And we're back in the past and can check the eyrie archive
once again.

And here's where you can find the Panta Miniseries as well as other
Panta comics:

https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/lnh/Series/Tales.LNH/

And an Integrity Questers Miniseries!

We have Panta #4 by Hubert Bartels! Will Panta make it in the
Exotic Perfume Biz?! And is sitting on a corpse in an ever
growing puddle of blood the best way to sit or the bestest way
to sit down after a hard day of selling perfume?!!

Find out in...

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|_| OF NET.HEROES

ADVENTURES #299

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Panta #4
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Date: Sat, 17 Dec 1994 17:58:51 -0700
From: Hubert Bartels <hgb@catalina.opt-sci.Arizona.EDU>
Subject: panta.4

Panta #4: You can't go home again

[ In Panta #4, Panta visited the cat woman that DeFacto said was her mom.
She learned that it was all a lie. DeFacto himself offered Panta Feral's
job - Panta turned it down. Now she's stuck in New York City. ]

The cover of Panta #4 shows Panta flying into an attack, strips of bloody
entrails fluttering from her clawtips. In the background, panicked Christmas
shoppers crowd away from her. Red letters proclaim, 'Can Panta find happiness
in New York City? Can she come home again?'

The opening splash page shows Macy's ground floor as if from a balcony;
the aisles and displays are laid out in neat rows. In the foreground are the
perfume counters; several overdressed, severely made up women are standing
behind their counters. Some are spraying passerbys with one or another scents
from cut-crystal containers. Panta is in the very front, dressed in a very
brief, sleeveless, V-cut, tunic and lace-up sandals, sitting on a tall stool
in front of a Chanel "Wildlife Scents" display.

"This is the very latest in the aromatic world; a scent that will really
bring out the most savage beast in your man," Panta purred to the fat lady
with the silverfox coat. "Here, see how the darker scents hint of the
jungle..." She gently sprizzed the woman's pudgy hand. "And the men-"

The woman turned away and waddled toward the Lady Setson display. Panta
sighed and sat down again. She'd been on the Macy staff for about a week
now and still found it hard to handle rejection. Women often treated her
like some type of mannequin that had fur, spots, and a tail. Men were a
little better; she sold more often to men looking for something for their
girlfriends.

"Errhm."

Panta whirled to find the floor manager standing behind her. He gave her a
hard stare until she jumped off her stool and stepped into the aisle to
waylay an innocent customer. She'd gotten the job through an ad in the New
York Times. Macy's decided she'd be perfect to sell the more exotic perfumes.

"Hi, have you tried the latest 'Wildlife Scent' from Chanel?" Panta purred
again to a tall gaunt woman with a poodle. The poodle flattened its ears
and started yapping.

Panta sighed and settled back on her tall stool. Suddenly, she raised her
nose. A familar scent. Gunpowder. Panta scanned the hordes of Christmas
shoppers passing her perfume counter.

There. The four men in long black raincoats. They moved through the Christmas
shoppers like sharks, hands in their pockets, sullen looks on their faces.

Suddenly, they whirled and threw open their raincoats, pulling shotguns and
Uzis from underneath their wraps.

"On the floor!" One of them shouted. The crowd screamed and began to surge
towards the exits. "This is a holdup!"

In her BERSERKER RAGE(tm), Panta leaped from her stool towards the closest
thug. She landed on his chest, driving him into a glass case. The thug,
Panta, and glass crashed to the floor. Panta ripped his windpipe from his
throat with one motion of her claws. With the next motion, she leaped from
the soon-to-be-corpse to the next thug, snapping his back as her feet broke
him into two. His dying shudder fired shotgun pellets into the ceiling,
bringing rows of lights smashing to the floor. Panta rolled off, gathered her
feet underneath her and and again leaped for the third thug. His shots went
wild, but Panta felt several hot scratches along her side as she hit him. He
fell backwards into a jewelry case. Panta plunged her claws into his stomach
and pulled his guts out. Behind her, she heard the last thug scream and
start running. Panta leaped up, took several rapid jumps, pulled him down
from behind and broke his neck.

Silence. The crowds stirred slowly at the edges. Panta's BERSERKER RAGE(tm)
faded, leaving her tired. She breathed deeply, sitting on a corpse in the
middle of a evergrowing puddle of blood. There was blood splattered across
the walls, over most of the display cases, on the floor, and on the ceiling.

>From the distance, she could hear police sirens.

* * *
Deep inside Manhatten's Police Headquarters, Panta sat on a bunk in a holding
cell, listening to a Marvel Megacorp lawyer and a PR guy. The PR Guy was
waving several newspapers and talking excitedly while the lawyer just nodded.

"Have you seen this? 'MASSACRE AT MACY'S'. And this? 'MUTANT SLAYS 4'. Do you
know what type of publicity that gives the hard-workings mutant superhero
properties at Marvel Megacorp?"

"But they were going to rob-" Panta sniffed. Tears welled in her eyes.

"Doesn't matter. You violated their personal civil rights. Not very Politically
Correct, my dear," added the lawyer.

"But they had-" Panta tried again.

"Look, you little hell-raiser, we spent a fortune on mutant PR. Now you go
and blow it in one stupid act." said the PR guy. "There was more blood there
in that one event then in the whole X-CUTIONER'S SONG. More blood than than
a Friday the 13th movie."

"Why couldn't you have punched them out like most superheros? Nice and clean
and approved by the Comics Code Authority?" said the lawyer gently.

"I just want to go home!" Panta broke down, dropped her head into her hands
and cried.

"That's just it, my dear," the lawyer said, pulling a small box and a sheaf
of papers out of a briefcase. "The boss wants you to leave New York and never
return. The D.A. promises to dismiss charges if you agree." He held the papers
under Panta's nose.

"I'm being kicked out?" Panta sniffed in disbelief.

"The boss thinks you have done enough damage already. He doesn't care if you
go back to the LNH; just as long as you leave New York City."

"Very well..." Panta raised her head and scribbled her name to the piece of
paper. The lawyer then opened the small box and handed Panta a LNH plot device.

"How did you get this?" Panta wondered, wiping tears from her face.

"We had 'Vinnie the Squirrel' lift it from LNH HQ and FED-EX it here." said
the PR guy.

"But LNH HQ is ruined." Panta said slowly.

"You'll see," the lawyer said, pressing the button on the plot device. A slash
of lightning stabbed from overhead and the New York holding cell disappeared.

The final page of Panta #4 shows Panta in her tattered tunic, standing in front
of the reconstructed LNH HQ steps, the same place she started her wanderings
from. She's learned nothing about her past and been banished from New York.
What will she face now? How will she react to Lost Cause Boy's death? Or Kid
Anarky's family problems? Will Self-Righteous Preacher leave her alone now?
The answers lie in other Panta stories, other tellings...

------------------------End of the Panta Limited Series------------------------

[ Continued in the Tale of the LNH series, #278 and up. HGB]

Lost Cause Boy (RIP) Douglas P. Wojtowicz, Kid Anarky (tm) Stephane Savoie
Panta (hoping to get a home) Hubert Bartels.

----
Hubert Bartels INTERNET: hgb@catalina.opt-sci.arizona.edu
Optical Sciences Center (602)-621-2032 FAX: (602)-621-4416
University of Arizona Surf the Famous springs of Jyushenkyou!
Tucson, AZ, USA 85721 It'll change your life!

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Next Week: Taking a Labor Day break! See you in a couple!

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Arthur "Same Classic Channel. But Same Time? Probably not." Spitzer