The Dark Alley

The tale of a mugging gone bad. Very bad.

By Mongoose750 (mongoose750@yahoo.com)

I was surfing through Diana's library one night, and I found there were a number of stories that used the "walking down a dark alley" theme. So I figured I'd try a quick story with my spin on that idea.

Cody Mack perched himself in his favorite lair, a spot at the lip of an alley off a somewhat busy street. Cody was a "career mugger" if there was such a thing. His key to success was to not be at the same place twice over a certain period of time. That way, he could use the same spots over and over again. Until the police figured out his system, his livelihood remained untouched, and his favorite prey, businessmen and women would help him maintain his standard of living.

The spot he decided to use for this night was great for him, because he could grab an unsuspecting victim, drag them into the alley, pull out his gun and take their loot. Besides the revolver, Cody himself stood 6'1" and weighed 270 pounds with short black hair. His built resembled that of a basketball player, but he found when someone yanks you into an alley with a gun, they don't care what you look like, just as long as they can give you their money without being harmed. Aside from an occasional whack aside the head of someone feeling heroic, he didn't harm them. Besides, there's always the possibility of robbing them again; that can't be done if they're shot.

Dark shadows grew as the sun set, and the evening came. The only source of light in the immediate area was a street light, which lit everywhere but the alley. In his dark clothes, Cody was almost invisible. The crowd died down to only a trickle of people. Finally, he saw a woman walking down the sidewalk, apparently oblivious to what was going on around her; his favorite type of victim. He prepared himself. The way conditions were, he could go ahead and take her on the street since no one was around. After he was done with her, he'll go home for the night, and make plans to use his other spot uptown around the red light district.

Naomi Carter was having one of those days. No, more like one of those weeks. First, due to the goofiness of her boss, and a coworker who treated every sniffle as an epidemic, she had to work late every night that week. The fact that the work was as exciting as raking leaves with a broken rake didn't help. Second, her favorite minor league baseball team was starting their season like they were still suffering from the winter thaw. Losing three games in a row to a team they could normally beat in their sleep doesn't bode well for a good season. But most of all, the thing that was really eating away at her was the sumo tournament she was in last Friday. Her team had done really well, placing second out of four teams, but it was the match with Bridget that had her stewing, even though it was five days ago. Nothing against Bridget, she was an excellent wrestler, and had a reputation of even throwing larger opponents out of the ring. The two were pushing each other back and forth when Naomi shifted her right foot to give her more push. Unfortunately, her right toe touched the outer ring, decreeing Bridget as the winner. She was so close to pushing the undefeated woman out of the ring, she wasn't aware of how close she was. After the match, Bridget herself told her she was surprised at the outcome. She was sure she was going to be beaten for sure. Everyone else said the same. It would've been better if she was just tossed outright. And losing against someone as reputable as Bridget in that manner, it was galling. A win against her would've boosted her ratings immensely.

Naomi was 5'5" with a curvy build that hid the power underneath. The Japanese-American had long black hair, an attractive oval face with expressive eyes, and very goal oriented. She was wearing a tan business suit with tan hose and a white blouse. She also had tan pumps, but she took them off and stuffed them into her tan purse. Normally she took them off when she boarded the bus as it took her to where her car was parked in a garage, but the bus broke down, adding to her glum mood, so she was walking the remaining blocks to her car in her stocking feet. No big deal there; because of sumo practice, she was growing tired of shoes, especially those with heels. To relieve her frustration, she decided to mentally get herself ready for the next tournament.

It was time for Cody to make his move. He briefly wondered what size feet his girlfriend wore in a dress shoe; maybe he could surprise her with a gift. He leapt in front of his victim.

"Hold it! Hand over your purse and you won't get hurt!" He barked. He found that in performing the perfect mugging, loud and short was the key. Loud so you could be understood, and short enough to get it done. The longer a mugging took, the higher the possibility of being caught. The gun of course, speeded up things quite a bit.

The next thing he knew, he was lying down in a pile of trash bags, his gun lying two feet away from him.

How did that happen?

The man jumped in front of Naomi, surprising her for a second. Her mind flew back to a fellow teammate, Lotus, who taught her and the other sumo wrestlers some self-defense techniques. After teaching them a few things she stopped.

"Hey, aren't you going to teach us any more?" Naomi asked she left, declaring class was finished.

"You are sumo; you can figure out the rest," Lotus replied with a wink.

Naomi had no idea what she was talking about, until now. Lotus and Naomi's coach had explained to the team that many of the moves in sumo wrestling were a precursor to the moves used in jiu-jitsu and later judo. They already knew how to take their opponent off balance, and they already knew how to plant themselves. Of course chances were these skills would not be needed on the street, Lotus remarked. After all, who would be dumb enough to attack a sumo wrestler?

A million things flashed through Naomi's mind at once, the first one being, oh man, you've got to be kidding me!, followed by: no way am I giving this chump any money.

A semi-professional in a sport where the outcome was decided within the first five seconds, Naomi sized up her mugger. He was waving a gun around, but not aiming it, he was taller and maybe heavier, but half of the opponents she faced in tournaments were like that. Finally, he was standing to the side bouncing on his feet, not quite balanced. That clinched her decision.

"A sumo's power is drawn from the earth," her coach said once. Naomi was about to dismiss it as nonsense until it was explained despite the fast movement of the sport, you can defeat your foe if you keep yourself rooted. She took that quote to heart. It was one of the things that helped her become one of the best wrestlers on her team, and soon to be a professional.

Naomi suddenly pivoted, and gathering the power from her hips and powerful legs, directed that energy into a hard, two-handed push to the mugger's chest. To a fellow sumo wrestler, the move was normal, even minimal; to an unsuspecting layman, it was much different. The mugger landed in a pile of trash bags while his gun flew from his hand to land on the pavement about two feet from him.

Naomi displayed a sly grin. She suddenly came up with a tempting idea.

Cody quickly recalled what had just happened; the woman pushed him! And she was stronger than she looked because his breasts stung a little from where her hands had hit him. Oh well, she wasn't the first person who managed to escape from him. He'll just find another victim and call it a night. He sat up and reached for his revolver.

Suddenly, a hosed foot landed on top of the gun, with the big toe hooking into the trigger guard. Then with a casual backward kick, the gun slid toward a nearby gutter, where he heard the gun's descent end with a small splash. Cody looked up to see his would-be victim facing him with hands on her hips, jacket off, and sleeves rolled up. And what's with that funny grin on her face?

According to some self-defense classes, this would now be an opportune chance to get away. However, Naomi felt a little too frustrated and ornery for something like that. She was tempted to jump on the man and beat the living snot out of him, but that would be too easy.

Fueled by the frustrations of the week, and especially by that match against Bridget, Naomi saw this as an opportunity to vent her frustrations and practice her sumo skills at the same time. She took off her suit jacket, folded it up, and placed it on top of her purse. Next, she rolled up the sleeves of her blouse as she strode toward the mugger. Before she attempted anything, there was one vital thing to do. She placed her foot on the revolver a few seconds before her foe thought about picking it up. She made sure to lodge her big toe in the trigger guard. And then with a casual backward kick, she sent the revolver sliding behind her. She knew there was a gutter nearby, but she didn't expect the gun to land in it. She broadened her grin a little when she heard a splash.

The man looked up and saw her, maybe wondering to himself why she was still here. That made her grin even wider. Now it was time to have some fun.

My gun! Cody thought, I've had that gun for years. And this woman trying to be cute kicks it in the gutter! And then she just stands there with that goofy grin on her face. She should've ran when she had the chance. Now I'm going to knock that grin off her face.

"Lady, you just made the biggest mistake of your life!" Cody said as he got up.

Got your attention? Good! Naomi thought to herself as she saw the look on the man's face. A little mad because your gun went in the sewer? Let me show you how bad my week's been.

Part of the training Naomi's team underwent was something borrowed from Mantis Kung Fu. Using a foam bat, then graduating to boxing gloves, simulated blows representing a punch would be thrown at the women. The object was to avoid the blow without ducking or backing up, and then later to catch such blows with one hand. The best-accomplished wrestlers could avoid the blows thrown with the speed of a professional boxer. This training worked well against the attempted pushes, grabs, and slaps of their opponent. This was also a way to get the other woman off balance without delivering a nudge.

The mugger growled, and then sprang up swinging. Compared to a typical practice, this man was nowhere near fast, Naomi pondered as she avoided punches with just a shift to the left or right. He almost fell over a few times. Finally it occurred to the man that instead of headshots, a blow to the midsection might do. Naomi allowed him one.

One of the biggest misconceptions about sumo wrestlers, especially the biggest ones, was that their bellies were nothing but fat. On the contrary, their stomachs were mainly muscle, with a deceptive layer of fat. Since women's sumo wrestling became popular, more emphasis was placed on having the female's core muscles also look more muscular than their male counterparts. This trend began when female bodybuilders started participating in the sport. The result? Perhaps not visible six-packs, but by the time a rookie went through a season of training, no matter how "big" they were, they had a core of iron.

The mugger landed a punch to Naomi's stomach. As he froze realizing nothing happened, she decided it was time for her to act.

Cody never considered himself the meanest street fighter, but he could claim that he could hold his own in a fight; more than enough to bop some woman who got rid of his gun. He delivered a right cross, a left jab, a few combinations of the two, and either his eyes were getting bad, or he couldn't hit her. She wasn't ducking either; she'd just move her head, like that dude in The Matrix, dodging bullets. Well how about a shot to the gut? He powered a punch to her stomach, and ' nothing happened. Nothing, except she changed her grin to a full-blown smile. Then with speed that caught him by surprise, she struck.

Considering they were out on the street, and not in a ring or practice, Naomi couldn't settle for another push, she would need to throw him. No problem, for Naomi was a throwing specialist. Of course, so was Bridget. That made their match even more difficult. Neither could throw the other, they were too well rooted and evenly matched. This man on the other hand, had no roots whatsoever, so he was a piece of cake.

Naomi got her own arm under one of the mugger's, and then twisted her body, making him stumble forward. With the other arm, she slapped him hard on his shoulder to make him fall. Not just a fall, but a full flip. The technique was called a katasukashi, a devastating move in the ring. That was why Naomi spent hours working so hard to perfect it. It was good to see her favorite throw worked on the street as well.

There was another hard and fast rule Cody went by in his "career" as a mugger: if the victim put up too much of a fight, give up and leave. While most people just gave you the money and left, thankful that their lives were spared and were relatively untouched, every now and then, there's that victim who turned out to be someone who was angry, has had a bad day at work, or worse, had their romantic relationship go sour, and they didn't care what happened to them. All they knew was they would like to take it out on somebody and muggers were a prime candidate. Those were the most dangerous, because they were so fed up at the world, their normal qualms about personal safety went out the window.

And Cody was a practical man. He only mugged people for the money, not for a sadistic thrill. Aside from a little roughing up sometimes (usually men who want to play "hero" in front of their girlfriends), the drill was to pick a victim, seize the victim, demand their money, grab the money and leave. Any deviation from that could lead to a possible disaster or Murder One if he had to shoot his gun.

In any case, he needed to escape before this woman killed him. As soon as the night sky stopped spinning. When she did ' whatever it was she did, it happened so fast ' he saw the world turn upside down before landing on his back. He slowly tried to get up, but saw the woman nearby, looking at him like she was trying to think of what to do next. Whatever it was, he didn't think he was going to like it.

Naomi watched her victim. What should I do next, she thought. If this were a regular match, it would be over; but since this was an actual fight, she needed to use a different finishing move. Now what could ' got it!

Eve, another fellow wrestler, was adept at using the Iron Palm technique used in some types of kung fu. She was so good at it, she could break boards with it. Naomi judged she was about as strong as Eve, and though she wasn't breaking boards, what would the effect be on someone's face?

As Naomi started forward, the would-be mugger got up and ran the other way. More annoyed at the crook's flight than the attempted mugging to begin with, she ran after him.

"Hey come back here, I'm not through with you yet!" Naomi yelled.

Now I know I'm with a crazy woman, Cody thought. She throws me all over the place, and then tells me to stop so she can do it some more? Forget it!

At the end of the alley was a wooden fence that was rather easy to climb over for quick getaways. He was just one leap away from freedom. And then he could call it a night; he'll mug a more willing victim the next day.

He ran, stepped on a concrete block that would help launch him into orbit '

- and was suddenly yanked down to earth by a grip on the back of his jeans. Again, he hit the ground hard. He forgot how fast she was. As he landed, he heard a sound that was normally anathema to him ' police sirens. Then he shouted the words he swore would never come from his lips.

"Help! Police!"

How dare this man run from her? Naomi thought as she sprinted after her prey. He was in the midst of jumping over a fence when she grabbed the back of his jeans and jerked him down to the ground. She straddled him so he couldn't get away.

"Help! Police!" He yelled.

"Shut up!" Naomi replied. "Now, where were we?"

She remembered; she was going to use the iron palm on his face. Grinning, she grabbed his face as she cocked her palm to deliver the blow. . .

I'm dead, Cody thought. She had that demonic grin on her face while she was preparing to ram her palm into his face. If he found a way out of this alive, he'll never mug people from this alley again. Shoot, he'll never mug anybody again. He'll even go out and . . . even get a job and work for a living. It's not worth all this trouble.

The woman suddenly hesitated, stopped, and then got up and trotted back down the alley, grabbed her purse and jacket, and fled into the shadows. Cody took a deep breath, and climbed over the fence, looking over his shoulder every three seconds on shaky limbs. It felt great to be alive; now to keep it that way.

Naomi was about to deliver the blow when she had a sudden realization occur to her. Even though the police wasn't coming to them, they were somewhere nearby. If they saw them, they would arrest her, not him. An arrest record would not help her burgeoning career at all.

She quickly got up and trotted from the alley, gathered up her jacket and purse, and walked quickly away, toward the garage where her car was parked. As she thought about what just happened, she smiled. That felt good! All the stress she felt was relived when she took it out on that mugger. The crazy thing was she wouldn't mind doing it again. She would have to do something about her bloodlust though; she might have killed that man if she kept going.

The next day, she told her teammates about what happened, Eve and Lotus in particular. The two first told her they were glad she came out okay, and then rebuked her for taking it to excess. Eve told Naomi the use of the Iron Palm could've caved his face in. She did not want to visit their friend and teammate in prison.

"But he mugged me first!" Naomi protested.

Lotus reminded her that she was sumo now, meaning that she was stronger and more powerful than most people. Care would need to be taken so something like that wouldn't happen again. Meanwhile, her aggression needed to be saved for the ring, where it would come in handy. Naomi grudgingly agreed, but privately wondered where there were other places in town where she could get "mugged" again.

The next day, Cody applied and got a job loading boxes in a warehouse where his brother, Ralph worked. It was hard work, but at least it was safe.

"You swore you would never work here if your life depended on it," Ralph began, "so what happened to you?"

Loading a box onto a platform, Cody gave a lopsided smile and said, "Brother, you wouldn't believe me if I told you."

For suggestions, comments, or story ideas, email the author at shrewsberry@juno.com.

#2008, Barefoot Heroines, Inc.