C-koH snarled in frustration.  "You IDIOT!  First you nearly give the
whole thing away with you damn caterwauling, and now...grrrrrrrr!" She
spotted her prey sneaking out the back way, just as another Panda appeared.
C-koH spared the false Panda a mere glance before leaving him to play with
the catgirl and starting after her true target--the one Vixxy was with.

Meanwhile, in Stargazer's op-center, several scanners started screaming to
get his attention.   "What the...? Ki-balsts, explosions?  Something is

going on

at the dojo."  He 'ports into the dojo, and just barely missed getting hit

by a 

stream of small energy spheres. "Hey what do you think your doing?"  He
fires a few quick rounds of plasma, but because of his surprise and unaimed
shot, he missed.  The sudden flare of light blindes everybody in the room
who doesn't have any sort of flash protection for their eyes, which

Stargazer >does have, knowing what effect the brightness of Plasma can have.

However, he is distracted from getting revenge by something he sees in the
glow.  "Panda, hold where you are.  The Taskmistress whishes to talk to
you."  Panda, of course tries to run away.  "they never want to do things

the >easy way, do they?"

Stargazer gives a small evil grin as he goes to  take Panda down.

   C-koH noticed a bright flash of light to her rear as slipped through the
door Panda had went through.  Fortunately, her eyes had already been
averted.  Paying the chaos no further heed, she followed her prey into the
basement of the dojo.

Panda stopped at the top of the back stairwell to offer a hand to Vixxy as
they climbed out of the dojo's dusty basement. "I hope the Master doesn't
hurt them too badly, although I'm betting that his panda costume will slow
him down a bit. Oh... and where did all those other Panda's come from? I
wonder if the Blue Tigress had a paw in that... "

Vixxy giggled, and took Panda's paw. "Just remember something Pandy. I am
here here to take you back to the Taskmistress. So I am officially on

business."

Panda helped Vixxy to the top of the stairs where the two looked out onto a
"T" junction of narrow alleys. Panda dusted himself off and replied, "Who
says you can't mix business with pleasure?"

Vixxy just smiled, and stepped into the alleyway. After a quick check of a
gadget she was carrying (a non-electronic compass<g>), she finally
announced, "This way!"

The set off in a jog down the east branch of the junction, the harbor coming
into view ahead of them. "I came here in a boat. We can use it to get to the
mainland and from there catch a plane to headquarters."

   C-koH climbed from the basement in time to see the two disappear around
the corner.  She immediately took to the rooftops, leaping from building to
building while keeping her prey in sight from above.  She was growing more
and more frustrated.  All these amatures with their high-tech toys kept
getting in her way.  One more delay, one more idiot interfering, and someone
would die...

    CIA Gull #17 relayed the scene back to the lab.
    "No, no, no, not now!" Erin cried. "Fine. I'll just have to deal 
with this, myself." 
    He grabbed a trenchcoat from the closet, a gun from the desk and 
what looked like a slightly oversized VCR remote control. He double 
checked the coordinates on the Teleport Booth. Good. He picked up the 
phone and dialed "0"
    "Operator, connect me with Illuminati University..."

 
 > >Panda nodded, his paws clenched around the cari-sak that 
contained the

disks with the fanfics on them. At this point he would be happy to see the
Taskmistress and deliver the fanfics. A simple delivery job had turned into 
a minor irritation, and a distraction from writing his own fanfic. Hopefully
he could rest on the flight to California.

    The phone call complete, Erin stepped into the Teleport Booth and 
pressed a button on the remote...

The escaping pair slowed down as they approached the dock area, with Vixxy
guiding them through a maze of wooden ramps and narrow walkways. Finally the
panda and the curvaceous woman halted in front of a sleek Scarab powerboat,
complete with rear foil. "Very nice," Panda commented
admiringly. "Seems Taskmistressing pays well-"

"That's far enough," came a purring voice from behind, as the two escapees
hopped into the boat. Panda stood still, the tone of the voice *very*
familiar. He turned and his fears were confirmed. "Hello Sapphire. I thought
you'd never show up..."

   C-koH stopped short, spying the Blue Tigress.  "Oh, chikuso," she
muttered, watching the encounter from her concealment.  "This just isn't my
day."  She stood up.  "So what else is new?"  She'd come too far, gone
through too much, to quit now.  Not even Sapphire was going to prevent her
from collecting.
   Stepping out from her concealment, headbands spinning in her hand, she
announced, "Panda comes with me."  The tone of her voice brooked no 
argument.

    "I don't think so," came a voice. The three bounty hunters and 
their quarry looked around for the source of the voice. Erin stepped 
from the shadows, a very BIG gun pointed at them.
    "Erin 2.5?" Panda asked, confused. "What's your stake in this? 
You've never had anything to do with bounty hunts before..."
    "People change," said Erin, keeping them covered. "If it wasn't 
for me, you'd be at the mercy of C-ko's brownies."
    "You sent those...things?" C-koH asked, starting to get angrier.
    "Yes, and the Stranglevine Cactus, too. By the way, I had no idea 
that the plant was such a hentai, otherwise, I would've sent a normal 
Stranglevine Cacti to deal with you."
    "THAT DOES IT!" C-koH cried, tossing the bandannas at the 
repeatedly cloned one. She was rather surprised when they vanished 
shortly before impact.
    "Did you really think I'd come unprepared?"  
    "That still doesn't explain why you're doing all this," the 
Blue Tigress growled. Erin grinned.  
    "Well, then, let's let everyone in on the fun, shall we?"
    He pressed a button on the remote and instantly all the bounty 
hunters were in the alley with them.
    "PANDA-CHAN!" Kendra cried.
    "What the--?" said Stargazer, because he'd just managed to hurt 
the Rats in the game of Pan-Dimensional Chess he was playing and was 
now above ground again.
    "And, just to make things even," said Erin. He pressed another 
button and a nearby electrical transformer kicked into life.
    "Shoot him!" said C-koH to the newcomers. "He's the one who's 
been screwing with us this whole time." That was all the 
encouragement the bounty hunters needed. Lasters and plasma cannons 
and other high-tech weaponry were aimed at the smug face of Erin...

    Back in the Lab...
    
    The closet door burst open with a CRACK! The remains of a 
Stranglevine Cactus came sailing out. It was followed by the 
emanciated form of...Erin 2.5?
    He dashed across the lab to the crate, he read over the invoice.
    "Oh, Hell, he's doing it."
    He turned on the monitor and saw the standoff occuring, he saw 
the weaponry being raised and he also saw the transformer nearby.
    "Oh, NO." Erin said. He went to the Teleport Booth, reset the 
coordinates and 'ported to the standoff...

    Back in the Alley.
    
    The bounty hunters fired simultaneously. Their guns failed to 
fire. It took them thirty seconds to realize it.
    "What did you do?" Kendra demanded.
    Erin pointed to the transformer. "Reality Stabilizer. Cost me a 
pretty penny to get it from IOU, but it's uniquely effective. Your 
technology is worthless while you're in its field, as are your magical 
powers. In short, you are my prisoners."
    "What do you want?" asked Panda. Erin turned the gun on him.
    "Give me the disks," he said.
    "Never!"
    Erin raised an eyebrow. "Pity," He began to squeeze the trigger.
    Suddenly, there was an enormous flash of yellow light. When the 
bounty hunters (and prey) regained their sight, there were TWO Erin 
2.5's standing before them...

                                    ---Erin 2.5 & Erin 2.5