Brionn's Trap
by Alpesco
Brionn takes on some petty crooks.

There were six of us. We worked in a team, going round the key 
stores in a town and them moving on to the next. That way we 
did well. Two of us would distract the staff with questions, 
one would keep an eye on escape routes and security, one would 
be carrier for the goods, and the other two would take their 
pick of the store's merchandise. We worked just two, three days 
a week. 

It was the security cameras that did it - at the big out of 
town shopping mall. They must have been watching us all 
afternoon. As we prepared to leave, a group of security people 
closed in on us and escorted us to  a private area, where our 
bags were searched. Fortunately none of the stuff was found. 
The head of security, a red-faced man named Hemsley, told us to 
wait while they searched the mall. They'd seen us take the 
goods on camera, but we'd been too clever for them, and they 
couldn't find a thing on us.

'Sit tight,' Wade, our leader whispered. 'When they find 
nothing, they'll have to let us go.'

We waited an hour. The mall closed, the customers vanished, and 
still the security guards found nothing. Some of the guards 
began to go off shift. Now Wade started to complain, demanding 
that they either produce some evidence or let us go. There were 
only three guards left now, Hemsley, a thin man with glasses, 
and a tall young blonde woman. Hemsley was getting frustrated. 
He knew he'd have to let us go soon. There was a big storm 
coming and the police were too busy to turn out. They locked us 
in the big room while they tried to sort things out.

A half hour later the door opened. The woman came in. She was 
about 19 and a little over six feet tall. She was in civilian 
clothes, a short skirt and a sleeveless top, her off-blonde 
hair pulled back in a single tight braid. She had a walkie-
talkie with her.

'When are we getting out?' I demanded.


'I'm waiting for a call from the chief,' she began.

As she spoke,the radio hissed. Hemsley's voice crackled out. 
'Brionn.'

'Yes,' she answered.

'I'm in town. The storm's caused a lot of damage. The police 
won't be out today, and I won't be able to get back.'

'What about the suspects?' she asked.

'Unless we've got some evidence, we can't hold them. I'll see 
you in the morning. Goodnight.' 

She turned off the radio.

'Good.' Wade said, standing up. 'Let's go.' 

'I'll tell you when you can go,' she said.

'You heard your boss. You've got no evidence. You can't keep us 
here. That's the law.'

'I don't know that law.' Brionn said. 'but then, I'm new to 
this job.' 

'I couldn't give a shit what you've heard about!' He made to 
brush past her. 'We're leaving.'

'You stay until I say you can go!' She grasped his upper arm, 
and dragged him back from the door. She must have been a lot 
stronger than she looked, because she hauled all six feet two 
of him fiercely backward, letting go to hurl him into the rear 
wall. His body came to a hard and sudden halt against the 
concrete.

He stormed forward, shocked and angry. 'Bitch!' His arm rose to 
hit her. 'You think you can keep us here? Well keep this!'

The girl's left arm shot up to dash the blow aside. Then her 
right fist sped forward to land three rapid jabs right into the 
middle of his face, all in the space of a single second. It 
happened so fast that Wade was stumbling backward, blood 
pouring from a badly broken nose before we had time to rise 
from our seats. I was astonished at the amount of damage she'd 
done, for she hadn't appeared to hit him that hard. Now she 
remedied that. Taking a quick step forward, she really cut 
loose.

I've never seen a man hit that hard. Four huge smashes, two 
from each long arm, powered into Wade's face and shoulders. The 
sheer sound of the impacts was shocking, echoing round the room 
like rifle shots. Where did she get her strength? She was tall, 
but shapely and athletic rather than heavily built. Yet she 
gathered all the power of her torso and lower body into her 
wide shoulders to send each searing blow crashing in. 

Wade was sent hurtling back into the wall, flung backward by 
the sheer power of those raking blows. Not pausing in her 
attack, Brionn powered in five more massive blows, each every 
bit as devastating as the first four. They tore into his face 
and body like howitzer shells, doing appalling damage. Wade 
gave out a deep moan as each punishing blow seared into him, 
his whole body seeming to crumple beneath their impact. Then he 
fell silent, staring blankly forward for an instant, before 
slumping into a half-sitting position, still propped against 
the wall.

All of us had been struck dumb by this unexpected turn of 
events. I stood up to stare. Wade was a mess. His eyes were 
dark and closing. Blood streamed from what looked like a dozen 
cuts across his face, and huge raw bruises had appeared 
wherever the girl's fists had struck. These were swelling 
rapidly. His nose, jaw and cheekbones were badly broken, and he 
was clutching his ribs and moaning in pain. The nineteen-year-
old who had done this in barely twenty seconds, stood looking 
down at him, her fists tightly clenched.

'No. You just can't do that!' Utrillo gasped, staring open-
mouthed. He was the virtual second-in-command of our group, and 
was a stocky, 45 year old, around 5'10".

'Sit down and shut up!' Brionn snapped. Even after what we'd 
just seen, it was hard to see her as a figure of authority. 
Only her bare arms gave any hint of her ability to hand out the 
sort of punishment she had just done. They were long and 
shapely, which partly hid the underlying slabs of muscle, which 
only really showed itself when she tensed them. 

'You'll all stay here now,' she added. 'Till I'm convinced 
you're innocent. And that will take some doing.'

'We don't have to listen to her!' Mike said. He was twenty two 
and hot tempered. 'Let's waste the bitch's ass for what she did 
to Wade, and then get outta here!'

'Right.' Utrillo noddded. All five of us were on our feet now, 
moving into a wide semi-circle round the girl. I thought how 
stupid her boss was to leave her alone with all six of us like 
this. 

'Sit down.' The girl said. She was looking alarmed now. If 
she'd expected her attack on Wade to make us docile, more fool 
her. 

'You're the one who's sitting down.' Utrillo said, stepping 
forward.

The girl tried to keep her eye on all of us as she stepped 
back.

'I warn you,' she said. 'I can hurt you badly.' But we could 
see she was uncertain. She'd bitten off a whole lot more than 
she could chew.


'Shut your mouth!' Fat Murray made the first move, lunging at 
her suddenly. 

His words were cut off short by a hard straight-leg kick that 
struck up high to his shoulder and sent him spinning back with 
a roar of surprise. A spinning kick from her other leg, every 
bit as hard, crashed into Mike's midriff, doubling him over in 
pain. She had her back to Fat Murray now, and her left leg 
flashed up and backward, sending a second kick deep into his 
stomach, producing another deep bellow of pain. 

In the space of a heartbeat, she spun again, to launch her 
right fist hard into Bernie's jaw. Bernie's a tough guy. I've 
seen him take a punch and give out more than he got. But he, 
like all the rest of us was taken totally by surprise. He fell 
several paces backward, staggered by this one single punch, his 
jaw hanging loose and blood streaming down his chin.

Before I'd taken it all in, it was my turn. Her left delivered 
two swift jabs to my face, closing one eye and splitting my 
lip. The jabs were so unbelievably fast, I could do nothing at 
all to defend myself against them. And they hurt so much. A 
third blow followed, much, much, harder. Unbelievably, it was 
three or four times as hard as the jabs. It sent lights 
flashing through my head and threw me back into the wall. I was 
dazed, struggling to remain conscious. How did she get so much 
power into one single punch? Her arms must be like steel. And 
she was frighteningly fast.

All five of us were reeling from her attack. I was dazed and 
shocked. Through my one open eye, I just saw our limber 
attacker retreat three paces to the far side of the room, and 
bend toward the wooden bench that stood there.

The bench was long and heavy, one that woud normally have taken 
two people to lift. She grasped the near end in both arms, then 
straightened, twisting her body round savagely. The free end of 
the bench rose to chest height as she swung it round like a 
giant flail, and then sent it crashing into the five of us. 


Mike and Utrillo took the brunt, falling beneath the heavy 
bench as she let it go. I heard bones snap in Utrillo's arm and 
shoulder. The rest of us were staggered and badly bruised. 
Before any of us could recover, Brionn sent a massive kick into 
the back of the bench. Striking before the bench could fall, 
her kick smashed it into us once more, this time even harder. 
The power in that leg was awesome. it was like being hit by a 
small car. All three of us fell beneath the bench, slumping on 
top of the other two. 


Wade was still slumped against the wall, moaning in pain, and 
crying like a small kid. I despised him then for showing his 
weakness, allowing himself to be humiliated by a young girl.

Brionn looked down on us. 'I advise you to stay where you are.' 
she said calmly. 'Then you can explain where you hid what you 
stole.'

'Get that bitch!' Mike roared, leaping to his feet, closely 
followed by Murray, Bernie and Utrillo. They charged towards 
the girl, who backed out of the door into the main mall. I got 
up and followed. 

When I got out into the mall the four were still racing after 
Brionn across the concourse. They were in full cry, four big 
men with vengeance on their minds. In mid-run the girl leapt 
for a steel girder, caught it, and swung herself expertly up 
onto it. Now she jumped across to the bannister of the upper 
level. Flexing her long arms, the rounded biceps swelled as she 
raised herself smoothly up and on to the upper floor. By doing 
this she had gained thirty yards on her pursuers, who cursed 
loudly as they changed direction to run up the halted 
escalator.

Mike led the way up. It was as he reached the top of the 
escalator that Brionn appeared suddenly in front of him. her 
long, tanned leg lashed out, sending the twenty two year-old 
literally flying back down the stepway, where he crashed into 
the other three, who fell in a heap.

Mike staggered to his feet clutching his chest where the girl's 
foot had impacted. He gasped for air, badly shaken as the 
others got up around him to take on the pursuit. I ran up to 
Mike.

'Are you all right?' I asked.

'The... bitch...' he wheezed. 'She.. nearly smashed my ribs...' 
he began to push past me. 'I want to see them get her!'

From just ahead, on the upper floor, there came the sounds of 
the men's shouts of triumph. They'd cornered the girl. We 
climbed the stairway, hearing the sounds of grunts of effort as 
their heavy blows landed.

As we gained the upper floor I saw Utrillo, Bernie and Fat 
Murray thirty feet away, facing Brionn. I was surprised to see 
her still standing, hearing the punches she must have taken. 
Murray took a swing at her as I watched - and missed by a foot, 
as she swayed expertly out of its path. Spinning, she landed 
three huge blows of her own that sent him staggering back, 
blood running down his designer shirt. It was then that I 
noticed the girl was still completely unmarked. She turned 
quickly to face the other two men, who seemed to be moving a 
lot slower than they should have been.

Squinting her eyes, she unloaded eight really huge punches into 
the two of them. 

The punches were awesome, and they all landed in the space of 
just five seconds. So powerful were they that both men were 
sent reeling backwards as if they'd been struck by steam 
pistons, groaning with pain as their bodies buckled visibly. 
Bernie's jaw and cheekbone shattered, his face almost 
unrecognisable, so bloody and deformed had it become. Utrillo 
moaned as a rib cracked like a trodden-down branch. It was then 
that I realised that the men's groans I'd heard from the 
escalator had been groans of pain, not effort. All the heavy 
blows I'd heard had come from Brionn's long arms as they 
weakened these three men and began to take them apart in an 
expert sequence of perfectly-targeted strikes.

We watched, frozen in disbelief, as the three big men stumbled 
backward, totally at the mercy of this powerful nineteen-year-
old. Already they were so dazed and confused, so blinded with 
blood and pain, that they were incapable of harming the girl in 
front of them. She dodged their clumsy swings easily, before 
launching more of her own colossal punches. I watched nine more 
racking blows go in as she took the men down, one by one, each 
of her punches harder and more devastating than the last. First 
Utrillo fell, then Bernie. Finally Murray took a shot that sent 
him spinning to the ground. 

Appalled, Mike and I charged her. We fared no better. We had 
let her trap us by splitting us up, and she dealt with the two 
of us easily. It was her speed that did it - and the fact that 
she knew exactly what she was doing. A flurry of hard, painful 
jabs slowed us down, blurring vision and numbing our senses. 
Then came the real pain, as unimaginably hard and punishing 
punches tore into us. I took about four before I fell, at least 
three of my ribs broken and a cheekbone cracked. Her arms were 
so strong. I was frightened of what they could do. I could have 
got up, but I didn't dare.

Fifteen minutes later, we were all back in the small room, five 
of us, bruised and beaten, seated at the edge of the room. Wade 
was still slumped where Brionn had left him half an hour 
before. He looked in need of urgent medical attention. Brionn 
herself stood watching us. Her face, gallingly, was unmarked. 
Her short skirt was torn and her top mussed. Her long, bronzed 
arms were pumped, the muscles rippling like the surface of a 
stream as she moved them.


She crooked a finger toward Mike. 'Come here, boy.'

He shook his head.

'I haven't hurt you as badly as the others.' she said. 'You're 
too pretty. But I could make an awful mess of you if I wanted 
to. You know that now, don't you?'

The boy got up and walked towards her. He must have weighed 
close on two hundred pounds, but she just swept an arm beneath 
his knees and one round his back, and lifted him in her arms 
like a baby.

He tried to struggle, but her arms must have been very very 
strong, because he couldn't even move his own arms or legs. Her 
long arms just tightened about him, holding him immobile. A 
slight smile crossed her lips as she craned her neck forward 
and planted a firm, long kiss on her captive's lips. Mike 
couldn't have resisted if he wanted to, and she kissed him long 
and hard. She held him high, her long legs and muscular torso 
clearly visible as she supported him in her arms.

Finally she let him come up for air. 'What'd you do that for?' 
he said.

'Because I wanted to,' she said. 'Now who's going to tell me 
where the goods are?'

There was no answer.

Still holding Mike as if he were a straw doll she said, 'I'm 
quite prepared to break a few more bones to find out if I have 
to.'

'You can't do that,' Utrillo mumbled. 'It ain't legal.'

'You attacked me, remember. Now all the bets are off. I won't 
hurt Mikey here, unless he forces me to. He's just too pretty,' 
she raised him higher in her arms to kiss him again. '..but the 
rest of you are fair game. And now I want to know how you did 
this, and I'm going to close you down.'

'Oh no you don't!' said Bernie as he and Murray made a sudden 
break for a small door at the back of the room, bursting 
through it and slamming it behind them. I heard bolts slam 
home.

'You'll never get out of there,' Brionn said, her voice now 
easily loud enough to penetrate the door. 'Come out now, or 
I'll make you very sorry.' Sighing, she took a breath. Then her 
hands gripped Mike's leg and upper arm. Straightening her arms, 
she lifted Mike smoothly above her head, holding the startled 
youth there for a moment before lowering him across her 
shoulders and striding to the locked door.

'I'll give you a count of three,' she said. 'One, two...'

On 'three' her long leg shot forward to slam into the solid 
wooden door. With an awesome crash of tearing splintering wood, 
the whole door flew inward, ripped right off its hinges as it 
slammed into the two men trapped in the washroom behind it. 
Brionn must have been angry because she immediately kicked the 
upright door again, splitting it into two jagged halves and 
drawing more cries of pain.

Only now did she lower Mike to the floor, entering the washroom 
to emerge with the heavy form of fat Murray draped across her 
shoulders. I was no longer surprised by her strength. Despite 
her slimness, she was clearly a mini-powerhouse with near-
inexhaustible stamina. Her long arms curled about Murray's legs 
and shoulders, implacably tightening their grip.

'Now,' she said, calm once more. 'You're going to tell me 
exactly where you've hidden the merchandise.'

'No!' said Murray.

'Yes.' said Brionn as her strong arms tightened further, bowing 
the large man's body down and back across her shoulders.

Only now did I begin to see what Brionn was doing.  She was 
starting to apply enormous pressure to her captive's legs and 
shoulders, against the  curve of his backbone, bent across her 
iron shoulders. Again her arms tightened, brutally arching 
Murray's back. The first cry of pain escaped the big man's 
lips.

'I'll ask you again,' she said. 'Where's the stuff?' There was 
no answer, and her sinuous arm muscles tensed, forcing her 
prisoner's legs and shoulders a full three inches lower on 
either side. Murray screamed.

'Tell me, or I'll break your back,' she said, maintaining the 
savage pressure. 'I can do it, and no-one here can stop me.' 
Her long, bronze arms tensed once more.

'No!' Murray screamed. 'It's all in the mailbox! We only take 
small stuff. It goes in packets we've already addressed and 
stamped, and one of us takes it straight to the mailbox. It's 
delivered later. Now let me down! Please!'

'There. That was easy.' Brionn relaxed her iron grip and 
lowered him to the floor, where he winced in pain, hardly able 
to stand. 'Your back'll be bad for a week or two, but it'll get 
better. Now what shall I do with all of you?'

In the end she let us go, once she'd checked the mailbox and 
found the goods, then made us clean the blood and other mess 
up. She said it would be easier than explaining all our 
injuries. Our careers in crime, however, were over.