

Ming: ...who must protect your delicate petals, and clean them regularly

Just as Ming pulled away the shower curtain, revealing a red panda Mei, she faced towards the doorway, not noticing her daughter's transformation and instead smelling smoke with the alarm beeping.

Adler: Ming! The porridge!

Ming: [sniffs] My porridge.

Jin: [yelling]

Ming then left the restroom in a hurry to help Jin and Adler.

Jin: Somebody call emergency!

Adler: Open a window!

---------------------

Mei eventually was able to revert herself back into human but now had orange-red hair and eyebrows. When she changed into her school clothes, Mei put a tuque on her head. Both Ming and Adler noticed this but thought that it was only because it was gonna be cold later in the day. Ming and Adler then took Mei to her school.

Ming: I know it feels strange, Mei-Mei, but I promise, nobody will notice a thing.

Mei: Thank you for your concern, Mother. But I'll be fine.

Adler: [hands Mei some items] Well, here ya go, Mei. Lunch, extra snacks, and... [to Ming as he held a thermos] What's this?

Ming: And herbal tea. For cramps. It helps relax your-

Mei: [quickly] I got it. Thank you. Bye.

Mei got out of the car and made her way to the entrance. She looked back at Ming and Adler and gave them an unsure thumbs up. Ming looked back with concern while Adler gave Mei a quick salute before Ming drove off.

As Mei entered the school, everything seemed normal. Friends were with each other, talking about stuff like 4-Town. Miriam, Priya, and Abby were at a bulletin board, looking at the ads placed on there.

Girl #1: Let's go, Beavers! Let's go!

Miriam noticed Mei and went up to her.

Miriam: Hey, Mei.

Mei: [awkwardly] Hey, girlfriends. What is up?

Miriam and the others looked in confusion before joining up with Mei.

Miriam: Uh, what's with the tuque?

Mei: Uh... bad hair day.

Abby: [sniffs] Did you, like, work out this morning?

Priya handed Mei a bottle of deodorant.

Priya: I got you, girl.

Miriam: Mei, we gotta talk.

Mei: Okay.

Miriam: Tyler's bee telling everyone about the Daisy Mart.

Mei: What?

Abby: He said your mom went nuts and Adler went crazy. He pulled a gun on people!

Priya: And that you're kind of a perv.

Mei: [angrily] I AM NOT A- [breathes deeply] Tyler is an insecure jerkwad. Words were exchanged. Slightly uncomfortable secrets were revealed. End of story... [slurring]

Mei then glimpsed over a boy with long hair who wore a grey "Escapula" T-shirt. The other girls looked at Mei, who had sparkling heart shaped eyes before Miriam got her attention.

Miriam: Uh, Mei?

Mei: [gasps]

Miriam: Why are you staring at Carter Murphy-Mayhew?

Mei: I wasn't.

Then, Mei saw several posters of her drawings with her and Devon together. She tensed up in fear.

Mei (mind): I thought Adler tore up all of those!

Mei: [gasps] No!

Mei grabbed one of the posters and tore it down.

Miriam: Tyler keeps putting these up. Knock it off, butthead!

Tyler put up another poster as he laughed and taunted Mei.

Abby: Not funny, Tyler!

Tyler: Devon, my precious manly man!

Miriam: Literally go away!

Priya: I banish you.

Abby: What is wrong with you?

Mei: I'm gonna kill him!

As Tyler kept mocking Mei while Miriam and the others tried to get him to stop, Mei's red panda hand popped up, then disappeared and then her tail popped out. Mei attempted to hide them from her friends and the entire school.

Tyler: Smell you later, dorks!

Miriam: Yeah, that's what I thought. Get out of here dude.

Abby: We gotta tell Adler about this.

Mei: [chuckles nervously] Gotta go. Uh, see you at lunch.

Miriam: Mei?

Mei chuckled nervously as she went into her math classroom while the bell rang. Miriam followed her and sat down by her. A girl behind them noticed Mei's erratic movement.

Girl #1: What's with her?

Miriam: [aggressively] What's with your face? [to Mei] What is with you? You're being weird.

Mei: I'm just really excited about math.

The door opened and Mr. Kieslowski, the math teacher, came in.

Mr. Kieslowski: All right, guys. The quadratic formula. Let the fun begin.

On the contrary, many students groaned. Just another day at the office.

As Mr. Kieslowski taught the class, things seemed normal for Mei. Nobody seemed to bother her. That is, until Miriam started exchanging notes with Mei.

Miriam (note): U sure u're ok??

Mei (note): Yup! All good!

Miriam then wrote another message that disturbed Mei once she read it.

Miriam (note): Your mom is OUTSIDE

Mei went to shock as she slowly looked outside, seeing her mother with shades spying from afar, hiding behind a tree.

15 minutes earlier

Adler: You think Mei's gonna be okay?

Ming: [sighs] I hope so, Adler.

Ming parked the car in front of a clothing store. Adler looked outside and was confused.

Adler: Ming, what's the meaning of this?

Ming: I can't have you going everywhere wearing just a plain T-shirt and military pants and boots. [hands Adler some Canadian dollar bills] Here, buy yourself some new clothes.

Adler: Okay.

Adler got out of the car and entered the store. As he browsed a few shirts and pants, "Stitch" came back to his mind.

"I see Mrs. Lee is interested in you."

Adler (mind): I doubt that. She's just looking out for me.

"And why exactly is she doing that, hm?"

Adler (mind): It's what friends do.

"Wise words. Surely it's because you care for her daughter, right?"

Adler found the same exact brown leather jacket, dark grey shirt, tan dress pants, and brown dress shoes that he liked wearing back in his time. He took them off the hangars and calculated their total costs. It was enough to afford.

Adler (mind): Who knows what's happening to Mei? I hope she is okay.

"Just as how you used to care for Bell?"

Adler went to the counter and paid for the clothes.

Adler (mind): Bell knew too much in the end. I had to neutralize him/her/them.

"And would you do the same to Mei?"

Adler went into the dressing rooms and got changed.

Adler (mind): Are you crazy? I've change since what happened in Solovestky in '81.

"Well, that's good to hear. Best you get back to Ming now. It's been 10 minutes."

Adler walked out of the store and went inside the car. Ming was impressed with Adler's new clothes.

Ming: Nice clothes.

Adler: Thanks. It's like what I wore back then.

Ming: Oh. I see.

Ming then drove near the school and parked at the front of the school. She got out and pulled a pair of shades on.

Ming: Wait here, Adler.

Adler got out of the car.

Adler: Wait, where are you going?

Ming: I've got to see if Mei-Mei's alright. It'll be for a moment.

Adler: Alright.

-------------------

Mei: No no no, this isn't happening.

Mei couldn't believe it. Her mother was outside, watching her like a hawk. That was until Malik, the school's security guard, approached Ming.

Malik: Hi. Uh, ma'am? Hi!

Ming: My child goes to this school.

Malik: Why don't you come to the front office? I'm sure that someone can-

Ming: Keep your- [kicks Malik in the leg]

Malik: Ow!

Ming: I pay my taxes.

As Malik and Ming struggled, the commotion slowly gained the attention of Mei's class. One by one, the kids started piling up at the window, watching the situation unfold.

Mr. Kieslowski: All right, all right, settle down little goblins. [sees the situation] Whoa!

Ming: Stop it! Mei-Mei!

Mei: No. Please, no.

Ming: Mei-Mei, help! Mei-Mei, tell him it's me! Mei-Mei!

Malik: I will report you for trespassing!

Ming: Tell him it's Mommy!

Every time she heard her mother yell out for her, Mei breathed heavily each moment. That was until she couldn't take or anymore.

Ming: Mei-Mei! Tell him you forgot your pads! [shows the pads in front of the entire class]

The entire class exclaimed. Mei screamed and shrieked as she turned into a red panda, roaring and engulfing the classroom with pink smoke. While all of the students and Mr. Kieslowski were trying to open up the windows to let all that smoke out, Ming saw what Mei had transformed into. Mei, ashamed of how she appeared in front of the classroom, ran out.

Ming: Mei-Mei. [enters the classroom] Come back!

--------------------

It had been a while since Ming had gone to check on Mei. Too long, thought Adler. He had enough waiting for Ming. Adler tried the front doors of the school. Locked.

"Adler, do you really think they would freely let strangers in?"

Adler (mind): Did anyone ask?

He then went to the right to try the gate. As Adler was about to pry open the gate, a giant red panda came running towards him fast.

Adler: Woah!

The red panda smashed through the gate, flinging Adler onto the ground. He groaned and turned around, seeing the red panda disappear from across the street. He got up as he saw Ming burst through the front doors.

Ming: Mei-Mei! Stop! [sees Adler] Adler, what happened?!

Adler: Some kind of red animal knocked me down. I'm fine.

Ming: Come on! That was Mei-Mei!

Ming and Adler got inside her car and started driving.

Adler: What do you mean that was Mei? Ming, what's happening?

Ming got on her flip-phone and dialed Jin.

Ming: Jin. Jin, get home now. There's been an emergency.

Jin (phone): Is it the woman thing?

Ming: No! Another one.

Adler: Ming, care to explain to me what the heck's going on?

Ming: That red panda you saw earlier? That was Mei-Mei!

Adler: What?!

As Ming drove to an intersection, a huge sign came down several feet in front of them. A fire escape was down on the street too, with several cars on the other lane crashed into each other. Ming and Adler looked up to see Mei running on the rooftops, the latter just seeing only a red panda. Ming and Adler got out of the car.

Ming: Mei-Mei. [takes off her shoes] Mei-Mei!

Adler: You go that way! I'll take the other way!

Adler and Ming split up in different directions, chasing after Mei. Adler eventually caught up with Mei at the temple due to his extensive CIA training at chasing, running into the house and into Mei's room. Adler saw Mei covered up in her blanket, combing her fur with combs to calm herself down.

Adler: Mei? Is that... you?

Mei: [sobbing] Don't look at me, Adler! Stay back!

Adler: Mei, everything's gonna be alright, okay? Your mother's coming any moment now.

A few seconds later, Ming came inside the room.

Ming: Mei-Mei?

Mei: Mom?

Ming: Sweetie, it's okay. Mommy is here.

Mei: What's happening to me?

Jin then came inside the room.

Jin: What is it? What... What... [sees Mei and gasps] It's happened already?

Jin's response made Ming shake her head in disappointment, knowing that the family's secret was out, while both Adler and Mei slowly turned their heads toward him, the latter stopped sobbing.

Adler: What do you mean by, "already"?

Mei: What did you say?

Jin laid a hand on Ming's shoulder.

Jin: Ming? It's time.