The still disguised Panda sighed as he watched the mayhem from a >>shaded

store front. A cab, police car, airplane, hopping purple hard-suited

Kendra, Prodinator, Kergma and Stargazer were standing in the middle of
the street arguing as the last bits of glow faded from inside the cab. It
looked like Wing

   The short blond woman crouched on a nearby rooftop and looked down at the
chaotic scene below her.  She suddenly blessed the false information she had
received that had sent her to China, where she had had the misfortune of
falling into some weird pool.  She was later informed by the local guide
that the pool was part of Jusenkyo, the infamous training ground that her
late husband had told her of.  Luckily, she had fallen into Nyanniichuan, so
there had been no effect.  It could have been much worse.  The delay had
cost her precious time in her hunt for the Panda, but it had also spared her
from participating in this ridiculous chase.  She decided not to maim the
'Hatrack' who had misinformed her.

Stargazers monitors register the transport, but they also inform him that
only one being was 'ported out of the cab, the same one who 'ported in.  He
thinks to himself, "Hun?  Thats not Panda, so who just did that? Oh, well.
If it wasn't my prey, it doesn't matter. I'd better see if he's nearby."
Stargazer leaves the arguement and walks into a nearby restaurant so that
he could use his scanning equipment without the other 'hunters learning
any thing from him. He orders BBQ spare ribs, and some eggrolls to munch
on while his scanners search in the small hope that he could still trace 
Panda by the radiation of his disguise equipment.

With that Panda and the two burly yakuza exited Grandafather Chang's
restaurant, and were soon well away from the still chaotic scene out front.
As the scene developed into a traffic jam, several of the particpants
abandoned the endless argument and sought refuge in the tiny >>restaurant,

while the police were busy writing traffic violations. Chang >>just smiled
and handed out menus while thinking to himself, "That >>Panda-kun! He bring
me business whenever he in trouble!"

   C-ko Hibiki spotted the woman with the two bullyboys exiting the
restaurant.  Something about them rang an alarm in her head, so she focused
her macrobinoculars on the trio.  Her trained eyes quickly spotted the
woman's disguise, and she grunted in satisfaction, certain that she had
found her prey at last.  She debated dropping him right there with a tranq,
but decided that the nearness of the other hunters precluded that option.
   _Just wait,_ she thought to herself.  _The time will come._
   As the group entered a vehicle,  C-koH rose to her feet.  She began
following the Mustang, leaping from rooftop to rooftop, taking care to
remain out of sight of the vehicle's occupants.

Stargazer's equipment suddenly gets a fix on Panda, "He's here?!?!?"
Stargazer suddeny shouts outloud.  Suddenly, the signal starts moving
faster, as though Panda had gotten into a new vehicle.  "I'm gonna get that
Fuzzy, and make him REALLY endangered!"  Stargazer suddenly 'ports >out of

the restuarant, much to the surprise and disagreement of the nearby >yakuza,
management, and waiter (who didn't get his tip)!

While the two yakuza argued over who would win the Stanley Cup, Panda
sat in the back seat of the speeding car and deactivated the keypad on his
wrist. 'Won't need this anymore,' he thought to himself as a flash of blue
light filled the car. Panda's disguise immediately vanished, while the car
suddenly swerved, the driver's eyes slowly adjusting from the blinding flash
of light. "Oops. My fault," Panda apologized. The yakuza sitting in the
front passenger seat turned to Panda and grunted. Panda grinned sheepishly,
and after removing the keypad, he set it on the seat beside him while he
rubbed his wrist.

Shortly, the white Mustang 5.0 screeched to a halt in front of Master
Kido's. Panda stepped out of the car, and then turned to thank the two
yakuza who had escorted him to Master Kido's, but they were already speeding
away down 45th street. Panda was about to enter the temple-like building in
front of him when he looked at his paws, sensing something was missing. The
keypad was gone. "Oh well. I'll bet the boys will have fun with that little
gadget whenever their girlfriends say they are overweight."

   C-koH, panting slightly from the exertion of the rooftop race, witnessed
Panda, now in his usual form, exiting the car, and nodded to herself.
   _I just just *love* being right,_ she thought to herself as the car sped
away.

Panda walked up the shallow steps and entered Master Kido's dojo. The
curvaceous girl, that had been following him discretely, giggled again as
she watched her black and white target disappear into the dojo. "Really
Panda," she remarked to herself. "You are FAR too predictable!"

   C-koH spotted the other woman concealed nearby.  _Damn.  A complication,_
he thought disgustedly.  _I knew my luck had been too good of late._  Moving
carefully, the blond warrior melted away into the shadows.  No sense letting
the other one know...
   She examined the building from all angles, taking care to remain out of
the other hunter's view, and considered the risks involved in breaking into
a dojo.  Who knew how skilled the martial artists within might be, or what
techniques they may have learned?

Stargazer is quite fed up with the whole chase, "Now its time to get serious!"
He 'ports in a Battletech Marauder II-c.  He climbs up into the cockpit.
"This shouldn't be too hard to piliot."  He overides the security lockouts,
puts on the neurohelmet and 'ports the whole mech to a block in front of
the yakuza car. As it comes speeding down the road, he fires 3 ER-PPCs
into the road in front of it, causing the car to spin-out as it swerves to

avoid

the sudddenly made pit.  The occupants of the car hear the following boom
over loud-speakers: "My scanners detect Panda in that car. You WILL
surrender him immediately... or else."  The mech walks over to the car and
meaningfully lowers its cannon/arms and aims the upper torso mounted
cannon at the car.

The yakuza driver of the white mustang looked over at his companion, who
simply replied with a shrug.

*******

"Master Kido! So good to see you again!" Panda closed the wooden door and
stepped down into the dark dojo. A small figure was moving along the right
wall of the room, the faint glow of a candle in its hands creating a
silhouette as it moved about.

"Ha!" an old man ejected. "You don't come to see me for 6 months and then
think you can walk in here and be my prize student again! Think again
cursed one!"

Panda grinned and bowed to the old man, who returned the gesture to Panda,
adding a grunt of dis-satisfaction and a casual wave of dismissal.

"So," Kido finally broke the silence. "Chang tells me you are being hunted
again. What is it his time? Some woman you stole money from?"

"Master!" Panda cried. "I would never steal money from a woman!"

"Heh! But you would steal her heart now wouldn't you? Ha! You are still
the same crazy man I knew back in China before you were cursed with this..
this... panda form."

"Yes, I suppose I am. But someday I will return to China and-"

"Save it for your crazy friends Panda-kun. I am your teacher, and you cannot
pull the wool over my eyes so easily. The curse is permanent! There is
nothing you can do about it! Save yourself a lot of stress and give up your
silly quest. Life would be much simpler for you if you did!"

Panda sat down cross-legged in the middle of the floor as his master went
about the dim room, lighting a variety of candles in all shapes, colors and
sizes. Panda sighed and closed his eyes, his thoughts a thousand miles away...

   Outside, concealed where she could view all the dojo's exits, including
some concealed ones she had discovered, C-koH waited, patiently aiming her
tranq rifle.  Panda would have to emerge eventually.  Just a matter of time...

Panda

Kent Magami
Second Deacon of Ryoga, Tracker of the Wandering One
Co-founder and High Priest of the Holy Order of A-ko