Chapter Text
Meg Griffin was walking down the school hallways that morning as she was putting her books away in her locker. As she was doing so, she heard her friends calling for her.
"Hey, Megan."
Meg turned and saw her three geeky friends, Ruth, Esther and Patty approaching her as Meg gave a smile. "Hey, guys." She then paused as she lowered her eyelids. "Wait... did you just call me 'Megan'?"
"That's your name, isn't it?" Ruth asked, tilting her head in confusion.
Meg paused before giving a sigh. "Actually, Meg is short for something else... something my dad decided to name me as a little joke. Mom and I don't like to talk about it."
Ruth, Esther and Patty looked at each other in confusion, before giving some nods. If it was something involving Meg's dad, it was best not to press it any further. Patty paused as she gave a cough, "Hey, did you guys hear about that new kid?"
"The emo Muslim?" Meg asked, raising an eyebrow.
"No, no, I know what Patty is talking about. There's this other guy that just transferred to our school. Mike Pulaski. He's a complete psychopath, never having any friends, just always threatening people left and right..." Esther said as she bit her lip in concern.
Meg blinked twice, this information being new to her. "Well, he can't be any worse than what I have to suffer through on school days with Connie."
"Trust me, Meg, this guy is BEYOND Connie D'Amico's level. I heard that in one of his schools, he knifed a kid on the playground, then beat up the knife!" Esther said.
"I heard he can watch Friday Night Lights without crying." Patty said in awe.
"I heard the volleyball team's playing a tournament in San Diego." Ruth smiled, causing the other two to lower their eyes at her. "There's a lot of exciting stuff going on, I just wanted to be part of the conversation."
"Well..." Meg shuddered a little. "This person sounds like the worse type of person. Has anybody seen what he looked like?"
The three friends looked at each other, but before they could answer Meg's question...
SLAM!
Their eyes, including those of the students in the hallway turned towards the entrance of the school to see a muscular blonde-haired kid in a white shirt, ripped jean jacket and jeans with tears on the knee caps walking in. Just one look at his face just called to 'stay away if you know what's good for you'. And considering he knocked four students out with shoving the glass doors out in his entrance, his looks are very well justified. Everyone, knowing who this man is, wisely backed away to let the kid through... the kid known as Michael Pulaski, but is known as the terror that roamed the school... Mental Mike.
"I take it... that's him?" Meg asked a bit as she watched him pass by.
"Yeah, and if I were you, Meg, he looks EXTRA moody today." Ruth shuddered.
"Best you steer clear of him." Patty said in concern.
"Even if you look at him wrong can set him off." Esther said as she clutched her heart.
"Do you think he'd actually hit girls?" Meg asked.
"It doesn't matter what gender you are, boy, girl, non-binary, gender-fluid... you set Mental Mike off, you're in his warpath, and he won't be satisfied until you're in pain and down on the ground." Esther explained as the four watched Mental Mike approach his locker and opening it up as they noted Neil Goldman approaching Mental Mike, as if trying to strike a conversation. Of course, Mental Mike turned to Neil in anger, immediately grabbed Neil as he was trying to 'welcome him in' and folded him like a balloon animal. He then knifed him in the arm, causing Neil to wince as Mike continued walking on his way. "Oof... looks like Neil learned the hard way that talking to Mike is pointless."
"I wonder what Mike's story is. How did he become like this in the first place, why is he like this?" Meg asked, tilting her head.
"Who knows? And quite frankly, who gives a shit." Esther sighed.
"Yeah, bullies can just be bullies. That's all there is to it, Meg." Ruth said.
Meg paused slightly as she looked over at Mike's departing form, as a lot of questions were forming in her mind. Sure, she wasn't dumb enough to approach Mike... he made it clear in his body language to stay the hell away from him... but she couldn't help but let her mind wander on the angry kid.
Of course, Meg put it in the back of her mind for now as she and her friends went further into the James Woods Regional High School to get to class. After all, no need to figure out Mental Mike right away, right?
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Of course, as the viewing audience knows, in the universe involving Meg Griffin and Mental Mike, Mental Mike was just that... a bully who would stop at nothing to make sure his enemies are on the ground... and when Meg bumped into him at lunchtime, it made her Mental Mike's next victim, all because of one spilled piece of food on his shirt, when she clearly had more on her. She would have gotten training from Quagmire to use her natural 'grossness' to her advantage, and melt Mental Mike into goo. An interesting idea for a cartoon, but in this alternate take, people have often asked... what would have happened if Meg and Mental Mike's first bump, with the food spilling ended up a little... differently?
Well, let's set up the scene a bit, start from the beginning of that encounter. Starting at lunchtime, where Meg and her four friends were walking down the cafeteria with their trays as they were heading for a table.
"Hey, you guys want to sleepover this weekend?" Patty asked as she looked around her friends. "My moms are going out of town to a scrapbooking/clam bake retreat."
"What are they going to do there?" Meg asked, turning her head, not noticing a certain muscular, threatening man walking past as he stood and looked around.
"They'll just be scissoring stuff and eating clams all weekend." Patty shrugged a little.
Meg smiled a little. "Sure, sounds grea-"
Of course, Meg bumped into Mental Mike's back, causing her to stumble as she fell on her tray, food being spilled on her as she stumbled backwards... all but one piece of spaghetti sauce, which flew straight up into the air as Meg looked over and yelped as she noticed who she had bumped into... and where the drop of spaghetti sauce was about to go as it went down... down... down...
SPLAT!
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Michael had felt both the bump and the splat of the spaghetti sauce as he gave a growl... he knew the moment he turned around, he would see the perpetrator, the one that got that sauce on him... whoever said person was was SO dead... after all, he was Mental Mike to everyone. Anybody who crossed paths with him... would be hurt beyond relief. Being the lone wolf, the angry kid, the one to stay away from... that was his role in life, and that was what people perceived him as.
However, after noting the spaghetti sauce on his jean jacket, he turned around to look at the culprit... only to come face to face... with... a boy? No, this was a girl... a girl who admittingly had a lot more on her than he did... an admittingly... cute girl... seemed to be the bookish, plain type, but had a face that displayed natural cuteness...
Deep within, Mental Mike was shaking his head in shock. Where did that come from? He should be angry at her, the nerve of her ruining his favorite jean jacket, the... actually, compared to him, the spill was on her more than it was on him, wasn't it? And... examining her, she seemed to be a bit pudgy, but still have a beautiful angle to her... his heart was beating fast as he examined her... the obviously scared girl who looked like she did wrong...
Part of him wanted to threaten her, but another part of him seemed to be arguing with his inner psychosity... like he seemed to be struggling with his feelings. By now, everybody had noted Mental Mike staring down at Meg and the spaghetti sauce on his jacket, causing everyone to gasp as Meg looked in horror.
"Ohhhhhhh... fuuuuuuuck..." Meg whimpered a little. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry!"
Mental Mike took a deep breath as he narrowed his eyes towards Meg, causing Meg to whimper as she seemed to be backing herself to a corner. Her friends, along with everyone else, just stood there, wondering what Mike's next move was going to be.
"Hey, dude. What's your name?" Mike asked, with a certain anger to his voice.
As if to escalate the problem, the sound of Meg's brother, Chris, was heard shouting out, "MEG GRIFFIN!"
Meg would have glared at Chris, but now wasn't the best time... not when she had a psychotic bully's eyes set on her. She winced, wondering what he was going to do next.
"Meg Griffin, huh?" Mike said as he approached her, narrowing his eyes.
Meg shut her eyes, wondering what Mike was going to do to her. The man took a deep breath as he took a few napkins as he looked at her. Meg was shaking timidly, like a leaf, wondering why nobody was stepping in to help her... or somebody calling one of the teachers... someone... anyone... she... she...
She finally felt something on her face... a napkin... wiping her face gently. Meg opened one eye in confusion as she looked at Mike, the muscular boy giving her a small, shy smile, something that he had never done before.
"Here, you have a little something on your face..." Mike said as he continued to wipe Meg's face. "Meg Griffin, huh... that's a very cute name."
Everyone gasped as all eyes were on Mike, surprised that, despite who he was... he was taking the time to wipe Meg's face. Even Meg was surprised at this kind gesture... as her heart started to beat gently.
Mike couldn't believe he was doing this, and yet... something inside him was telling him that... this felt right... after all, it was just an accident, and this girl looked really cute.
These two didn't realize it yet, but this was the day their lives changed everything.