This is how it all began.....

 Whoops of laughter and the soft sound of music drifted into the silent cabana
where its sole occupant was busy at the computer.

"Am I glad finals are over!  I thought I was gonna go insane for a while," she
muttered as she checked her mailbox for the fifteenth time that day.

"Dammit!  He said that he'd have some 'fics ready for my perusal!  Where are
they?  Here's two, where are the rest?  Oh!  The new remailer list is here.
Might as 
well look for the new arrivals..."

She scrolled through the list.  She then choked on her drink.

"Nani?  'Sour Times' is finished and he didn't tell me?" she sputtered as she
moved
to clean up  the mess.  She scrolled through the rest of the list rapidly.
" 'A Hair-Raising Matter!'  'The Nameless Saga!'  'A Day in the LIfe!'
'BGCross 11!'  His own 'fic gets another part out and he doesn't even
send me a copy?!?"

"Panda, Panda, Panda" she sighed while typing furiously at her computer.
"When are you gonna learn that you *don't* make promises to the 'Mistress
and don't follow up on them?"  Her cellular phone rang.
"Yes, what is it?"

"I'm sorry to report that that pre-alpha part of your story hasn't come back
yet."

She choked again.  "Don't tell me; it's Panda, right?"

The voice on the other end was silent.

"This crystalizes it.  Thank you."  She pushed the 'End' button and stared at
the
computer screen.  "I can't be lenient with everyone, my friend.  If I did,
it would be nothing but work, work, work, all day long!  That's why it pains me
to do this."

She pushed send on the notice.  

	ATTENTION ALL BOUNTY HUNTERS AND UNEMPLOYED
.SIG WARRIORS!  THE 'MISTRESS NEEDS YOUR HELP!
	A certain MLer by the name of Panda has reneged on an important
promise.  He's holding some important documents that I need very badly.
Bring the Panda to me, and I will see you handsomely rewarded.

			Signed,
			The Taskmistress

She went back to the party with a heavy heart.  


This APB was brought you by the letters, Q, Z and by:
Foxtrot the Furryous, BTFH on vacation

<Trisha L. Sebastian@CompuServe.com>

Then Panda said:

Panda quickly scanned the streets of Beijing from his vantage point
under a shop awning that bulged downward, heavily laden with rainwater. The
gentle hiss of the downpour on the pavement lulled the bear into a false
sense of calm, as he made his way towards... where? He had nowhere to run.
Daunted at every corner by the wanted posters with his name on it, and
forced to wear a disguise (a lesser panda...how humiliating), he wandered
aimlessly along the crowded sidewalks, wondering if the eyes that
occasionally met his would make the connection.
     Taking refuge in the dark doorway of a closed shop, the now orange and
white furred fugitive crossed his rain-soaked arms and shivered. How could
she do this to him? He had kept his promise to save the fanfics for her. He
just hadn't sent them yet. What with her exams and all, when would she ever
have found time to read them?
     As he pondered his next move, Panda spotted a dark figure moving among
the crowd, noticeably against the flow, and making a beeline for his
location. 'Damn! I paid dearly for this disguise too!'
     Panda turned to the locked door of the shop, and after removing a set of
strange key-like objects from the thick fur on his left arm, picked the lock
and proceeded inside, shutting and locking the door behind him.
     Row upon row of tinned food on shelves met his squinting eyes.
Stumbling and sliding on the slick, tiled floor, he made his way to the back
of the store.
As he reached the back door, he heard a loud crashing sound behind him, like
the splintering of wood. So, she had sent the Prodinator after him. This was
not going to be fun. He had to make his way back to his apartment somehow,
to send the files she had requested. Perhaps then she would call off the
cyborg. Perhaps...
     Using the lock picks as he had on the front door, Panda slipped through
the back door, and vaulted over a low fence. Another leap placed him in a
narrow alley devoid of life. Breaking into a run, the bamboo-eater noted the
swiftness that his lesser panda disguise lent him. Rounding the corner where
the alley spilled into another empty street, Panda stopped and turned back,
sliding along the wall until he could peek into the empty alley he had just
vacated.
     Empty a moment ago maybe. Now, a tall, intimidating figure was making
its way through the alley, stopping occasionally to check under piles of
garbage and cardboard for something. Suddenly it froze, standing absolutely
still for a long moment. A moment that made the sound of Panda's gradually
fill his ears. The Prodinator turned its head slowly until it was looking
directly at Panda's vantage point. Panda looked away and stood with his back
to the wall, 
wondering how to get to his apartment from here.
     There was no time to waste. The orange and white furred fugitive bolted
for a passing motorcyclist, knocking the rider off the vehicle and sending the
motorcycle to the ground, its engine still idling. Panda frantically picked
up the sputtering bike amid the rider's protests, and swung his leg over the
seat.
As he applied the throttle and rode away, a tall, dark figure emerged from
the alley into the street, where the fallen motorcyclist was cursing.
Ignoring the
slightly injured man, the Prodinator walked quickly to a nearby phone-booth
and began to scan the phonebook for an address. A leather-gloved finger
moved down the index page for the Beijing Zoo until the tip rested
underneath  the listing for "Panda Pen". Staring at the page for a moment,
the cyborg bounty-hunter exited the phone-booth, and disappeared down a
dark alleyway...

Panda (On the lam...)

<askuse@execulink.com>

Then, the rest of the hunters began to arrive, and now, in alphabetical
order....

Nadia Satome:  Well the resturant has been slow for a while.
Mendo Satome:  And bounty hunters do make good money.  And we do know how to
deal with                Pandas, don't we sis?
Rho Tendo:     We can stat by checking if Grandpa S has been having any
visitors.

====================================================================
Ben L. Harrison - HM1(FMF)/USN/RET

<Harriso3@ix.netcom.com>

  (C-ko Hibiki is scanning through Kent's mail (at his request--he was
busy) when she comes across the previous notice.)
  C-koH:  Hmmmm...I could use the cash.  What the hell.
  (She runs a search on all the information available on this 'Panda',
learning his habits, preferred diet, usual hangouts, etc.  Once she
finishes, she logs out and prepares for the hunt.  After a time, she
finishes sorting her array of weapons, choosing the gauss rifle with grenade
launcher attachment, an assortment of noxious-gas grenades, a large mallet,
and, of course, her ever-present headband.  Stuffing all but the last into
her Hammerspace-accessible backpack, she moves off.)
  C-koH:  You're *mine*, Panda.

Kent Magami  <kmagami@hsonline.net>

 Kendra: oooooh! Panda?? Sounds cute! [Runs off yelling "HEEEEERRRREEEE
PANNNNDDAAAAA!" at the top of her lungs]
 Aaron: .....I pity Panda.......

Aaron Stolz  <astolz@direct.ca>

[Nagisa looks at the general notice, printing it out on her home computer.]

Hmm... just bring the panda over to this... *squints* Task... Mis.... tress..

[She shrugs as she aims at a nearby Barney doll with her bracelet,
incinerating it with bolts of plasma.]

I... don't think that will be too hard...

[She smiles as she starts roaming the streets in search of the one
called... Panda..]

Nagisa Kanou

Wing Wong  <nagisa@ktb.net>

Stargazer: Hmm, at first I hadn't been going to join in the hunt, but it looks
more interesting all the time.  What the heck, I'll give bounty-hunting 
a try.

He gets his gear together:
machine-gun-plasma cannon? check
force-shields? check
'porter check
tracking devices? check
other goodies as needed? check

he reviews his personal files on Panda aka Andy Skuse.
"Not as much as I'd like, but maybe enough to get started.  Now which dimension
should I start in?  Hmm, most of the other bounty hunters are here, so I guess
it's as good a place to start as any.  Now how to catch him?  <rereads the
bounty notice>  Wait a sec, she didn't specify that he had to be brought back
alive <evil grin>."
Stargazer 'ports out.

-- 

Wayne Pillion    <stargaze@world.std.com>

Then, they started putting out feelers for the elusive Panda.....

 Kendra: [popping out of nowhere in a flash of blue/purple light in the
usual anime manner] Panda-chan? Where are you you cute little thing...

[On the floor is nothing but half-chewed bamboo shoots and some shed panda fur]

 Kendra: awww...I missed him! [vanishes in the same flash of blue/purple]

Wing blinks, walking in from some ripple in space.

"Hmmm... wonder how well Nagisa is doing with the hunt...."

** Somewhere far away... **

Nagisa is hacking through a small grove of bamboo, having followed a trail
of chewed bamboo bits.  For some reason, her plasma blasts seem
ineffective against the overgrown plants.

Meanwhile.....

  (C-koH is checking out one of Panda's known haunts:  #Ranma! on IRC.

<CkoHibiki>  What the hell kind of place is this?
* EoRaptor glances at C-ko.  "What do you mean?"
<CkoHibiki>  This is too weird.  Panda hangs out here?
<Red-Drax>  Yep.  He's a regular.  You know hi?
<Red-Drax>  err him?
<CkoHibiki>  Let's just say I'm looking for him...
<EvlNabiki>  seen Panda
<Link-chan>  I last saw Panda 45 minutes ago.
<CkoHibiki>  Damn!  Missed him.  Anyone know where he went?
* Hatrack moves a post to point the way Panda went.
<CkoHibiki>  Thanks.  I'm gone.
 CkoHibiki has quit IRC (Where is that Panda?!)
 Hatrack is now known as Robma
<Robma>  I sent her to Jusenkyo.  That should keep her busy. :)
<EvlNabiki> LOL!
<Robma>  I'd better warn Panda about her.  Ja!
  Robma has quit IRC (Bounty Hunters Beware!)

Back at the Mistress pad.....

The phone rang, urgently.

"Well?"

"He got away, Mistress."

"Damn!"  That one work exploded from her mouth.  "You've been relieved."

"But..."

She hung up the phone quickly.  "Who can I trust?  Who can I call?"  The obvious
answer was.. well, obvious.  She knew that she had asked for others to join in
the hunt, but she could only trust her own agents, ones she hand picked.

She dialed the number.


********

The blue and white panda glanced nervously across the street.  After the
Prodinator
had nearly tracked him to his safe home where he had gone to get some much
needed supplies, he couldn't take any chances.  On top of that, he also had
to get another disguise and they were running out of panda colors.  Gaunt and
shaky, he crossed the street.  

Suddenly, the hairs on his psuedo flesh stood upright.  Something wasn't
right.  He glanced down first the right half of the street, then the left.
Everything
appeared normal.  He scanned the people he saw.  Everything was normal.
"Stop it, Panda," he said to himself, "you're scaring yourself.  There's no way
she could track me here."  He walked across the street.

The figure at the end of the street snickered slightly.  Boy was *he* wrong.

#####################
Well, will these intrepid hunters catch the panda?  What does the Mistress have
in
store for him?  Who is that figure at the end of the street?  Stay tuned, and
Ill show 
you!!!



Foxtrot the Furryous, BTFH on vacation