Enter the Panda

By Psion

An Aphrodite City Story

All Rights Reserved

Haru Sakurako head was still swimming when her surroundings finished changing to an empty street in a city she didn't recognize. The young panda woman blinked, as she looked around once the world stopped spinning. This didn't make any sense; last thing she remembered was walking home from a karaoke bar in Sapporo when suddenly she began to feel disoriented. The Japanese native couldn't tell what was stranger, the fact that she was feeling woozy despite spending the entire evening sober or the fact that this wasn't her city. It couldn't be her city, the architecture was completely wrong; it looked too Western to be a city in Japan. What happened and where was she? And why was she inexplicably dressed in this absurd dark green jumpsuit?

"Hey awesome! Guess you must be the Express Panda chick the boss men were talking about. Damn, they know how to pick them." A smug voice called out from somewhere to her side. English, a crisp American accent with the enunciation of a native speaker. There was something else too, confidence. The speaker lacked the sheepish uncertainty of a tourist... where was she and what happened to Sapporo?

Sakurako turned to face the caller and found herself looking at a large, muscular bull with long red hair, his eyes hidden by some of the tackiest sunglasses she ever saw on a male's face. Attire was unremarkable except for his lack of shirt showing off a marvelously sculpted chest. The well-built male looked pleased to see her, and not in a good way. One of the things she taught other women at her father's dojo was how to identify dangerous men and this stranger had all the tells of a dangerous man. His smile projected an unspoken promise of violence and... other things, especially if that bulge in his stupidly tight-looking leather pants was anything to go by. Still, she must not give into fear. Fear was the mind killer.

"Where am I?" She asked coolly, trying to keep her focus.

"Where are you? Don't you know? This is Aphrodite City, soon to become the hottest place to be a dude with power and ambition."

The displaced female may have not known the words to express her current emotions in English just yet, but her thoughts were perfectly clear. What the fuck was this? Who was this guy and why was he speaking gibberish? Aphrodite City... where in the United States was that again? What followed next only provided more questions then answers. Appearing from out behind a dumpster tucked away in a side alley, a duo of vulpine males, one tall and the other short, dressed in a finely tailored pair of three-piece suits stepped into the bright light of the midday sun.

"Good day Express Panda... or should I say good evening since that's where your mind's likely still at." The taller one greeted in surprisingly fluent Japanese, his manner as immaculate his dress.

"Who are you and where I am?"

"As our friend said, you're in Aphrodite City, New York, part of the United States of America. As for who we are... you may refer to us as your masters because we own you now." The sharp-dressed one smiled evilly.

"No one owns me. Especially not a pair of shady kitsune who refuse to stop talking in riddles." The strong-willed female scowled menacingly.

"No choice! Porn time now!" The shorter fox screamed, looking completely disheveled in his suit, a complete contrast to his taller counterpart.

"Yes indeed, time to dispense with the formalities." His cohort waved dismissively. "Let us see how well you use our gifts. Panzer Beast, she's yours... if you can take her." Tall Fellow replied while giving a nod to the big brute. Then, as suddenly as they appeared, the mysterious duo disappeared back behind the dumpster.

That reply was all Panzer Beast needed to hear. The big brute lunged, eager to claim his prize, and Haru threw her body in motion. The two strangers somehow managed to make even less sense then the giant bruiser in front of her. She had no idea what gifts they were talking about, but that didn't matter. She knew how to handle larger opponents, especially ones as open with their masculinity as this one was, use their weight against them.

Ducking under his opening swing, she struck his overdeveloped crotch with an open palm. The resulting flush of pain did not stagger him as much as she thought, but it left him open long enough for her to execute a perfect scissor kick to the chin. The bull fumed and swung his fist again, this time connecting with her mid-abdomen. For what his technique lacked in grace, it more then made up for in power. The instant his fist met her chest, she was thrown back and bounced against the asphalt like a skipping stone. Pain seared her body like fire as Haru rolled to a stop.

Climbing back to her feet, she looked back at the buff bovine standing at the other end of the street. Her opponent smiled as he appraised her carefully. "Awesome, your costume's made out of pretty decent stuff if you went through all that and still haven't had a wardrobe malfunction. Guess I shouldn't be surprised, the bosses don't like it when the clothes come off too early." He grinned evilly before trying to catch her in a charging tackle.

Sakurako's English was hardly fluent, earning only a passing grade in her foreign languages classes when she was at school, but she knew enough to get the general idea of what he was saying. And his combat telegraph was certainly easy enough to understand. Stepping out of the way at the last moment, she swung her leg low and tripped her foe up in a sweeping kick. Panzer Beast tripped, flipped head over heels, and landed flat on his back with the wonderful sound of pavement cracking.

Roaring in fury, the carrot-topped brawler leapt to his feet and grabbed her by the arm. "You're really starting to piss me off you know that?" He shouted while flinging her like an Olympian discus thrower.

This time the panda martial artist was somewhat ready, falling into a controlled landing causing her to come to a skidding stop as she landed on all fours. Unfortunately, so was her opponent, racing after her and punting her into a mailbox. The blue metal box crumbled in an explosion of uncollected mail, letters flying everywhere, as pain and agony became a fireworks display in front of her eyes. Struggled to stay conscious after that onslaught, she fought with her sore muscles to try and get moving.

Bovine hooves clicked against the pavement as Panzer Beast walked after her, all smiles and looking only slightly worse for the wear despite the solid beating she gave him. "Finally, I get to fuck that tight ass of yours." He muttered with no small amount of arrogance, hand drifting down towards the zipper on his pants.

Typical alpha male scum, self-entitled narcissist that accepted no blame and demanded the world revolve around himself, she realized. But it couldn't end like this; it couldn't end like this... What happened next was a blur. One second she was on the ground, the next she was on her feet, briskly acquainting Panzer's crotch with her knee before taking off with a speed that was literally faster then she could think. By the time she thought to stop, she was outside the city limits, the speedster now lost in the Appalachian foothills south of the city.

The city had shrunk to size where she could have cupped it in her hand as she removed her mask and sat down on a convenient rock. There, as her adrenaline finally faded, she put her face in her hands and cried. Too much, this was all too much. But still, could she move fast enough to escape? Could she run fast enough to be back home by the time the morning's rays shone on Sapporo? She had to try...

Putting her mask back on and calculating the right direction from the sun's present position, she took off towards the west as fast as her newly discovered super speed would carry her. Running along the highway she left the nightmare of Aphrodite City far behind her, the shores of Lake Erie growing larger in front of her. Then suddenly, quick as a blink, she was back in Aphrodite City, standing in front of the first national bank of the city. Pedestrians barely got more then a fleeting glimpse at the jade-clad newcomer before she took off in another blur. Again she raced the span of a hundred miles in a matter of minutes; again the first major landmark on her journey across the United States greeted her with arms stretched wide like a loving sibling. Again... she was taken back to Aphrodite City, this time dumped in the middle of the city's main park. Her hopes crushed, she collapsed on an empty park bench and cried again, becoming oblivious to her surroundings...

"Excuse me panda lady, are you okay?" A small voice asked. Haru looked up to find a small raccoon boy, barely older then six, looking back at her. In his hand was a single buttercup, freshly picked from the grassy park in front of her. He gave single flower to her. She accepted it wordlessly, first looking down at them then up at the child.

"Mommy always said to give flowers to sad people." He offered as an explanation.

"Tha... thank you." She stumbled, more due to the stress of the previous hour then the language barrier.

Satisfied that he had done a good deed for today, the raccoon child ran to reunite with his calling mother. Haru looked down at the flower and briefly inhaled their sweet scent. A place where children could still give flowers to complete strangers even as a pair of lunatics run amok and spread misery for their own perverse pleasure. Perhaps this city wasn't as forsaken as she first thought...

Meanwhile...

Down in their suburban basement lair, the brothers watched their recording of the past hour's events. Overall, the performance of their latest reluctant porn star was exceptional but not without flaws. Or at least what the foxes considered flaws. To be fair to their newest acquisition, she unwittingly put on a marvelous show. Her jade-green jumpsuit hugged her augmented measurements like a rubbery second skin, the panda's muscular body flexing and contorting in response to her opponent, breathing beautifully with every gasping inhalation. Her long black hair matted with sweat as she pulled her hood back as she sat up in the Appalachians. And finally the utter despair in her bright green eyes when she realized there was no escaping the Brothers...

"Ooooh, you did well on her costume brother. Look how it hugs her breasts." Shorty smiled, eyes glued to the enchanted television screen.

"Yes indeed... However it looks like we'll have to keep an eye on this one." Tall replied with a contented sigh, shaking his head as he kept enough of his wits to look at the bigger picture. "She's strong, she gave Panzer Beast a real fight. If we had given Express Panda her powers sooner, she might have actually won. And of course there's this matter of running back to Japan that we've put a stop to for now. She will try again when she thinks we aren't watching but we should break her of this habit sooner or later."

"We'll break her brother, she has nothing here, no home, no money, no one who can help her. She will submit soon..." His brother replied, resuming his goblin-like mannerisms.

"Indeed. However I think we need to recruit more villains before we add any more eye candy. When are those two mercenaries supposed to be arriving in town again? The Australian and the Canadian?" Tall asked as he pulled out a planner, reviewing the plans he had for the two heavily armed additions to their rogue's gallery as he added a note to arrange for that raccoon boy and his family to get caught in the crossfire of his next incident, no one makes his girls happy and gets away with it.

"They said they'd be here tomorrow." The imp-like sibling answered, rewinding the day's recording to watch it again.

"Very well then, tomorrow the fun will begin...." The more cunning brother replied with a wicked grin. Tomorrow was shaping up to be a fun day indeed.