Declaration of War

Janelle Confronts the Daughters of Athena

By Mongoose750 (mongoose750@yahoo.com)

[Author's Note: In order to get a more comprehensive understanding of this story, you may also want to read Encounters #1-4, and Love can be Weird. So there's your homework.]

Roughly a little over a year ago:

"Answer me this," Ben said. "There's a ton of guys on this campus who would probably drool at the thought of asking you out. Some of them might be able to fight you off." That received a smile from Janelle. "So why are you even spending all this time with me?"

"I just told you, you're the one. Like I said, I gather information about things, and act on them. A long time ago, I made a list of things I liked in men, and other than making a few variations, I stuck by that list. And you, Ben, believe it or not, fit into all those categories, with the exception of the minor point of physical fitness, but we'll work on that with the self-defense classes."

"I'm not a weakling! I mean, just because I can't fight you off-"

"I'm not talking about me, there's a lot of women at this school who will carry you off, with no trouble."

"Oh, come on,"

"You don't believe me now, but you will. There's a lot of strong women at this school who aren't as nice as I am-"

A little over a year later:

"Three cheers to the soon-to-be newlywed!" Kevin Coffman said as he raised his glass of coke to Benjamin Parker. Jessie Booker, followed suit by raising up his glass of ice tea.

The three friends were sitting in the outside patio of the cafeteria at the Midwestern college where they all attended. Kevin was a 5'5" white man of a stocky build. His major when he was in college was History. Since graduation, he landed a job at the main library downtown in the Archives department, or as he called it, "reading the exploits of dead folks." He loved it.

Jessie Booker was a skinny, 6'3" black man who majored in Advertising. He graduated, but after realizing how competitive the field of advertising can be, he decided to return to college to also obtain a degree in marketing to gain an edge. He reasoned since it will take him an extra year to complete his second degree since he already had the prerequisites, it should be no big deal. Besides, unless the end of civilization occurs, there will still be companies out there with products to sell and searching for ways to sell it.

Benjamin Parker was a black man of 5'10" with dark brown skin and a slim build. His degree was mathematics. After he graduated, he was considering going back to school to get a Master's Degree in that subject with the possible goal of teaching on the college level, but recently he found out about a local software company in town who was looking for people with strong math backgrounds to help in game design. After much thought and much urging (or nagging, depending on who you ask) from his friends and his wife-to-be, he sent in his resume, and was waiting for a possible interview. His academic prowess in college was the source of good-natured ribbing from his two friends, especially since he had a reputation for being finished with the class before class was officially over. He'd turn in his homework at least a month in advance. When he was told his progress was "worthy of a geek," shortly before graduation, he smugly replied, "Maybe, but at least this geek got the girl." Thinking about it, he reflected that it was more like the girl got the geek, but why split hairs?

Since Benjamin's wedding was still a couple of months away, there was still some time for he and his two friends to get together during his "last days of freedom." After they found the time to get together, they figured why not have lunch at the place where it all happened? (Technically, the place where it happened would be the Student Union Bookstore where Jessie met Benjamin's fianc#e and her two friends, but there's no restaurant there. Again, why split hairs?).

"You know, I knew the three of us would end up getting married, eventually," Jessie said. "I just didn't think you would be the first one."

"Me neither," Benjamin replied. "There are some days I look back on the whole thing and shake my head, because I must be dreaming."

"I still remember when she took on Samson in arm wrestling at the Spring Festival. I didn't realize a woman could be that strong. I don't think Samson realized it either."

"I remember when we got in line. As soon as some of the guys saw her, they left," Kevin said, laughing. "Tell me, Benjamin, what's it like being with such a strong woman?"

"Well she almost always has a smile on her face, and she can be very affectionate," Benjamin said. "Then again, with arms like that, she almost demands affection."

"That, and being a judo master to boot," Jessie said. "It was really nice of her to loan you out to us so we can have some fun."

"I remember when we first met her she said she "forgot her shoes.' It just blew me away when I found out she doesn't wear any at all," Kevin said.

"You know, every time I met her, she never had any shoes," Jessie said. "Even in church, I find myself looking, almost to the point to where I almost feel like a pervert to she if she's wearing any under those long skirts of hers. So Benjamin, I got to ask you, as long as you've known her, has she wore any shoes to church or anywhere?"

"I know the answer to that, but then she'll have to kill you," Benjamin said, laughing, "After she kills me first. Sometimes I don't know, and for my safety, I've stopped asking."

"She hangs around in pretty lethal company too. Her close friends consist of a great kickboxer, and other women with black belts in every martial art you can name. She even knows a mechanic who's a black belt in tae kwon do. Boy, I hate to argue about the price of a tune-up with that woman."

"That mechanic is gifted when it comes to car repair, and at the moment, she's unattached, if you like me to set something up."

"Wait a minute, did you Benjamin Parker, say something about setting someone up on a date?" Kevin said, dumbfounded.

"Why not, you guys did it to me once. Besides, she's the "toughest girl in town,' so you'll be nice and safe," Benjamin replied.

"It's an idea," Jessie said. "I'll just make sure I'm on my best behavior. I'd like to keep my teeth in one place."

"Uh, guys, I know it's been a while since I've been on this campus, but are my eyes deceiving me, or are those three bald women who just sat down at that table on the other side of the room?" Benjamin asked, nodding his head enough so he wouldn't draw undue attention.

On the other side of the patio, three women sat down to eat their meals. All three had shaved heads, muscular builds, and they were all dressed in black swimsuits, one of them wearing a swimsuit similar to what swimmers wear in the Olympic games, being more of a tank top unitard style, with the leggings reaching down to the ankles. All three wore no shoes.

"Oh no, they're from the Daughters of Athena," Jessie said.

"The who?" Benjamin said.

"The Daughters of Athena," Kevin said. "They were active several years ago, but I heard they were making a comeback."

"Guys, I know I wasn't the most social man on this campus, but I'm sure I didn't live in a cave. How come I didn't hear of these ladies, and what's the big deal?"

"By the time we got on campus, they went away. I heard stories of what they tried to do before we got here. Rumor has it that they almost took over the town," Jessie said.

"Are they like the Moonies? Are they a religious cult or what?" Benjamin asked.

"They're sort of like a militant women's group," Kevin said. "They had members everywhere before they disappeared."

Benjamin looked at Kevin and Jessie skeptically. "You mean to tell me that long before we set foot on this campus, a group of bald women almost took over this town?" He said.

"That's right," Kevin said. "Remember, I work with old documents at the library. I can prove it."

"Yeah, they scare me," Jessie said.

"Even worse, they're headed this way,"

The three men fell silent and concentrated on finishing the rest of their food as the three swimsuit-clad women walked by. Just when it looked like they were on their way out and all was well, a woman of medium complexion, standing about 5'10" and wearing a black one-piece swimsuit, suddenly turned around and greeted the trio.

"Why hello, we just happened to be passing by, and we thought we'd stop and say "hello,'" she said. While the language she spoke was English, an accent similar to British was evident.

"Hello," Kevin said nervously, hoping the quick greeting would send them away.

"Hi there," Jessie said, following suit.

Benjamin, noticing that his friends' usual ability to employ the "gift of gab" has left them, figured there was nothing wrong with a little light conversation. "Hey, you're not from these parts, are you? England?" He asked.

"No," the lead woman said, "Zimbabwe; my friend here," she gestured toward a woman of similar height and build and wearing a two-piece black swimsuit combination that looked like a sports bra and shorts, "is from South Africa, and my other friend here," she gestured to the other woman, who stood about 6'1" and was wearing the Olympic style swimsuit, "is from Kenya. We call ourselves the "White Africans.'"

"That's interesting. Well, welcome to the states. This is Jessie and Kevin, and I'm Benjamin."

"Why thank you, Benjamin. My tall friend goes by the name of Pillar, my other friend is Gazelle, and I'm Huntress."

Jessie picking up the cue, said, "That's interesting, all three of you coming from different parts of Africa meeting here, and I'm sure your respective parts of Africa are interesting also."

"Yes it is; it's also where we gained an appreciation for handsome black men," Huntress said, as she looked Benjamin up and down hungrily.

"Of course we like other men too," Gazelle said, winking at Kevin.

Benjamin was starting to turn red from the bold compliment, not to mention the intense scrutiny he was receiving from Huntress. Kevin however jumped to his defense.

"We were here celebrating Benjamin's engagement," Kevin blurted out, sounding almost desperate in his statement.

"Oh, that's too bad," Huntress said. "What's the lucky woman's name?"

"Janelle," Benjamin said proudly, hoping that Huntress got the hint. She didn't.

"Well, if you gave me a chance, I bet I could make you forget all about Janelle," she said.

"I doubt it," Benjamin said.

"Well you never know. We're going now, nice meeting all of you. And Benjamin?"

"Yes?"

"I've got my mark on you. Bye now."

Before any of the men could ask what Huntress meant by that, the three women turned and quickly walked away.

"So that's what women mean when they say they're looked at like a piece of meat. I may never look at a steak the same way again," Benjamin said, repressing a shiver.

"Now you see why they spook me," Jessie said.

"I wanted to make sure Huntress knew you were taken," Kevin said, "It looked like she was going to drag you off."

"Thanks Kevin, but the way she looked at me, I don't think she'd cared if I was married already. Jessie, I thought you were the "playboy' of this group," Benjamin said.

"Hey, you didn't notice how the tall one was staring at me," Jessie said. "And all three of them were almost as muscular as Janelle."

"You may have to get Janelle to fight Huntress off for you," Kevin said.

"Oh, I hope not. Anyway, this was probably their way of flirting, and probably meant nothing at all. In any case, I'll need to check in with my "warden' before we go out tonight. Are we still meeting at my place between 7:30 ' 8?" Benjamin said.

"Yeah, I'll be there," Jessie said.

"Since I live in the same apartment complex as you, so I'll be there, no problem," Kevin said.

Benjamin stood up and got his tray ready to take back to the cafeteria. "Good, I'll have someplace in mind for us to go before we meet tonight," he said.

-----

Meanwhile, at roughly the same time, three women were eating lunch at one of the nicer spots in town. Seated around a table enjoying a good meal were three women. Tracey Hunt was a 5'5" blonde with a skinny but strong frame that matched the long straight hair that hung down her back. She was a basketball player for the school. Since she graduated, she obtained a job as a nurse at one of the local hospitals in town. Maria Hernandez, a 5'6" Hispanic woman had long black hair, and a stocky, muscular build that she kept in shape since her days of throwing the shot put on the college's track team. After graduation, she also obtained a job as a nurse at the same hospital.

The third woman, the guest of honor, was Janelle Edwards, who stood at 5'11", and also had a powerfully muscular build. She had long black hair that hung just over her shoulders. It also displayed her face, which was a small oval that had what seemed to be a perpetual smile on her face. On her build, her arms were one of the most noticeable because of their size and definition. Ordinarily on most occasions, she wore long sleeves to cover them up, but on this occasion, she decided to throw caution to the wind and wear a light purple tank top. Since she graduated, she became engaged and obtained a job as a part-time physical therapist. That position is more "as needed" than it is a regular position, which was fine, because it left her plenty time for her other job, which was being a judo instructor at a dojo named The Iron Foot, named that way because of an adventure she and her fianc#e experienced in the South Seas. At the dojo, business was never better, and she found herself dividing her instruction duties between herself and her junior instructors.

Janelle wore with her tank top a deeper purple pair of Capri pants. The pants showed off her leg definition resulting from a lot of quality time spent lifting weights and practicing judo, but that was not the most noticeable thing about her outfit. Actually, the most noticeable thing about her outfit was what she was not wearing, which was shoes. It was the other reason her dojo was titled The Iron Foot. For several years, Janelle had been a year-round, 24/7 barefooter. There are people who have known her equally as long, and had never seen her wear shoes. Those same people also wondered if she wore any at church underneath her long dresses and skirts. They're also waiting for winter, especially when it snows, so they'll see if she breaks down and puts on a pair. Of anyone who knew of those rare occasions when she wore shoes, only her fianc#e knew for sure, but was sworn to secrecy. Normally on an occasion like eating at a nice restaurant, she would ware barefoot sandals, which gave the impression of wearing shoes, even though they only decorate the top of the foot. However, she also threw caution to the wind on this as well, and sat at her chair, legs crossed, displaying her bare arches and soles for the whole world to see, barely covered by the short tablecloth.

She chose this spot for a get-together because it was at this restaurant that Maria gave her some vital advice that was very influential for her relationship with her fianc#. In fact, it kept it from ending before it began. It also led to some other important changes in her life.

"Since you two started nursing, it's been hard to keep in touch," Janelle said, while taking a bite of cheesecake. "How am I going to find out what's going on in the world if I can't talk to you two?"

"Since we're the new kids, they decided to give us the lousy shifts and all the "fun' patients," Tracey said. "They've put me on so many swing shifts, my body barely knows what sleep is."

"Fortunately, we're seeing an end to it. We'll be doing first shift soon," Maria said.

"Actually, it could be worse. We could be working emergency," Tracey commented.

"What's going on down there?" Janelle asked.

"There seems to be a lot of assault victims these days. I don't know if it's the weather, or what, but something is going on that makes people want to beat each other up."

Janelle thought about asking a question, but changed her mind. Instead, she turned to Maria. "Before I forget, I just wanted to thank the both of you for what you've done for me. Tracey, I want to thank you for giving me the general information about the man in my life, and Maria, I want to thank you for giving me that talk about a year or so about waiting and not rushing things with relationships," she said.

"It was just a friendly word of advice," Maria said. "I didn't expect it to change your life that much."

"Oh, you have no idea how much it did."

"Someday, when we have more time, you'll have to fill us in on the details. However, we need to go home so we can rip these uniforms off and get some sleep. It looks like according to our schedule, we'll be able to see you in church this weekend."

"That's great, I'll sit close by to give you a judo chop if you fall asleep."

After the trio laughed, Tracey asked, "Janelle, I've been meaning to ask you something. I know those wedding dresses are long and everything, but I was just curious. Are you going to wear shoes the day of the wedding or do what you normally do?"

Janelle just smiled.

"Just what I figured," Tracey said.

Speaking of judo chops and stuff, I thought about trying a martial art since I'm not throwing shot puts anymore," Maria said. "Lifting bedpans isn't the best way to keep in shape."

"Actually both of us thought about it. Maybe it's dealing with those difficult patients that gave us the idea," Tracey said.

"It's a great idea," Janelle said. "A martial art will improve your self-discipline, so you'll be less likely to sock those lovely patients you deal with."

"But I want to sock them, Janelle!" Tracey protested. "You're no fun!"

"If I take one up, will I have to keep my shoes off?" Maria asked, jokingly.

"Only if you're in my dojo," Janelle said. "I'll see you two this Sunday, okay?"

The three shared hugs and returned to their separate homes.

-----

Not long after Janelle returned to her apartment, the doorbell rang. Knowing who it was, she yelled from the living room, "Come in, Ben."

Benjamin let himself in, and saw why she didn't come to the door. Janelle was sitting back in her easy chair in front of the television watching the movie The Karate Kid, again. Didn't he buy her a tape of that movie several months ago?

"Honey, you've ' we've seen this movie at least a hundred times," Benjamin protested. "We could probably quote the script from memory by now."

"I know, I was just doing some channel surfing, and I just happened to run across it," Janelle said. "Now hush, my favorite part is coming up."

Her favorite part of the movie was the scene where the old karate instructor taught his young apprentice the true meaning of "wax on, wax off," and "paint the fence" as it applies to karate technique. After the scene was over, she turned off the TV and got up and kissed Benjamin lightly on the lips.

"Hello dear," she said.

"You know, that movie doesn't even mention your discipline. You do judo, not karate," Benjamin said.

"I know, but it still empathizes the goal of teaching; to make the most complex into something simple. Now how was your lunch with the boys?"

"Oh, it was great, the three of us getting together again. It got a little weird at the end though. We were greeted by three bald chicks in black swimsuits. They didn't stick around too long though. Jessie and Kevin were freaked out by them though, I don't know why."

"Did you say three bald women in black swimsuits came to you guys?"

"Yeah."

"Oh dear."

Benjamin sat on the arm of the easy chair. "What is all this with these women? First I see Kevin and Jessie practically want to run from the table when these three women show up, now I see you with a shocked expression on your face. I guess that's saying something, because you don't get shocked very often," he said. "Who are these people, the Daughters of Athena, isn't it?"

"Yes. The Daughters of Athena is a women's group who want to take over this town, at least, that's their first goal. They appear to be a group for women's empowerment, but once you get past that, you find out they have more sinister ideas in mind."

"Okay, so who started this group, some angry woman who couldn't get a date?"

Janelle laughed. "I wish it was that simple. Rumor has it that many years ago this woman who was an excellent businessperson got passed over for promotion at one of the major businesses in town because, simply speaking, she wore a skirt. After she got passed by one more time, and saw that the promotion and raise went to some incompetent male, she figured enough was enough and quit her job. Now this woman was a financial whiz. Not only did she help her place of business became nice and prosperous, she also played the stock market, and made a number of investments. In short, she could've quit at any time, because she was already wealthy," she said.

"Let me guess the next part," Benjamin said. "So she started up a women's group to put her old place of business out on the street. But where do the bald heads and swimsuits come in?"

"You're close, she planned to put her former place of employment out of business, but not the way you think. Since her co-workers were unscrupulous to her, stealing her ideas, framing her for their mistakes and whatnot, she did the same to them. A little evidence planting and blackmail went a long way. After about a year, the business went under, unable to cope with the internal disasters and not being able to draw any new clients because of it.

"Concerning the swimsuits, that idea came up to her when she was attacked by one of her angry former co-workers."

"So after the co-worker beat or abused her, she set up this group?" Benjamin guessed.

"No, actually she beat the guy to a pulp. The woman held a black belt in karate. After she finished beating him, and was sent off to the emergency ward, she came up with an idea. She wondered how many women were victims of men such as these, and then decided to do something about it. She created a schedule of a year's worth of intense training that consisted of weight training and martial arts. She then looked for suitable candidates. Knowing that the well to do and privileged would probably refuse, she instead women who were either mistreated, abused, or in some way neglected by society. This woman is also a strong believer in education, so whoever joined her group would have to agree to the year of intense training, and to go to school and study hard, be it GED or PhD, while she foots the bill. Oh, and the black swimsuits actually became a "trademark' of sorts, because she needed workout outfits for her new recruits, and there was a sports store that had a special sale on swimsuits, the majority of them were black. The trend stuck. Many of them wear it as a show of pride, even in more unlikely places, as you've just found out."

"And the bald heads?"

"There was one woman who wanted to be loved more for her inner beauty than what she had outside, so she shaved her head. The trend caught on."

"With the exception of the bald heads, it sounds great. If I was a woman, I'd hook up with something like that myself," Benjamin said.

"Precisely," Janelle said. "What you're not told though, is that she is inadvertently forming an army of sorts. Her training program develops "instant warriors' for lack of a better term. And one of the things she teaches her members is that everyone needs to settle their personal accounts or goals."

"What's wrong with that?"

"Personal accounts can mean a lot of things, from getting that degree you've strived for to getting even with that bully who's pushed you around for years. A lot of emphasis is placed on the latter. They also talk about "expanding your territory,' meaning in other words conquering and taking over."

"But we're talking about a year's worth of training here, how bad is that?" Benjamin asked.

"Do you remember Barbie, Betty's friend, and the program we put her through?"

"Yeah, you could see a big change after you, Velvet, and Susan finished with her."

"I took the one-year concept from them, except I did it to strengthen her character, not out to take over the world."

"I guess I still don't get it," Benjamin said, scratching his head. "What have they done lately that's so bad?"

"I can give you a few examples. There was a karate instructor in town who was pretty popular and won some awards in competitions. I thought he also considered himself God's gift to women, but never mind that. He was the owner and operator of his dojo until recently. The current students came in one day to find out that their master teacher became an assistant teacher overnight. The main teacher was a bald-headed Asian woman who called herself "Destiny' that no one saw before. On top of that, there's been an increase of more new students, almost all women, and almost all bald. Again, rumor has it that this woman challenged this guy about four years ago, with the dojo as the prize, and he won ' barely. Apparently she came back for a rematch, and she won."

"Interesting."

"There also was a case of a bald-headed woman appearing at a party at a fraternity house and beating up all the frat members there. She beat them pretty bad, too. Half of them are still in the hospital."

"Really? Why would someone do that?" Benjamin asked.

"I don't know; I heard that the fraternity had some sort of contest on how many new girl students they can sleep with; perhaps it's one of those women who got burned."

"Huh."

"Here's another example for you. Remember professor Caesar Greene, one of the history professors on campus? Not too long ago, someone came into his office and beat him pretty bad."

"That horn dog? I'm sorry he got beat up, but if even half of those rumors about him are true, he had it coming. He probably got it from someone on the football team."

"The men's gymnastic team, maybe, but I doubt it was a football player," Janelle replied.

"What do you mean?"

"According to his secretary, no one came in through his office. The only possible way of entry was a tree that stands outside his window, on the third floor."

"Wow."

"On top of that, besides being beat, he was also sexually assaulted. "

"Well didn't he tell the authorities who done this to him?"

"When the authorities talked to him that night, all he said was "Artemis,' over and over again. When he healed up some, he still wouldn't tell anyone who did it. That makes me think it was one of his former "flings' that did this to him."

"If he said anything, that would incriminate him as well as the attacker. Pretty cunning."

"To give you one more example on campus, you remember seeing Kevin and Reginald on campus a few times, haven't you?"

Benjamin wrinkled up his face in a sour expression. "Yes I do, they're one of the more openly gay couples on campus. Kevin was okay, but Reginald-"

"I know what you mean. Well one of the Daughters ' let's call them DOA for short, thought Kevin was a real nice guy, too nice to be with a jerk like Reginald, so she took him."

"Took him?"

"I don't know all the details, but she did something with him or to him, then a week later, her and some others came to Reginald's apartment and claimed him. I think she said something like "who is your lover?' and he came with her, and they've been together ever since."

"I always knew that gays could change their orientation, but I've never heard of it done that way. So what happened to poor Reginald?"

"Two of the woman's friends took him. From what I understand, he is kept around to "serve their needs,' if you know what I mean."

"I know I haven't been a social butterfly when I was on campus, but if these ladies are a threat, how come they went away years ago? It sounds like I should be seeing a buff, bald woman who knows karate on every block from what you're telling me," Benjamin said.

"Not just karate. These ladies have a choice of training in any martial art that's available, including some that the founder created. I heard that she might be creating a type of combat yoga."

Benjamin struggled to keep himself from laughing. "Combat yoga?" He said.

"That's what I've heard."

"Janelle, since I've been with you, I've experienced a lot of things. Some things that I thought were beyond the realm of possibility. But I refuse to believe in a martial art based on yoga. How do you do that, do you fight from a lotus position or what?"

"Let's see, it would have to be a form of grappling," Janelle shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know, I never tried yoga."

"So what stopped them the first time?"

"A few years before we first attended school here, they were growing rapidly. Besides students in college and other women in the community, there were also "sleeper' agents in prominent places and offices, like the police force, mayor's office, etc. They became a major force to be feared and reckoned with."

"So what stopped them?"

"A revival."

"What?"

"One day, a pastor decided to have a revival. Instead of directly attacking the movement, he preached a message of love, and how both sexes should treat each other; much different from the chauvinistic Bible thumpers who kept saying a woman belongs in the home. The revival spread citywide, and the DOA lost numbers, and many thought it disappeared completely.

"Then a couple of years ago, that pastor accepted a call to pastor another church, and a new pastor came in. You may know him, he talked to us in our premarital sessions not too long ago."

"Our church was responsible for the revival? Huh, small world," Benjamin said. "Hey, how did you find out all this stuff anyway?"

"Most of it I found out from a few sources; two of them were partly responsible for bringing us together and introducing us to church in the first place," Janelle said, smiling.

"Maria and Tracey were one of them? I'm sorry, I can't imagine either one with a shaved head."

"Well no need to bother, they didn't. Their original position there was to gather information about particular things. They were already athletes, so the intense workout clause wasn't necessary for them, and martial arts training weren't a mandatory deal just yet. They attended one night of the revival, realized the error of their ways, and the rest was history, including the time when Maria invited us to church one Sunday, but of course, you know about that. But those two were very good at their job. How do you think I found out so much about you not long after we met?"

"I've always wondered about that," Benjamin said.

"The other source was my sensei. Not long after I joined up, he told me that I had great potential to become an excellent judoka. Flattering as it was, it meant a little more work on my part, which meant sitting in on some of his other classes. One day, a bald woman came in during a class and challenged my teacher. By this time he already heard about other dojos being challenged by the DOA, so he figured it was only a matter of time before it was his turn. To make a long story short, he won. Before he left to found another school, and I was getting started with my own dojo, he warned me. He told me that the DOA was not dead, they were only sleeping, gathering their forces, and when everyone has forgot about them, they'll strike. Since then, I tried to keep an ear out for anything that sounded like they would be behind it."

"Reminds me of a comic book I read once, about some heroes who barely kept these powerful villains from taking over a long time ago, then years later, a new crop of heroes were confronted with the bad guys," Benjamin said.

"That sounds about right, if what I heard is true. Oh, here's some trivia for you, do you know why we have so many dojos in this city?"

"Let me guess; either in the aftermath of the DOA or because of them, people, especially us poor guys needed protection, so more people took martial arts classes, and the old supply and demand deal."

"Close, but the DOA also threatened many women too, especially those in prominent positions. Some former DOA members started new schools as well. So that's why we have almost a dojo on every corner."

Benjamin glanced at his watch. "Well I wasn't expecting this to turn into a history session, but I need to head out and get things set for me and the guys tonight. We're going somewhere, we just don't know where yet," he said.

Janelle gave him a soft kiss on the lips. "Have fun," she said.

"Sure will." He headed toward the door, and then stopped. "Oh, I meant to ask you something, I almost forgot. The lead woman, "Huntress' she said her name was, she said she put her mark on me. What's with the goofy names, and what did she mean by that?"

"She said she has her mark on you?" Janelle asked, suddenly alarmed.

"Yeah."

"Oh dear."

"Now what? What does that mean?"

"It means she likes you."

"Oh, is that all? That's not too bad. Hey, wait a minute, you're not thinking I'm going to drop you for a bald chick?"

"No, it means she plans on "taking' you. It's similar to hunting an animal to take its horn's, hide, or something like that."

"So this woman plans to "hunt me down' like a rabbit?" Benjamin said. "Surely she wouldn't do that. I told her I'm engaged."

"They have an unwritten rule that says until you're married, all men are fair game. And it doesn't matter if you're willing or not. They work on making you "compliant' first."

"Why am I afraid to ask what that means?"

"Also in the DOA, after their year of training, they have the option of giving themselves a new name, something that sounds either more aggressive or strong or something that represents their new character. The fact that you encountered someone who uses the name "huntress' doesn't help things any. She'll probably try to live up to that name."

Benjamin leaned against the door. "Oh boy," he said. "That's what you meant by that remark you made a year ago about some strong women not being as nice as you are. You were talking about them, weren't you?"

"Yes I was. Can you, Jessie, and Kevin do something at your place? Now that this has come about, I don't want you out tonight."

"I guess I can, just need to straighten up the place a little. Jessie and Kevin were frightened enough when we ran into those three women. I still have been going to those self-defense classes on Saturday mornings, does that count for anything?"

"Against your average mugger or rapist, sure; but we're talking about condensed black belts here, so you're safer staying at home."

Benjamin rose up his hands in surrender. "Okay, I got the picture. I think I have a few games that need to be broken in anyway." He walked over to kiss Janelle one more time before heading for the door and opening it with no surprises this time. "I love you."

"I love you too, sweetheart, be careful," Janelle said as he closed the door.

-----

Later that evening, it turned out Benjamin didn't have a hard time convincing Jessie and Kevin to join him for a quiet evening at home playing war games and maybe watching a movie or two; especially when he told them what Janelle told him. Since Kevin lived in the same apartment complex he did, coming over at the suggested time wasn't a problem. After Kevin arrived, Benjamin handed him a soft drink, and they sat down and waited for Jessie to arrive.

A few minutes later, the door opened, and both men were assaulted by two light bursts of water. They looked toward the door, and there was Jessie, standing with a devilish grin on his face, and an oversized water gun with a large water tank attached to it in his hands.

"Pretty good, huh?" Jessie said, looking at his water gun. "It's the Super Soaker 3,000; it holds about half a liter of water, and shoots accurately at a distance of 30 feet."

"Thirty feet? I guess so; those shots had quite a kick to them," Kevin said, wiping his face off with his handkerchief. "Why did you get one anyway?"

"At the dorm, there's been a rash of random shootings by people with water guns and water balloons. After I nearly got drenched the other day, I decided to get some major firepower for protection."

"Jessie, that thing is childish, it's a waste of money, and I wish I could get one," Benjamin said.

"Janelle's a good sport," Jessie said. "She wouldn't mind a silly little thing like this. Maybe you can give her a little squirt or two."

"Jessie, this is Janelle we're talking about, right? The super strong master judo instructor who's going to be my wife? If I shot her with one of those things, there's no place I can go that's safe enough for me. If you think that's such a fun idea, then you shoot her."

Jessie closed the door, switched the "safety" button on his water gun, and set it on a nearby table. "Now that you mention it, I still have a full life ahead of me, so why waste it? So what are we doing tonight?" He said.

"Well, I rented a movie just in case, but I have an advance copy of Ultimate Female Fighter III, autographed by the creator."

"That game isn't supposed to be out for months! How did you get it?"

"Does Janelle know you have that game?" Kevin asked.

"Kevin, Janelle is the one who gave me this game. She knows the creator of the game personally," Benjamin said.

"Your fianc#e knows "Crimson?'" Jessie asked.

"Oh yes, very well. Her and Janelle are good friends. She knows a lot of people, you know."

"Crimson is a she?" Kevin said. "Do you know her real name?"

"Yeah, I do, but you'll have to keep it under your hat, because she wants to keep a low profile," Benjamin gloated. "Her real name is-"

Suddenly he was interrupted by the ringing of the doorbell.

"Oh, our pizza has arrived," He said. "I didn't think you two were ready to try my cooking, so I took the liberty of ordering a few pizzas, hope you didn't mind."

"Hey, no problem. After we eat, I want to know some more about this "Crimson,'" Kevin said.

"Yeah, Benjamin is turning into quite the name dropper," Jessie said.

"Hey, you can thank my future wife for that," Benjamin said as he got up to answer the door. "If it's anything or anybody related to martial arts or fighting, she's the one who knows."

As he opened the door, Benjamin froze in shock; for standing in the doorway was not the pizza delivery person, but instead, it was the three bald swimsuit clad women from earlier that day. Jessie and Kevin were equally surprised.

"L-ladies," Benjamin stammered, trying to keep calm.

"Hello Benjamin," Huntress said, her green eyes studying him hungrily. "We couldn't keep you guys out of our minds, especially you-" she pointed a slender finger at Benjamin, "-so we thought we'd come over to get a little more acquainted with each other."

"But this is a guys night out," Jessie said, struggling to put up a feeble defense.

"The thing that's so boring about a "guys night out' is that there's no gals around," Huntress said as she moved closer to Benjamin while Pillar moved over to Jessie, who was standing behind the sofa, while Gazelle moved closer to Kevin who was sitting on it. Recovering from the initial shock, Benjamin found his voice.

"Huntress, I told you earlier this afternoon, I'm engaged," he said.

"Oh yeah, you're supposed to be engaged to Janelle Edwards, right?" Huntress said.

"Hey, how did you know, I never told you her last-" Benjamin stumbled back in further shock.

"But I've got something that Janelle doesn't have."

"What's that?"

"You."

Huntress quickly reached behind her and closed the door, while the other two women jumped on their prospective prey and held them in restraining holds. Gazelle had a hammerlock on Kevin, forcing almost his whole face into the sofa cushions. Pillar rushed in and gave Jessie a foot sweep, knocking the big man down to the floor, knocking over the table where the Super Soaker 3,000 was resting. The water gun bounced a couple of times on the floor while the bald amazon pinned Jessie down with an arm lock on his right arm, the sole of her bare right foot on his face.

Benjamin stood frozen when Huntress suddenly charged him. Remembering his self-defense training, he took her arms, placed his left foot on her stomach, leaned back and delivered a textbook circle throw, remembering to straighten his leg so that she'll land flat on her back. As he glanced over where she landed, he was in for another surprise for that evening. The throw was supposed to land Huntress flat on her back, winded. Instead, the woman broke her fall, and was able to manage to get back on her feet.

"Oh, so my baby knows some self-defense moves, huh?" Huntress said as she rose into a crouch position. "Too bad for you that we've been trained in several martial arts, so simple little moves like that mean nothing to me."

Benjamin quickly scrambled to his feet, but not quick enough as Huntress sprang from her crouched position and hit him with a flying tackle. With surprising speed, Huntress leaped on top of him, and pinned him on his back by putting her knees on his arms. Benjamin tried to buck the woman off, but there was no leverage or anything else to work with to dislodge her position. After establishing herself, Huntress looked down at her prey and smiled.

"Oh you look so good, and feisty too," she said. "I just had to come by and have a taste. Don't worry about your colleagues; my friends are going to have a piece of them too. You don't need some silly old judo teacher anyway. I'm a better woman, I'm a better fighter, and I bet I'm a better lover too."

Benjamin shook his head furiously. "No, you're a freak, get off of me!" He demanded between breaths.

Huntress looked down at him and shook her head. "Now you shouldn't have said that," she said. "Being feisty is nice, but when you start the name calling, that's going a bit too far. You'll need to be taught to be more compliant, and the first lesson is not to talk back to your mistress. That means you need a little softening up."

She then slapped Benjamin hard across the face with her right hand, then backhanded him with the same. Benjamin tried to struggle loose, but the hard slaps were almost too much. He looked up at Huntress, who seemed to have a demonic grin on her face. She was enjoying this. To make things worse, he was having flashbacks to a long time ago, when he was pinned down this same way while slapped and '

He snapped himself out of it, and tried to think of some move to make to get free before his cheeks turn red. His eyes glanced around until he saw ' the water gun! He moved his eyes back to focus on Huntress so she wouldn't notice, then struggled again. This time, he tried inching over to his left. Only an inch, and he can grab the gun. For a moment, Huntress stopped slapping him, smiled, and asked him a question.

"Have we learned our lesson? Are we ready to get down to business? I know I am," she said.

Benjamin replied with a growl and bucked some more, which Huntress responded with another shake of her head, and more slaps across the face. This is actually what he wanted, because if she's slapping him, she's not focused on his left hand almost reaching the water gun. He dared another quick glance, and was happy that when the gun hit the floor, the "safety" button was switched off. Now if he could grab the handle and blast her before she turned his face into hamburger ' got it!

With a flick of his wrist (which was a little painful, because the gun's tank was almost full), he quickly pivoted the gun, aiming it at Huntress's face. With a final grunt, he pulled the trigger.

The shot that hit Huntress's face was only water, but it was enough to startle her, and throw her off balance. Benjamin hoped that "kick" the gun had stung her face as well, but he wasn't counting on it. As soon as he was free, he quickly scrambled to his feet, and swung the water gun toward Jessie's captor. A shot to the face was enough for Jessie to pull his arm loose and get to his feet also. Benjamin swiveled to Gazelle and shot her, but she was quick enough at this time to block most of the flow of water with her hand. However, Kevin took the opportunity and slammed his right foot on Gazelle's bare toes. With a yelp, she released Kevin's arm to reach toward her momentarily wounded foot. All three men glanced at each other, and it didn't take a split second for them to figure out their next move ' escape. They ran to the door, Benjamin pausing for a moment to blast Huntress in the face again, then the slammed the door and ran down the hallway of the apartment complex.

"Let's take the stairs!" Kevin said as he pointed ahead of him. All three hit the stairs and went up seconds before the three women left Benjamin's apartment. The only thing that kept them from following in close pursuit was that Benjamin and Kevin were familiar with the complex, while they weren't. They knew they took the stairs, but they didn't know which stairway (there was two close by on that floor). By the time they decided on one, the three men found Kevin's apartment, got in, turned off any lights that were burning, and peeked out the window.

The complex was in the shape of a "U," and the way the apartments were positioned, Benjamin and Kevin could go out to their front porch and wave hello to each other. That advantage came in handy as the three women could be seen looking around before deciding to sit back and wait. It looked like they reasoned that the men couldn't hide forever.

"What do we do?" Jessie said. "We could call the police,"

"Sure we could, and tell them what?" Benjamin replied. "That we were chased out of my own apartment by three bald women? If it didn't just happen to us, I wouldn't believe it."

"Looks like you're spending the night at my place," Kevin said. "They might stay here all night."

Benjamin checked his pockets. "I left my cell phone there too. Jessie, let use your cell phone."

Jessie handed it to him. "Who are you going to call?"

"The Calvary."

-----

Back at The Iron Foot, Janelle didn't have any teaching responsibilities that night; that evening, one of the junior instructors was teaching a white belt or beginner's class. She usually took that evening to go to the office and take care of some much needed and much dreaded paperwork. She had good company to help her through it though, in the person of Velvet Jones. Velvet was a 5'10" black woman with short black hair cut close to the scalp, and a muscularly proportionate frame. Whereas Janelle's arms stand out, in proportion to everything else, Velvet had everything in place, nothing outstanding. Even though she took judo at roughly the same time Janelle did, when Janelle decided to start her own dojo, Velvet elected to go with her to help out. That voluntary spot has grown into a fairly well paying job while she's was still pursuing her studies at the university. As a joke, her and some friends went barefoot one day as a practical joke to her close friend, but she found out she liked the life, and never went back. Having already taught a class, she had long since showered and changed, wearing an oversized white T-shirt, and gray spandex shorts. Janelle changed into more casual garb with a short sleeve blue pullover shirt, and blue jeans.

"What do you think the boys are doing?" Velvet said as she looked at a piece of junk mail that said in bold letters, "Now you can make your dojo double in students overnight!"

"They're probably playing with that advance copy of Ultimate Female Fighter III that Crimson, I mean Gayla gave to him. They'll be at it all night," Janelle said.

"I'd like to check that out so I can see what the fuss is about."

"It's really pretty good. Gayla knows what she's doing. I found myself playing the game until real late one night. I only meant to give it a trial run. Just make sure you have nothing else you should be doing, it's very addictive."

Velvet laughed. "I'll keep that in mind," she said.

The office phone rang. Velvet reached for it, but Janelle stopped her.

"I'll get it, I need a break," Janelle said as she picked up the receiver. "Hello, The Iron Foot? What? This just happened? Don't go anywhere, I'm on my way, bye!"

"What happened?" Velvet said as Janelle quickly stuffed everything into a folder and threw it into a desk drawer.

"It's Ben, he and his friends were attacked. I got to go."

"I'm going with you, let me tell Wally we're leaving."

Soon the two women jumped into Janelle's car and sped toward the apartment complex.

-----

Back at Kevin's apartment, the three continued to look out the living room window at the three invaders who were standing guard at Benjamin's place. Benjamin looked down and realized he still had Jessie's water gun in his hand.

"Shoots for a distance of 30 feet, holds half a liter of water, it's childish, a waste of money, and it saved our bacon. I believe I'm going to have to buy one after this mess is over," Benjamin said as he handed the water gun to Jessie.

"No man, you keep it, you earned it," Jessie said. "Man, I tried to get loose, but that woman was strong as a, a-"

"Pillar?" Kevin said.

"Yeah, a pillar. I thought for a moment she was going to literally rip my arm off and beat me with it. You think Janelle can handle those three?"

"If not, she knows some people who can," Benjamin said. "She was the only one I could think of to call who wouldn't laugh at us and call us wimps for what's going on."

"Concerning this group, there's a lot more people than you think who would agree with you," Kevin said. "I heard even the campus police were afraid of them."

"What would really scare me if some of them were on the campus police," Jessie said. "Hey, there's Janelle's car now."

"We're not the only ones who see it," Kevin said pointing to the three women. "They see it too. Benjamin, Janelle doesn't know these women does she?"

"Not as far as I know. They seem to know her though," Benjamin replied.

One of the three bald women pointed a finger in the direction of Janelle's car approaching the parking lot. They appeared to have a brief discussion, then left the apartment and took one of the rear exits. Janelle and Velvet got out of the car and trotted toward Benjamin's apartment.

"I'll call Janelle on my phone when she gets in the apartment to tell her where we are," Benjamin said.

"Velvet's with her, she's pretty buff, and still unattached, from what I understand," Kevin said.

"Listen to you," Jessie replied, "Not too long ago, we had three freaky women getting ready to do, to do, I can't say what they were going to do to us; and you still want to play matchmaker?"

"Who said anything about you? Maybe I want to check her out! Can't say I would mind someone like that coming to my rescue. I just feel rather weird after what just happened, like I was helpless and powerless. I'll never look at those movies on Lifetime the same way again." After Jessie gave him a funny look, Kevin said, "Whenever I go to my sister's place, the TV is always on that channel; I don't watch it."

"For a moment, I was starting to worry about you Kevin, eh, Benjamin? Benjamin? Yo, Benjamin?"

Benjamin snapped out of his trance. "Oh, sorry about that, Jessie; I was a little out of it there," he said.

"That's alright, I think this thing took a little out of all of us. Hey, they're in the door, you better give them a call."

"Yeah, thanks man." Benjamin dialed his home number and watched as Janelle and Velvet looked at each other for a moment when the phone rang. After the second ring, Janelle picked it up.

"Hello?" Janelle said a little hesitantly.

"It's me, hon, we're up at Kevin's apartment. We'll be right down. See you in a moment." Benjamin handed the phone back to Jessie and turned to Kevin. "Since you're already home, you don't have to go back with us."

"Nah, I'll come down and say hi," Kevin said.

"And check out Velvet in the meantime," Jessie said.

"Oh shut up, it's not like you don't look at her too."

The three men returned to Benjamin's apartment, where Benjamin was greeted by a near bone-crushing hug from Janelle while Jessie and Kevin each received an equally strong hug from Velvet (not that they minded; in fact it was their biggest thrill of the night). After Benjamin told Janelle he needed air, she let him go and hugged the other two men.

"Are you all right?" Janelle said to the guys.

"Not bad, except for Jessie and Kevin having a sore arm, myself having red cheeks, and having the air crushed out of me by that hug," Benjamin joked.

"Yeah they're all right," Velvet said. "Ben's wit was unharmed."

"As soon as those women saw you two pull up, they took off," Jessie said. "You don't happen to know any bald-headed women who have a score to settle with you, do you?"

"No," Janelle said. "I know a lot of people, among them a few bald-headed men, but all the women I know have hair, and none of them have any "score' to settle with me to my knowledge."

"Well I think I had enough action for one evening, I'll think I'll go home. Uh, Velvet, could you walk me to my car, you know, just in case?"

"Sure, I can do that," Velvet said, smiling as the two walked off. "Janelle, I'll wait for you by the car, okay?"

"Okay, thanks Velvet," Janelle said.

"I think the next two floors will be safe, so I'll take off. Thanks for coming to the rescue, Janelle, and I'll talk to you later, Benjamin," Kevin said as he turned to go.

"Bye," the couple said as he closed the door. After Kevin left, Benjamin relayed the entire story down to their unlikely instrument of escape.

"The Super Soaker 3,000, eh? Not a can of mace, but as long as it got the job done," Janelle said. "Just as long as you're all right."

"Well, yes and no," Benjamin said, looking down.

"What's wrong?"

"It's what Huntress was doing to me, or what she planned to do to me. She didn't, of course, but her pinning me down and slapping me, it brought back some things."

"It brought back some things? Like what?"

Benjamin slowly raised his head and looked at Janelle. Suddenly, Janelle understood what he meant.

"But Ben, I've told you how deeply sorry I was for that, and if I could, I'd change the past and not do it. You said you've forgiven me for that. We've worked through it, and-"

"I know all that, and yes, I have forgave you for that, please don't think otherwise. It's just that what she was trying to do gave me some flashbacks, that's all."

When Janelle met Benjamin, she was convinced that he was the one man she needed in her life. However, Benjamin's shyness was becoming more resilient to her more assertive advances. During a spring break, when the two students were some of the few people on campus and her friends went on their various vacations, Janelle's advances toward Benjamin became even more aggressive. When Benjamin wouldn't come out of his dorm room, her impatience mixed with desire and lust, and on two separate occasions during that week, she barged into his dorm and raped him. It wasn't until she talked with Maria when she returned from her vacation and she thought about it, came the realization of what she did.

When Janelle started on the road to becoming strong, through her weight training and practicing her discipline of judo, it never occurred to her that she could ever use that strength, that power to harm others outside of self-defense, and yet, to a man she wanted to be her husband, that was what she did. Since that time, the two have traveled the long road of recovery and healing. No one, except their pastor, knew the whole story and the miraculous result the two had made from that time. And on that night, the machinations of one woman threatened to take away all they established together.

Janelle reached out and touched Benjamin's shoulder. "Oh Ben, please-"

Benjamin took Janelle's hand. "Honey, I'll be fine. I, I just need to be alone tonight, okay? I'll see you tomorrow night, all right? What happened tonight took a lot out of me, that's all. I'll see you after you finish with classes, okay?"

Janelle stood back and nodded her head. "Okay, I'll see you tomorrow night. I love you," she said as she reached for the door.

"I love you too. Bye-bye," Benjamin said as he closed the door.

Janelle returned to her car, where Jessie was retelling the story of what happened to Velvet in vivid detail.

"Pillar is her name, huh? Maybe I'll run into her sometime," Velvet said.

"Let me drop you off at the dojo, Velvet," Janelle said, "Right now, I no longer have the desire to do paperwork. I'll catch you later, Jessie."

"Bye ladies," Jessie said, waving as he walked to his car.

After she dropped Velvet off and returned to her apartment, Janelle sat in her bedroom and cried. All that work, the apologizing, the near begging and pleading, the promises and vows that she proclaimed to Ben that history would never repeat itself; her vocal proclamations to him that she loved him much too deeply to have anything happen to him, and that bald-headed twit almost took that all away in one night. And what's worse, she could potentially try it again; performing the deed in such a manner that Ben may not be able to call her, or anybody else for matter, for help. Something needed to be done, but what?

Janelle thought for a moment, and then glanced at her wall calendar to check the events for the coming day. She reached into her purse and pulled out her personal data organizer ' a birthday gift from Benjamin ' to double-check. Feeling satisfied, she changed into her pajama shorts and top, and crawled into bed, the germ of an idea growing in her head.

-----

The next morning, Janelle woke up, feeling much more refreshed than the night before, the events of that evening had wiped her out physically and emotionally. As she lifted her weights, showered, and ate breakfast, her mind went over the facts she received the other day. If they knew that her and Ben were a couple prior to the visit they made to Ben's apartment, then they must have done some homework even prior to that encounter at the university's cafeteria.

Janelle laughed to herself as she thought about this. This woman who calls herself "huntress" probably is feeling real proud of herself tracking Ben down, and following him to his apartment. Unlike a deer in the woods, people, except for those in espionage and the utterly paranoid don't keep a lookout for stalkers; they have no reason to. To follow someone requires a motive, and to have someone follow you, requires a worthy motive that would be worth the stalker's time. Ben, for all his wonderful attributes, wasn't that distinguishable from any other handsome man on the street. But the three women targeted him and his friends, because-

"They were after me," Janelle said to herself after chewing the last bite of breakfast. "But why?"

It sounded self-centered of her to say that, but considering the Daughters of Athena's previous pattern of taking over dojos, it makes a little more sense. But if that's the case, why not do like the others and come to a class she was teaching and publicly challenge her? That's what's been done before. That's one of the big questions, besides why she was chosen in the first place. She was barely wet behind the ears when they challenged her sensei, so how would they know of her? And of course, the third big question would be how they knew about her fianc#e, but if you ask the right people, that answer would be uncovered. Her and Ben's relationship was public knowledge.

Too many questions and not enough answers, but that ends today she thought to herself, as she walked back to her bedroom to get dressed. Mentally going over her schedule again, she didn't have work until that evening, and that was teaching a black belt class. Before that time, she had a few errands to run, so no need to be fancy in the dress department. She put on a sleeveless black T-shirt, some old blue jeans that had the cuffs rolled up a little bit at the ankle, an ankle bracelet, and of course, no shoes. She put her hair back in a ponytail. She threw on a long sleeve old white dress shirt (that she "borrowed" from her dad) to cover up her large arms, and making a double check to see if everything was in place, she got to her car and took off toward the university.

She figured the time she arrived there (mid-morning), there should be plenty of students running about, especially those who were bald-headed women. They shouldn't be hard to find.

Janelle pondered, since the Daughters of Athena has a tendency to allow their followers to change their name to something more majestic sounding, then regular logic or common sense would dictate that they would strongly encourage them to maintain that uniqueness even among themselves so it would be easier to keep track of them. In other words, there shouldn't be fifty women running around with the name of "Huntress." Hopefully she'll be able to do what she needs to do without any confusion.

Janelle walked around the campus, saying hello to a few old friends, teachers, and staff, reminiscing of the good times she had when she attended the school. Finally, after almost twenty minutes, she saw just the person or a person she needed to see. She saw a tall, well-muscled bald woman of 5'8", wearing a turquoise pullover blouse that fit a little snugly over her chest, struggling to contain the muscles beneath it. Topping off the outfit, she wore straight-leg blue jeans, an ankle bracelet, and no shoes.

I can see the DOA and I have one thing in common, Janelle thought, noticing that they also adopt a shoeless lifestyle. Then she noticed who was with the woman. The man was 5'6," had sandy blonde hair, and had his arm around the woman's waist while the woman had an arm around his shoulders. It was Kevin Butler, who seemed to have no problems adjusting to the straight life. From the happy look on his face, it looked like this woman was a definite improvement over his ex-boyfriend.

She approached the couple, and Kevin recognized her immediately.

"Janelle, hello! I'd recognize those pretty feet anywhere!" Kevin said. He even sounded happier.

"Hi Kevin, how are you?" Janelle said.

"I'm doing great. Janelle, this is my girlfriend Crystal. Crystal, this is Janelle, I've had her in a few classes. Don't think I've seen her wear shoes in any of them either."

Crystal extended her hand and Janelle shook it firmly. "A pleasure to meet you, Janelle," she said. "I've heard a little about you."

"You have?" Janelle said, concerned.

"About how you told your instructors that you've "misplaced your shoes' all the time. I always got a good laugh over that."

"Oh, well last I looked, required footwear wasn't in the school handbook. Of course if it was, I would've went here," Janelle replied, a little relieved. "Actually it was one of you I needed to see. Are you with the Daughters of Athena?"

"Yes I am," Crystal said, giving Kevin a slight hug. "One of the best things that happened to me. They stopped me from a starting a possible drug addiction, and brought this wonderful man in my life."

"Congratulations. Well I have a message for the one named "Huntress.' Tell her to meet me at my dojo today at five o'clock. She'll know what I mean."

"Huntress, one of the "White Africans.' Yeah, I know her. I'll be sure to send her the message."

"Thank you. Well I must be going. It was a pleasure meeting you Crystal, and Kevin, I don't think I've seen you so happy."

Kevin looked up at Crystal, smiling. "Thanks Janelle, I've haven't been this happy in a long time," he said.

As she walked back to her car, she reflected on Kevin and his new girlfriend. They're probably right, the DOA was probably the best thing for both of them. Unfortunately, that makes a group like that even harder to fight. However, she wasn't planning on confronting the whole group, just the three, particularly Huntress, who attacked Ben. She was a little curious how Kevin's ex, Reginald was doing in his new role as a sex toy between two women. If he hasn't "converted" yet, his term at school may be a long one. Not that he didn't deserve it.

That task being out of the way, Janelle left the school to follow through with her errands, and then to arrive at the dojo to prepare for the confrontation.

-----

If was 4:45 at The Iron Foot, and the remaining fifteen minutes might as well be an hour and a half as Janelle walked around in her powder blue gi, trying to keep herself from pacing, but not doing a good job. Her general game plan was to first go about it peacefully, telling Huntress to leave Ben alone, he's her fianc#e, etc., but the more she thought about it, the more she realized that this will probably end in physical combat.

If this wasn't so ridiculous, it would be almost funny. It sounded like one of those corny stories where two women fight over a man, with the man walking off with the victor. In reality, Ben belongs to her, so why the need for conflict? The more she thought about it, the more she needed answers on what Huntress true agenda was.

Despite her extensive training in judo, Janelle could count on two hands, if that many, the few times she actually needed to use it in an actual combat situation. Not that she couldn't handle herself; it's known that most masters in a martial art are confident, radiating an aura of boldness, that most people, robbers and rapists included don't want to mess with. Still she wondered about not exercising the option of consulting with those who regularly engage in combat outside the dojo. She could've talked with her friend, mechanic Betty Conrad, tagged or cursed with the title "the toughest girl in town," who received challenges from punks on an almost regular basis. As a result, she kept her Tae Kwon Do skills sharp. She could've consulted Susan Davidson, an amateur kickboxer in position to fight for the Tri-State championship. There was Gayla Gardner, or "Crimson,'who kept her Hapikdo skills sharp in the tending of her "Happy Hunting Ground" as she called it. She could have consulted her right-hand woman, Velvet, who competed a little, and asked some tips from her. But she felt this was something she needed to do alone, and whatever skills or discipline this woman along with her other "test-tube warriors" came up with, she should be up to the challenge.

If only she didn't have to do so much waiting, she thought as she got on her knees and tried to meditate. She should've scheduled this earlier . . .

"Janelle Edwards," a voice said, snapping Janelle out of her contemplation. "For a moment, I thought I had to "hunt' you down."

Janelle rose to her feet, ignoring the pun Huntress made on her name. "I don't know how that would be so hard. I teach classes here regularly, my dojo and home number is in the phone book, and I even have a website. Where's the problem?"

"Where's the fun?" Huntress said. "All that was too easy, you know?"

Huntress was now standing in the dojo, clad in her black one-piece swimsuit, while her two friends were standing by the door.

"I believe I arranged this meeting for you alone," Janelle said, coldly.

"I know," Huntress said, and nodded to the two women, who left and closed the door. "For what I plan to do, I won't need them anyway."

"I have several questions on what you "plan to do,' but one warning; leave Ben alone. He's my fianc#e, and whatever business you have with me you take up with me, understand?"

Huntress chuckled. "My initial idea was to do like everyone else does in my group; you know, drop by a class, challenge you to a duel, and fight it out. However, you're more the type to call the authorities than do that, and you're too bright to do anything like offer up your dojo as a prize like that idiot karate instructor did some time ago. Then I saw your boyfriend, and man, he's fine. Yeah, I know, he's engaged to you and all that, but after you're placed in the hospital, that might give me the chance to change his mind. If not, well there are other ways to do that, some of them a little painful."

Janelle realized Huntress was trying to goad her, and ignored the comment. "How do you know so much about me, and why have you chose me to put a notch in your belt?" She said.

"Oh yes, I know almost everything about you," Huntress continued. "When you received your black belt and the various degrees afterward; I know who your sensei was, and I almost know where he's at. When I find out, I'll pay him a little visit. I know your major was in physical therapy, I know when you met Benjamin or "Ben' as you call him; I know how many brothers and sisters you have as well as what your parents do for a living. I don't know your past prior to college, that seems to be a mystery for some reason, and some other things."

Janelle was stunned. "How did you know all that?"

"Someone told me. I bet you want to know who, don't you? Nah, that would be telling."

"You put someone in my class to spy on me?"

"Now, "spy' might be too strong a word. Let's just say someone who "observed' you over the years. Don't feel too paranoid; it's not Velvet or any of your closest friends. Now as to why I chose you? You were one of your sensei's star pupils, the ones he boasted about to his buddies. He said you have the "legs of a dancer, and the grace to match.' He also said you were a quick study, and you would either make a great teacher or competitor."

Now among the other things Janelle was feeling, paranoia was quickly becoming one of them. This woman had all this background information on her, but how? Was there a "mole," an informant in her own dojo?

"I still don't understand, why are you after me?" Janelle demanded.

"Yes, let's cut to the chase, shall we? One of the things we "Daughters' were doing was to take care of our past accounts. Your sensei's dojo was one of them, but since he moved elsewhere, that leaves you, his honored student, the one who established a dojo of her own, to take over. And as a bonus, to take her boyfriend to boot," Huntress said with a smile.

"I have no plans on giving my dojo to anybody, be it by duel or otherwise, and you're not getting my Ben," Janelle exploded. Then she thought to herself, I'd just as soon kill him before I'd turn him over to the likes of you.

"I'm well aware of that, therefore I plan on performing a "hostile takeover.' That means I beat you to a pulp, leaving you unable to teach your classes or do much else, then buy this facility to use as I see fit, namely a dojo of my own."

"You think after a year, you're ready to teach classes?"

"Oh, I didn't come through the group by normal channels; I've been trained to fight since I was little. I have plans of joining the Elite Guard."

"The elite what?"

"The Elite Guard, our leaders' superior group of soldiers. But I think you have other concerns of your own, like becoming a cripple."

Janelle had to stop for a moment to control the flow of blood that was roaring through her veins. She hasn't been this angry in years.

"I see this matter isn't something that is going to be settled by negotiation, is it?" She said through almost clinched teeth.

"If it makes you feel better dearie, a number of things are occurring today, a clean sweep. It's the way we do business."

-----

At Cheng's Dynasty Chinese Boxing Academy, sensei and owner of the academy Julie Cheng took advantage of the few hours between the morning and evening sessions of classes to do a little straightening up. Since her brother, Jackie Cheng hastily handed the school over to her before moving upstate to found a school there; business had been pretty good. It could've been better, but it hasn't been worse. Having been trained by her brother, she had been able to earn her student's confidence in her as a good teacher in Jackie's absence.

Before he left, Jackie gave Julie a word of warning, "beware of the bald-headed woman." Julie thought this was some strange quote from Confucius or a bad joke. When asked, her brother said that on two separate occasions, each a few years apart, a bald-headed woman had came by and challenged him to a duel of personal combat, with the winner getting the dojo. He managed to win both times, but he told Julie to watch out, because she may come by again.

Julie, thinking about that day that wasn't so long ago, found herself shaking her head. It sounded like something she would see on those late night kung fu movies. Nobody did that anymore if they ever did. Jackie always did have a habit of pulling her leg.

The sound of the door opening and closing caught of the young Chinese-American's attention. Classes weren't supposed to start for another few hours, so whoever it was either was too early, or a potential student wanting to check out the school. The person who walked in the door was a woman of 5'10", with short black hair with blue highlights and bangs that highlighted the oriental features of her face. She was wearing a lightweight blue trench coat. When she unbuttoned it, it revealed a blue bikini top and blue denim Capri-like pants that only extended as mid-calf, where they flared. On one of the pant legs, there was a red swirl design that extended the whole length of the leg. Topping off the outfit was the woman's bright blue fingernail and toenail polish that contrasted with her lightly golden skin.

"Julie Cheng, I presume?" the woman said as she took off her sunglasses.

"Yes, that's me," Julie replied. "What can I help you with?"

"I'm here for my semi-annual challenge for ownership of the dojo," the woman continued as she pulled off her trench coat. "I assume your brother told you the details?"

Julie was shocked. What she thought was a bad joke was actually true. As she looked at the athletic figure of the woman in question, she was momentarily speechless. When she managed to speak, she could only say one thing.

"You're not bald!" Julie said.

"No, I'm not, but I used to be. Over the years I realized I like my hair, so I decided to grow it back," the woman said, performing a few stretches. "Oh, excuse my manners; my name is Blue Elephant."

"Blue Elephant?" Julie gave her a quizzical expression.

The woman laughed. "I always get that. I received that name because my hands and especially my soles are as tough as leather, just like the proverbial pachyderm. The new groupies laugh at me because the name doesn't sound "aggressive enough' as Tiger, Fire, or some of the other labels. I then ask them if they ever fought it out with an elephant, and that usually shuts them up."

"Groupies? What are you talking about?"

"The Daughters of Athena, or course. Did your brother tell you anything about me?"

"He said he fought you twice and beat you. That was all I needed to know," Julie said, with a strong burst of confidence.

"Did he tell you that the reason he won last time was because I tripped on a loose end of the mat? No, I guess he didn't. I don't suppose he told you that I met up with him not too long ago. I told him to get his papers ready because I'm coming by. I believe that was the day before he handed ownership of the dojo over to you."

Julie was again trying to find the words to speak. "You, you saw him the day before - ?" She managed to say.

Blue Elephant folded her arms. "If we took the time, I could fill you in on the "other things' your brother "neglected' to tell you. I understand he's now teaching upstate. He won't be hard to find because I still have a score to settle with him. However, I still have a dojo to gain, and unfortunately you're in the way. I don't suppose you'll let me have it?" She asked.

"This dojo was started by my father, I'm not going to give it away!" Julie exploded.

"Your brother should've thought about that before he put it up as the main prize in a combat duel," Blue Elephant said. "I would rather be fighting your brother, but in order to get this school, I must fight you. Prepare yourself."

"I'll call the police," Julie said. "I'm not going to mess with you."

"Ah, but if you attempt to call the police, I'll stop you. Therefore, either way, you'll have to fight me. You might as well stop what you're doing, adjust your uniform, and prepare to do battle. You must be pretty good, or you wouldn't be over this school. Perhaps you'll win."

Julie saw no choice. The 5'6" woman adjusted the tunic of her uniform, which consisted of the standard black tunic, black trousers, white socks and black slippers, and did a few stretches. "I will tell you that I am well equipped in all the fighting styles that this school teaches. Beating me won't be that easy."

"And I will tell you that the fighting style I'm equipped in is the one style your school doesn't teach. In fact, your brother always had a hard time countering it. Let me guess, he didn't tell you that either. The next time you see him, you need to have a long talk with him; after you tell him what happened to the dojo, of course."

The two women bowed, and then circled each other, looking for an opening. Then Blue Elephant slowly crouched down almost to her knees. Julie, seeing the unusual stance, attempted to take advantage of her upright position and attempted a front kick and straight punch combination, which Blue Elephant deflected with ease. In fact, when her attack failed, she found herself trying to fend off the lightning quick punches, chops and blows of her opponent from her crouch. During the battle, Julie realized what her foe was doing; she was fighting the "monkey boxing' style of kung fu. But her brother told her that the style was obsolete and not effective. If so, why is she having trouble with it? And what else had her brother neglect to tell her?

No sooner that Julie finished her thought, Blue Elephant suddenly sprang up in a leap from her crouched position like a taut spring, and without any warning, Julie found herself facing sudden impact with the hardened sole of Blue Elephant's right foot . . .

-----

"All right, let's end this," Janelle said as she faced Huntress across from her on the dojo floor. Before she began, she bowed, a standard sign of respect in honorable combat.

As Janelle bowed her head, she heard the sound of bare feet on a rubber floor headed her way. Reacting more out of instinct than strategy, she threw herself to the side. As she looked up, she saw Huntress landing on the floor from her flying side kick, the kick that would've connected with her head if she stayed where she was.

Huntress smirked. "Surprised? Well this isn't the same Daughters of Athena that your sensei dealt with years ago; we're a new breed. We don't deal with that "honorable combat' garbage; when we see something we want, we take it, if someone gets in our way, we take them out. And right now, I want to take your dojo, and your man, and you're in my way, so that means I'm going to take you out."

"You think even if you succeeded to beat me, you'll get it? I have assistant instructors who are highly trained as well. You need to give it up and go home," Janelle said.

"Oh I'll go home all right, with your man by my side."

"I told you to leave my Ben alone!" Janelle yelled back at her attacker. No sooner than she finished her warning, Huntress charged her.

She threw a one-two punch combination that Janelle easily blocked, but was taken off guard by the instep that slammed into her left side as a result of Huntress' right front kick. The blow stung, but it caused no real damage. The judoka stepped back, holding her side however, a little surprised by the result of the first exchange of blows.

Huntress, sensing a possible weakness, approached Janelle with the same punch combination. Again, Janelle blocked them both, but this time before Huntress attempted another kick, the judo master countered with a left closed fist strike to the face. This sent the swimsuit-clad warrior staggering back slightly dazed, and wiping a drop of blood from her lips.

This time it was Janelle's turn to advance as she approached Huntress. Huntress threw a right punch at her face. This was what Janelle was counting on as she grabbed Huntress's wrist, turned to her right, struck her with a left-handed open palm strike to the jaw, and entangled her arm, pulling her backwards to the floor. Once Huntress was on the ground, Janelle could engage in some groundwork, either using a joint lock or a choke to bring this fight to a close.

What Janelle did not account for however, was the way she had her hair fixed. Normally before she taught her judo classes or engaged in sparring, she would take her long black hair and either put it up or arrange it in a ponytail. But in planning everything else, she forgot that little detail, and that was what cost her an early victory.

Huntress swung her left arm frantically until she saw a few strands of Janelle's black tresses dangling over her face. She quickly grabbed a few of those strands and pulled hard. Janelle suddenly howled in surprise and in pain, acting by reflex to grab her hair, releasing her hold.

Huntress jerked her right arm away as she rolled to safety. Upon getting to her feet, she attempted another kick to Janelle's left side, which was partially blocked.

"So, you're pretty good. Great, I like a challenge," Huntress said while catching her breath. "I guess I can stop playing around and get down to business. The quicker I can put you away, the quicker I can have this dojo under my feet, and Ben under me, if you know what I mean."

Janelle only growled as she attacked Huntress.

-----

George Jones was out of town visiting his parents when it happened. He had no idea what occurred when he returned to the fraternity house that appeared to be as quiet as a haunted house.

For while George was enjoying his mother's home cooking and catching up on the local gossip around town, his fraternity held a party (like they always do) that was an unwitting host to what was known as "The Infamous Fraternity Massacre." George was still trying to find out what happened that evening.

Most had told him that a bald-headed woman, possibly a former girlfriend of one of the frat members, suddenly showed up and started kicking the crap out of almost all the fraternity members and a few visitors during the party. Other people have come up with other stories; some of them outlandish, like a man dressed up like a bald-headed woman knocking everybody out. Then again, George remembered that usually at these parties, everybody is at least half-drunk, so who knew what happened? The police were finally convinced that it was a drunken brawl, and dismissed looking into the case.

All George knew was that more than half of his frat brothers were still in the hospital with various injuries, while the others, who weren't honor students to begin with, had made their hospital stay, then went home. With no way of maintaining their meager grade point average due to being unable to make it to class, they had no choice but to withdraw and go home.

All this resulted in a near empty frat house, which at the moment suited George just fine. That way, he and his date would have the whole place to themselves.

George, like the other men in his fraternity, was involved in a competition to see who could sleep with the most women. According to the most current figures, he was running a close third, behind the frat president, who was still hospitalized, and a reserve basketball player, Devon Harris, who had to withdraw from school after his stint in the hospital. All he needed was a date or two after this one, and he'll be the unofficial leader and probably the winner for the semester. . His small fraternity may be on the verge of collapse, but he'll be the winner. It was too bad what happened to the two leaders in the tournament, but all's fair in love, right?

He hugged his date for the evening, Whitney, a 5'5" petite woman with long blonde hair with an arm around her waist.

"It's just you and me here, baby," he whispered into her ear.

Whitney just giggled as they headed toward George's bedroom. George himself had a big grin stating what his plans were for the night. Suddenly his grin faded when he encountered an unusual sight in front of his bedroom at the top of the stairs. He saw a woman about the same height as Whitney dressed in a large white T-shirt and black stirrup tights. Over her head she wore what could be described as a black mask similar to what ninjas wear in those late night kung fu movies, covering all of her head and face except for her green eyes. As the woman bounced on the balls of her bare feet, George noticed the strange woman had a strong athletic build.

"About time you got here," the woman said.

"Who are you?" George demanded.

"Haven't you heard? I'm the person who put your frat brothers in the hospital. The story is all over campus. Okay "Whitney,' you can leave now if you like."

"Whitney" giggled again and left George's side to sit on a chair in the hallway so she can watch the action.

"You beat up the guys?" George said, rather skeptical.

"That's right. I thought I got them all too, until someone informed me recently that there was one who was out of town that night. You almost got away Scott free, but my mother always told me not to leave a job uncompleted and to clean up after myself. Hopefully you enjoyed your brief time on this campus, because I'm going to be sending you back home; not in one piece though," the woman said, giggling.

"Who are you?" George asked again.

"My name is Little Tiger, and your name is mud."

Before George could say any more, his world exploded in color from Little Tiger's left roundhouse kick. The blow propelled him against the wall. His eyes returned their focus just in time to see Little Tiger fly toward him with another kick.

"Hah!" She yelled as her second kick made contact.

-----

As Janelle advanced on Huntress, she was kept at bay by having to avoid her kicks. It appeared for a moment that they entered the dilemma of grappling vs. striking. Janelle couldn't get to Huntress right away as long as she kept throwing punches and kicks. At the same time, Huntress didn't dare get too close to Janelle for fear that she would block one of her blows and turn it into a painful hold or throw; and after receiving a few of Janelle's punches, she didn't dare want to get into her striking range and fall victim to her greater upper body strength, especially her arms.

Huntress stared intensely at Janelle, then started to sway. Next, she put her right foot forward, then put it back, and then she did the same with the other while she moved her arms back and forth. After she finished her moves, she descended to the floor and spun on the floor, swinging her legs around and still managing to give Janelle a sinister grin. To Janelle, it looked like an absurd form of break dancing; then she realized a moment too later what she was doing.

After she spun on the ground, Huntress momentarily went into a handstand, and then as she descended to the ground again, she suddenly swung her feet in a double kick that hit Janelle in the left side where she was hit twice before. The force of the blow knocked her off her feet and landed her in a heap beside the dojo wall. She rose slowly, holding her side.

Ouch, that hurt! She thought. One more kick like that, and she won't have any solid ribs on that side to speak of.

"Like it?" Huntress said as she got to her feet and strutted toward the wounded judoka. "It's called capoeria, a martial art native to Brazil and my homeland. Slaves brought over from Africa would disguise this way of combat under the guise of dancing. I've practiced this art since I was a little kid. I think I've gotten pretty good at it. What do you think?"

Great, of all the martial arts I've read about, I had to face off with an opponent who practices a discipline I know almost nothing about, Janelle thought.

Besides her practice of judo, Janelle always took the time to read and hear about the other martial arts as well. Just for fun, she would ponder how to respond to an attacker of another discipline, such as karate, etc. But outside of its origin, she was ignorant of this art, and it cost her.

"Looks like your side won't last much longer," Huntress said. "One more kick should do it; and then we can work on other things, like your other side."

Janelle said nothing; she only glared at the bald-headed woman as she backed up, trying to put some space between the two.

Huntress started moving again, a swaying motion to some type of tune that only she can hear. Then without warning, she leapt in the air, launching a kick that narrowly missed Janelle by inches, and delivered a follow-up kick that would have caved in Janelle's ribs for sure if not for a hastily thrown forearm block.

For the next few minutes, which seemed like an eternity, Janelle found herself dodging and blocking punches and kicks by the airborne capestra. She was so confused by the foreign moves, she couldn't think of any form of a counter attack. Finally, Huntress bent down on her right leg while she reached out with her left and caught Janelle in her discipline's version of a foot sweep. Janelle was able to break her fall, but her hurt ribs made her getting back up a little painful. Huntress stood up, watching with delight as she saw Janelle's face contort with pain as she got to her feet.

"I changed my mind," Huntress said. "I'm not going to bother with busting your ribs anymore. I'm just wondering how your man is going to react after I bust up that pretty face of yours. What's this? No snappy comeback? I expected at least one more word of defiance before I beat you down. You can't avoid me forever. Sooner or later, you're going to slip, and then I'll have you."

Janelle instead of speaking tried to focus her energies on managing the pain in her side, and finding some way of turning this fight around.

The Servis sorority was a service organization that was exclusive to the university. Founded several years ago by a small group of women students who wanted to do their part for the community, the sorority eventually grew in size and prestige. They always made a good showing over the holidays with large contributions from her food drive, and whenever there's some type of need, disaster, or emergency that occurs in town, they're the first ones to be there. For their public service, the sorority had received recognition from the university president, several public officials, and even the mayor himself, who once quoted to the local newspaper, "For any young lady who wants to help make a difference in the community while preparing for her future, Servis is the place to be."

Servis was seen area wide as the service fraternity that rose above all others in helping their fellow man.

But looks can be deceiving.

What the civil servants and recipients of aid didn't know and didn't see, except for fellow sorority members and a few students who knew better was that over the years, the sorority became more of a social sorority than the classic social sororities around the campus. A large part of that change was due to the Servis' president for the last two years, Patricia Wellington, a 5'6" slender blonde who's "nice girl next door" looks was a contrast to her more aggressive personality.

Born the daughter of one of the more prominent families on campus, Patricia earned the office of president her sophomore year the old fashioned way; she manipulated, deceived, and bought it. As president, she saw fit to show up at the customary functions to keep up appearances, but other than that, she slowly turned the group into her own personal kingdom. As the "queen," she also had her own personal "court," fellow officers elected (actually they were selected by Patricia prior to the "election") into various positions to do her bidding. And now all that was being threatened.

Through her contacts on campus, Patricia heard about the growing presence of the Daughters of Athena on campus. Though there haven't been any organizations on campus that were under the leadership of any of them yet, she didn't have to see the writing on the wall to know it was coming. Frankly, Patricia didn't care if the university president and the major officers themselves were replaced by bald-headed women overnight, just as long as her little fiefdom was secure for another year until she graduated.

This explained the reason for the emergency meeting. It would not be the first time Patricia had members blackballed from the sorority, but it would be the first time she did it as a matter of organizational security. At present, there were two members of the group who were card-carrying members of the Daughters of Athena, Mina and Sif.

Both women never hid their allegiance to the group; on the contrary, they proclaimed it proudly. In the sorority house, they sported their baldheads with pride, no shame at all. And while it was normal for sorority members to sometimes take off their shoes while hanging around the sorority house, Patricia isn't sure she'd seen the two wear any shoes at all, except during the regular meetings; and that was because she remembered they had to go to a shoe store to buy some that met the proper dress for official meeting functions. Outside of that, she had no problems from them. She had heard that the two were thinking of becoming elected officers; but even though she could manipulate the outcome of the election to her ends with no problem, the results would look rather suspect because the possible candidates are pretty popular with their sorority sisters.

Better to nip this in the bud, Patricia thought. Fortunately, when it came to dismissing members, her word was law. All she needed to do was to give some superficial reason, give them the hug of farewell, and her worries would be over.

The meeting was held in a special room of the sorority house reserved for official occasions. Patricia sat on her "throne," a chair that was slightly elevated and elaborately designed that faced the sorority members. Her "court" sat on four seats, two on each side of her, that were also nicely decorated, but of course not as decorated as Patricia's seat. The "commoners" or the rest of the sorority members sat in hardwood chairs, metal chairs, or whatever mode of seat was available. The women were dressed in standard uniform, which consisted of a white oxford long-sleeve blouse, a plaid skirt (red, green, and brown, against a white background), regular pantyhose, and brown penny loafers. The officers wore red sashes, while Patricia wore a red sash trimmed in gold with fringes. At one time, she considered wearing a crown, but she thought that might be a bit much.

"I'm glad you could make it today," Patricia said in her "Queen of the universe" voice. "It has been reported to me that we have a potential situation that is starting to occur among our ranks, and the problem must be contained before it grows out of control."

Patricia paused while she heard the hushed whispers of the audience. Knowing that she got their attention, she continued. "I understand that some of our sister sororities have been affected, and at least one fraternity."

Patricia paused again. She found that a little exaggeration could go a long way.

"As your president, it is my job to ensure that what afflicted the other groups on campus does not happen to us. The buck stops here," she said.

Patricia was thankful for having to take American History classes for one reason; memorizing some of the statements from past presidential speeches come in handy. Now it was time to go in for the kill.

"Mina and Sif, stand up please."

Both women, who were for some reason sitting up front, stood up.

"It is with a heavy heart, that I must announce your dismissal from Servis. Your conduct as members has been exemplary, but I'm afraid the plans of this organization and those of the other group you're allied with are in conflict with each other. So with deepest regret I must say farewell and good luck in the future."

Patricia sat back. All that needed to happen next was for their fellow sisters to give them the hug of farewell, and to escort them off the premises immediately. The problem was solved. Her kingdom would be safe once again. Then she saw Mina raise her hand.

"Mina, you wish to give some last words?" Patricia asked. It was a law for those who were dismissed to have some final things to say, either a goodbye or a chance to defend herself. Normally, the dismissed member would just hug her fellow sisters, give a tearful goodbye, and leave.

"Yes I do, Madame president. With your permission, I would like to speak," Mina said.

"Very well Mina, you may speak."

"By the guidelines of the Servis Handbook, Section D, Bylaw 36, I proclaim the occupation of this sorority, to be made immediately."

Patricia's face went pale. That rule in the guidebook allowed the sudden change in administration by majority rule. The office of president, along with her fellow officers would be replaced immediately if the enough people demanded a change for whatever reason. In the groups' history, that rule has only been used once before. Patricia would know, because she was the one who utilized that rule to gain her presidency.

"B-by what majority votes do you dare to claim this?" Patricia said, trying to regain her composure.

"By Sif and I, and the future Daughters of Athena. Stand please."

With the exception of the president and her staff, everyone in the room stood up.

-----

Janelle had come to realize that she was getting her butt beat. Under normal circumstances on any day of the week, she could've easily beat Huntress with her judo expertise and experience. However, the bald warrior managed to find a weakness (i.e., her feelings for Benjamin), and exploited it. That made Janelle emotional, and made her attack from anger instead of reason.

She quickly remembered a lecture her sensei gave to a class once.

"Your opponent can attack you on one or two levels, either physically, emotionally, or both," The sensei said. "I have of course taught you how to defend physically, but defending emotionally can be much trickier. A well-aimed attack on the emotional level can be just as or even more powerful than a throw or a blow from a fist. Physical wounds can heal, but emotional wounds can last longer; in some cases they never heal. That's one of the reasons rape is so devastating, the victim is attacked emotionally as well as physically. When someone picks a fight with you, usually they go for the emotions first, using tools like name-calling, references to your mother or sexual preference, or even use threats to attack you, long before the first blow is struck.

"That's why if someone tries to start a fight with you, or even attacks you, you are to remain calm. But since we're emotional creatures by nature, that's not easy to do. When you get hit with strong emotions before or during a fight, don't battle with them or give in to them, channel them. When that mugger looks intimidating to you because he's so much taller than you, don't just feel the fear, channel it; turn it into energy to subdue your opponent. When your drunk neighbor makes derogatory remarks about your spouse, and threatens to kick your butt, don't get overwhelmed by the urge to rip his head off in anger; channel the anger into ending the incident as peacefully as possible or to defeat the opponent quickly if he attacks. To paraphrase an old saying, if you can keep your head while your opponents are losing theirs, you already have an advantage."

In the scant few moments before Huntress attacked again, Janelle took a deep breath, and centered her thoughts. Then she looked at Huntress.

"I will ask you one more time to drop this matter and walk away," she said.

"Are you daft, woman? You're the one who's holding her side here. I've had you on the run, and you dare to give me an order to "drop it?' I'm going to break your body, beat your friends, take your dojo, and claim your man," Huntress said.

"You're right, you had me "on the run' with your threats to "take my man' and playing with my head. Well I see through your game, and this battle ends now."

-----

At the Progressive Advertising Company, owner and CEO Jane Foster was working another long day at the office. She had worked hard to get her small company where it was, and she couldn't help but give a small smile of pride as she leaned back in her chair in her office on the fourth floor of the companies' office building.

Being in her position meant working a lot of long hours, but she loved the fringe benefits that came with it, especially what she provided for herself at her company. Not bad for a thirty-something woman who used to be chased around the desk by her horny boss a few years ago as a junior assistant, Jane thought. Now she had the power.

There was even a mysterious businesswoman who insisted to buy the company from her at twice the value the company was worth. She was flattered, but she decided to decline. If the buyer wanted to buy at three times the market value, she'd be willing to settle, Jane giggled to herself.

The young businesswoman brushed back her blonde hair from her face, took her hands, smoothed down her skirt, unbuttoned the suit jacket of her navy blue business suit, and took her slightly plump, 5'5" frame and pulled her chair up to her desk to start work on the paperwork that laid before her.

She lifted up her pen to sign her signature, when suddenly a woman with long black hair, slightly taller, and dressed in what looked like a black leather bikini, framed with round shiny metal studs, dropped down from the ceiling, and landed on her desk. Before she could scream, the woman grabbed Jane's larynx with her right hand and squeezed, while grabbing Jane's right hand with her left to keep her from pressing any hidden buttons that may sound any possible alarms. The woman then pulled Jane to within an inch of her face. Jane in her fright noticed the woman's oriental features as she spoke.

"I'm going to pull my hand away from your throat now, okay? And we're not going to try to scream or call for help, right?" The scantily clad woman said in a calm voice. "Nod your head if you understand me."

Jane nodded cautiously.

As the woman removed her hand, Jane struggled to regain the power of speech.

"How, how did you . . ." she said, looking up at the beams and the enclosed places in the ceiling where she came from.

"Oh, that," the bikini-clad woman said. "We practiced yoga since we were children. Then a couple of years ago, our boss taught us how to use it as a weapon. Fitting in tight spaces is nothing for us."

Jane wondered why this one woman kept using the word "we," but now didn't seem like a good time to correct her grammar.

"That's an interesting story. I wanted to choose a name that reflected my Korean heritage, but the only name that came to my mind at the time was "Dragon.' However, someone else already took that name, so I picked the name "Leather Dragon.' Sounds like the name of a dominatrix, doesn't it? But then again, I do like the feel of fine leather . . ."

At that moment, the door to the office opened, and a tall, handsome twenty-something black man with a wavy hairstyle and wire-rim glasses came in and closed the door. His head was bowed down as he was studying the papers he was carrying.

"Jane, I-" he started, but never finished.

Seemingly out of nowhere, the blur of a brown foot kicked him in the jaw. The impact flew him against the wall, where he slid down to the floor out cold, glasses slightly askew. Seconds later, a second woman dropped down from above. She was closer to Jane's height, except her build was as sleekly muscled as the woman crouching on Jane's desk. She was also of Indian descent; her long black hair fixed in a ponytail, and wore slightly more clothing than her companion, clad in a dark purple T-shirt and black biking shorts. She appeared to be enjoying the feel of the shag carpet under her feet as she flashed a quick grin toward her teammate before she walked to her victim. Leather Dragon, who still had Jane's jaw in her right hand, pulled it back to her.

"So as I was saying, that's the reason for my name," Leather Dragon continued.

"Hey," the Indian woman said, "Who's this guy?" nudging the unconscious man with her big toe.

Leather Dragon looked at Jane. "Well? She asked you a question," she said.

"That's, that's Alex; he, he's my personal assistant," Jane said.

"He's cute," the Indian said.

"Great, we'll take him with us," Leather Dragon said.

"Please don't hurt him," Jane pleaded.

"Hurt him?" The Korean-American moved Jane's chin closer to her so she could inspect her face. "Oh, I see now. That explains why I saw so many hot-looking men working here. You've made your workplace a virtual smorgasbord."

"All you can eat," the Indian giggled.

Jane's cheeks flushed, a little less from fear, and more from embarrassment. No one outside the building was supposed to know about that.

Leather Dragon gestured her left hand toward her colleague. "Lady Shiva has been wanting a man for months. I told her to be patient, one will turn up; but she is not as patient as I am. Let me add that she's a more fearsome fighter too," she said.

Lady Shiva just grinned as she looked over her new prize.

"We're only going to take one item from your "buffet,' but don't worry, he'll be back to work the next morning, which is more than can be said for you," Leather Dragon continued.

Jane's eyes widened. "What do you mean?" She said.

"Our employer originally offered to buy this place from you, at twice the asking price. Twice the asking price. Do you know what you could've done with that money? You could've opted for a nice comfortable early retirement, or you could've went and opened up a new business, just like this one, complete with boy-toys, and not even had to worry about the capital." Leather Dragon took her left hand and smacked Jane smartly on the forehead. "Stupid!"

"But I thought, I thought," Jane tried to respond, but Leather Dragon then placed her hand over her mouth.

"No, you didn't think, that's your problem," she said. "Now here's the new deal, and I think you better take it. Listen carefully. You were leaving work one evening, when suddenly you were attacked by muggers and were severely beaten. Because of that, you now have a new way of looking at life, so you decided to sell your business for a third more than what it's worth. You then take the money, ride off into the sunset, and live happily ever after."

"A third more? What happened to double?"

"You snooze, you lose, sweetheart, and you will take it, or else." Leather Dragon suddenly jerked Jane's chin to one side, causing the businesswoman to cry out in pain.

"A neck is such an easy thing to break," she whispered in Jane's ear. "Don't make us come back and make me twist your neck the rest of the way."

Mustering up all the courage she could, Jane said, "You won't get away with this. See that video camera in that corner? This whole thing was recorded; you two breaking in here, your assault on me, and Lady Shiva attacking my assistant. If you release me now, maybe I'll see that you two receive a lesser penalty than your employer."

Leather Dragon reached behind her and pulled a small cable out of Jane's cup of pens and pencils. She dangled the black cable in front of Jane's face.

"Pretty tough talk, Jane, but unlike you, we planned ahead. The most frustrating thing about it was when we found out that the camera isn't even connected to the major bank of cameras down in the security department. If you use that camera for what I think you do, and that small library of tapes aren't really of past business meetings and seminars, then you could be caught on several accounts of blackmail and sexual harassment."

Leather Dragon paused to watch the blood drain from Jane's face, and then continued.

"As far as the video cameras in the rest of the building, and just in case there were any hidden cameras we couldn't find, right now anyone who would be viewing surveillance would be watching It's a Wonderful Life, the classic movie with Jimmy Stewart. I wanted to show Enter the Dragon, but Lady Shiva insisted."

"That movie always makes me cry," Lady Shiva said as she tied Alex's hands and feet together with duct tape.

"What did you do with Freddie?" Jane said.

"I swear, Jane, you seem to have studs everywhere. If I didn't have a guy, I'd grab one myself. I'm surprised everybody else hasn't heard about you. Anyway, let's just say that our Freddie is taking a long winter's nap, courtesy of our tech expert, Web Head. She loves that movie too," Leather Dragon said.

"The police will check for fingerprints."

"Jane, the only thing I'm touching right now, is you. Unless they're going to check the ceiling, and the cable, which will go with me, you don't have a case." Leather Dragon looked down for a moment at her feet on her desk and wiggled her toes. "Unless they check for footprints. I don't think mine are on file."

Both of Jane's captors laughed at the joke.

Jane, resigned to her fate, sighed and said, "When will she give me the money?"

"She will see you later this evening, never mind where or when, she'll find you. She'll bring some papers for you to sign and a nice check for your little company here. And I think that's it."

Leather Dragon jumped off the desk and quickly helped Lady Shiva put Alex into a large plastic container. Alex was fully conscious by this time, and made some noises through her gag, trying to get Jane's attention. Jane just sat at her desk, holding her head in her hands.

"Oh yes, I almost forgot," Leather Dragon said as she jumped back on the desk in front of Jane.

"What now?" Jane sighed.

"I believe the new plan called for you to be severely beaten. Things would look a little funny if you didn't look the part, wouldn't it?" Leather Dragon said as she pulled from the waistband of her bikini a pair of black leather fingerless gloves and put them on. "It might help if you close your eyes. If you're compliant, this won't take long, and it won't hurt . . . much."

"No, please, I'll do anything! You don't have to beat me, you don't have to-"

"Figures," Leather Dragon muttered as she threw the first punch.

-----

Janelle looked at Huntress with a bit of contempt, and said, "I can see why you want "my man,' and I can't blame you, he is fine. Besides, I can't see how a bald-headed bimbo like you could land a man on her own, anyway."

Let's see what happens when I push a few of her buttons, Janelle thought.

"Bald-headed bimbo? Let's see how you look when I yank all that hair out of your head, you-" Huntress said as she charged Janelle, hands reaching for her scalp.

For Janelle, the plan worked better than expected. She blocked both of Huntress' arms, and suddenly delivered a right open palm blow to her forehead. Huntress quickly backed up, holding her forehead. In her haste to finish the judoka off, she forgot about Janelle's superior arm strength. She can't risk attacking in close range until she's thoroughly subdued. Janelle stepped back and set herself in a fighting stance. If she prepared her blow better, she could've gave Huntress a small concussion, but that's not the move she had in mind to finish this fight.

"Silly bimbo, you should know by now you can't beat me in an up close fight. I'm a master of judo, remember? I love to thrash people who get close to me. Why don't you do that break dancing stuff you seem to do so well and try to kick my head off like you promised? It's the only trick you've got left," Janelle said with a sinister grin on her face.

"You won't have any teeth to smile after I finish, witch. In fact, I'm going to make sure you don't have much of a head!" Huntress said as she resumed her Capoeria attacks on Janelle.

Excellent, Janelle thought as she readied herself.

-----

The Mirror, Mirror on the Wall Costume Shop located downtown was a popular place with the college crowd, especially during Halloween and special costume parties. During the "off season," business was kept steady by providing special outfits for gymnasts and dancers on special events, a few costumes for the community playhouse in town, and every now and then, a professional wrestler would come by and request an outfit or two.

The shop was owned by a married couple in their fifties. Alan and Ellen Huber were pretty happy with life. The shop always held a good reputation, and never failed to bring in a good profit. The Hubers had two children who were attending the university. The daughter had dreams of acting in musical theater, and from the off-Broadway shows she's been in, that dream will plan to be a reality. The son was a business major, worked at the shop some during the summer and had mentioned to his parents a few times that he'd like to take over the family business when they retired. No need to rush, Alan said.

It was a slow day at the shop, but the Hubers did not mind. They spent the biggest part of a week and a half creating a number of different women's outfits. Besides using quite a bit of spandex material, the biggest source of curiosity was the tights. While some were footless (nothing unusual there), others held the specifications of making the foot area specially reinforced against tears and runs. It almost sounded like the buyer was preparing for a women's superhero convention. But the Hubers weren't told why the outfits were made, and they didn't ask. When you run a costume shop for a good number of years, it's not unusual to receive unusual requests. They took the order, received the money, and got to work, performing a hundred percent to create the costumes to order and size specifications. They were confident the buyer would be pleased with the result, for whatever she had in mind.

There was about seven minutes before the shop was going to close, and the couple would go home to eat a late dinner, watch some late night TV, and go to bed. They discussed the idea of closing early. Why not, they thought, no one else was coming in.

That idea was shattered when the Hubers heard the ringing of the bell that was attached to the front door. Maybe it was one of those last minute deals where someone needed a gorilla costume for a kid's birthday party or something. As the couple returned to the front desk, that didn't appear to be the case.

The woman at the front door, who stood about 5'8" or so, was dressed in a blue pinstripe business suit, consisting of a blazer and skirt. Going with the business suit, the woman wore a rose colored blouse with matching rose colored pumps and rose colored hose. If that wasn't enough to promote the rose theme, there was a red rose pinned to the woman's lapel.

The woman herself was a redhead who wore her hair short and permed up. Her pale skin matched well with the rosy theme she dressed herself in. The clacking sound of her heels filled the store as she walked up to the front counter carrying a large black suitcase. Placing the suitcase on the counter, she addressed the Hubers.

"Ellen and Alan Huber, I presume?" The woman said.

"That's us," Alan said. "If you're looking for a costume or to make an order, I'm afraid you're too late, we close in a few minutes."

"No, I'm here for two reasons," the woman said. "First, I'm here to pick up that order my secretary made to you a week or so ago."

"Oh," Ellen said, "we have them in the back, ready to be picked up and loaded. I hope they're what you wanted. We made extra sure to follow your specifications."

"I'm sure you did, Mrs. Huber. I've heard of your reputation."

"We try to put a hundred percent in each costume we make, Ms., I'm afraid I can't recall your name ma'am," Alan said.

"Just call me Rose. Thank you very much for your effort. In fact, this makes me honored to tell you the second reason I'm here."

"What's that?" Alan said.

"I want to buy your shop, right now, for three times the actual value."

To say the Hubers were shocked would be an understatement.

"You, you want to buy this rundown place?" Ellen asked.

"Are you sure you want to buy this place at the price you're asking? I mean, not that I'm complaining or anything, but this business has been in our family for two generations. It's not a rat trap, but this is an older building," Alan said.

"I understand," Rose said, "but I really like this place, and expert craftsmen such as you two deserve the best. That's why I brought an extra incentive, to help you make your decision."

Then she opened the briefcase.

Alan wasn't sure whether to fan Ellen before she fainted or to sit down himself before he hit the floor.

"Is this amount - adequate?" Rose asked.

"Uh-huh," Alan said, about two octaves higher than normal.

"And you're going to pay three times the amount of the place on top of this?" Ellen asked, feeling a little short of breath.

"Yes, I can write you the check right now. Do you need some time to think it over?" Rose said.

"No!" Both of them said in unison.

"Then I'll go ahead and write the check. How soon do you think you'll be able to take your personal effects and-"

"Give us two hours and we'll be out of here," Ellen insisted. Alan in the meantime, staggered over to a nearby fan to turn it on. It suddenly became rather warm in the shop, and the more than adequate air conditioner just wasn't cooling things off the way it should.

"You don't need to leave that soon, but if that's not a problem, I'll be able to move some people in this weekend. Let me go ahead and conclude the transaction."

As Rose wrote the check, she was debating which set of trembling hands to give it to. She came up with an idea.

"Since this is a large amount of money, let me do you a favor. Let me have a few of my bodyguards escort you to where you make your night deposit. That way, you won't have to worry about the unexpected. After that, why not just go home for the evening. Tomorrow you can start clearing out your personal effects. Fair enough?" She asked.

"Yes mam, that sounds like a nice idea," Alan said, a little more composed.

She handed the check to Alan, who was at the moment the calmer of the two.

"The bodyguards are waiting outside. Just tell them what I suggested, and two of them can ride with you while the others will follow along," Rose said as she shook both of their hands. "It has been great doing business with you, and by the way, don't forget your briefcase."

Ellen clutched it like a mother would hold a newborn child as the couple walked out the door. Rose could notice a little spring in their step that probably wasn't there before. A good business transaction can do that to you, she thought.

As soon as the Hubers reached home, they first contacted their children. The daughter was ecstatic while the son seemed disappointed that he wouldn't be the heir apparent of the shop, until he found out how much they sold the shop for. Alan said if he wanted, he could help him start a shop of his own, after he graduated college. The daughter in turn would be given all the help she needed to become a star in musical theater, plus neither one will need to worry about paying for the remainder of their classes ever again.

The Hubers decided that they'll contact their friends the next day - the close ones who won't be in need of a sudden loan. Alan looked at Ellen with a twinkle in his eye, and asked her if she remembered that commercial about Hawaii. She responded with that same twinkle and said yes.

After they cleaned out their shop, they made plans to go to Maui later that weekend for a few days. By the end of the next week, they decided to stay there.

-----

Balance, Janelle reflected, balance is the key. In every fighting style, regardless of whether it's grappling or striking, depends on balance. If one can disrupt the balance of the other fighter, no matter what discipline it happened to be, victory can be a certainty. Even a high-flying style like what the Huntress was using is dependent on some type of balance.

As Huntress attempted to nail her with kicks, punches, and takedowns, Janelle discovered the weakest point of balance on the ground for Huntress is when she's not on the ground at all. There's probably at least a dozen conventional judo moves to neutralize her, but Janelle realized in her injured state, this would be one of the best ways to finish it. She made a mental note after this fight was over to come up with a proper defense against opponents with high-flying kicks.

Finally Janelle saw the opening she was looking for. Huntress went to a handstand, then a spin on the ground, then somehow launched like a spring to deliver a kick with both feet. Janelle making sure to time this right, moved to the side, and caught Huntress in flight. The bald warrior cried out in surprise; no one had ever done this to her before. Not wasting any time or momentum, Janelle heaved Huntress over her head, pivoted, and threw her against the dojo wall.

A coffee shop next door that also used the business space in the strip mall where the dojo is located, were startled when a loud "boom" came from nowhere. One lady almost dropped her cup of tea when she heard the noise.

"Good heavens, what was that?" She asked the waitress walking by.

"Oh, they teach judo next door, it's no big deal. Somebody got thrown a little too hard, that's all," the waitress said.

"Well I hope they're all right," the lady said.

Huntress was slow getting to her feet. Half of her body ached, while the other half felt ' well she wasn't sure how the other half felt, all she knew is that she hurt. Then she remembered that she was supposed to be fighting somebody and scrambled to stand up. Once she stood up, she quickly turned around to find Janelle standing behind her. Reacting more by impulse than anything else, Huntress threw a right punch, which Janelle easily converted into an over the shoulder throw. Though it would now be easy to place a submission hold or a choke on her, Janelle instead decided to wait for the beaten Huntress to get to her feet instead.

"That first throw was to get your attention," Janelle said. "The second throw was because you were stupid enough to throw a punch at me. It would be easy to take care of you now, but since you're so hard-headed, I think I'm going to throw you again, just so I get my point across."

Huntress lunged at her, yelling "No!" only to be stopped short by a right side kick into the solar plexus by Janelle. She collapsed to the ground, coughing and gasping.

"You're not the only one who knows how to kick," Janelle said. "It's not as fancy as yours, but it gets the job done. Now let's discuss a couple of things."

-----

Elroy Jenkins made the deal without a hitch. No cops were anywhere around when he sold his product to a regular customer. As he dashed through the woods to conceal his tracks and make his getaway, he thought about the so-called random accounts of brutal beatings that had occurred over the last few weeks. Elroy knew however, that they were not so "random."

The victims all belonged to his group of "junior distributors," each taking their cut of the product from him and selling it to his customers. Systematically, one by one, each dealer was ambushed and beaten to a pulp. Elroy found himself receiving calls from the hospital on a regular basis, hearing from another one of his dealers being pummeled by, by a woman in a bikini? Elroy knew that some of his dealers may smoke a little bit of the product, but they couldn't all be high and see the same woman, could they?

He almost made it to his Cadillac when someone blocked his way. If Elroy didn't raise his head in time he would've ran into ' her? What he almost ran into was a black woman standing 6'1", hands propped on her sides. Elroy found himself looking her over, from the well-defined muscles in her ankles and her legs, to the sculptured pieces of brown marble that served as her calves, to the obvious six-pack of stomach muscles on her chest. The arms were powerful looking, to say the least, their biceps looking like they were ready to explode at any time. The face was beautiful, what he could see of it, the mask covered the top part of her face. Her hair was a short, tight buzz cut, but even if she was bald, she would still be a thing of beauty.

She was the most beautiful woman Elroy has ever seen.

There was no mistaking how strong she looked, for she was wearing a black thong bikini outfit that looked like it would be in danger of being ripped off if she ran through some thorn bushes. It then started to occur that this woman was the one that his junior dealers told him about. He started to glance around, for surely somebody is going to jump him from behind.

"Who are you?" Elroy said.

"I am Artemis, the huntress, and you are my prey," she said.

Artemis had stalked Elroy and his drug pipeline for a couple of weeks, systematically taking out each one of his dealers until the big fish, i.e., Elroy, finally had to come out to either take care of this problem himself, or be forced to sell his product himself. Now the headman was standing before her. Artemis could hardly contain her excitement.

"So you are the one who's been putting my men in the hospital?" Elroy asked.

"Yes, and now it's time for you to join them."

"Who do you work for?"

"Justice, and all the victims who's lives you ruined by selling this garbage."

Elroy was moving his hand toward the back waistband of his pants where his gun was located. It was obvious from what she was wearing that she wasn't hiding anything, so he had an advantage. He would hate to shoot such a beautiful woman, but he wasn't taking any chances.

Artemis knew Elroy would probably be packing a gun. She also knew he definitely needed the use of his thumb to use it. As fast as a snake, she grabbed Elroy's right hand, then quickly took the thumb and pulled it backwards, hard.

Elroy howled in pain when he felt his thumb break. He attempted to focus enough to fight back, get away, or something, but that idea was short-lived when Artemis fired her right fist into his belly. Not having a stomach anywhere close to Artemis' muscled chest, Elroy bent over, only to be met by the jackhammer blow of Artemis' knee to his face.

As she broke Elroy's thumb and felt his nose break upon her knee, Artemis couldn't help but grin to herself. Before she performed any more damage, she inspected her knee. His blood was on it. Great, things were going off to a great start for the evening.

To brighten up her night even more, Artemis celebrated by taking the bare heel of that same leg, and smashing it into the side of Elroy's left knee. His screams were music to Artemis' ears.

-----

Huntress rolled against the large mirror that fit on the dojo wall, a victim of another of Janelle's throws. She had seen nothing but the hard rubber mat for the last few minutes as Janelle performed whatever throw came to mind. Her left leg, previously bruised from being slammed against the dojo wall, had kept her from doing any of her capoeria moves. Instead, she had to settle for standard punching and kicking moves to attempt to keep the judoka at bay. A couple of throws and a few arm and leg locks later, she realized she needed to come up with a new plan of attack.

"The next lesson to learn besides to always respect another person's martial art, beware of challenging someone in their own dojo, and that judo is not for wimps, is on the dojo itself," Janelle said as she walked toward Huntress. "If your high and mighty leader is as rich as she's supposed to be, have her buy you a stinking dojo!"

Huntress decided to surprise her with a sudden tackle, which was defeated by Janelle's foot sweep.

"I'll do more research on your discipline for future reference. By the way, did you know that there are over 95 types of throws in judo? There's a few throws that even I barely know, and I've been a black belt for some time. There are numerous types of chokes too, but I need you awake for one more lesson. By the way, I will give you credit on knowing about this arm bar I've placed on you right now. Since I'm standing up, I think it'll be a little harder for you to grab my hair this time. What's with that, anyway? You supposed to be versed in catfighting, too? Only wimps do that, Huntress. Martial artists are supposed to be better than that, but I guess that's something you're not."

Janelle released her arm lock on Huntress, took her foot and rolled her bald nemesis on her stomach. She walked back a few steps and looked at her.

"That's enough on judo and martial artists. That little lesson came at no extra charge. Since I'm a teacher by trade, I always have this compulsion to explain these things, something your teachers didn't share with you, obviously. Now for the biggest and final lesson: let's talk about Ben."

Huntress gave out a small whimper as she saw Janelle again approach her.

-----

Julie Chen lay in a crumpled heap, trying to will herself to get up and fight this intruder that her brother barely told her about. Her opponent has truly lived up to her name. Her kicks with those feet felt like a small sledgehammer hitting her body, and she didn't appear to be using full force, either. It was all she could do to fend off her punches and chops alone. Why didn't her brother learn this style if it's so powerful? She managed to get on all fours as Blue Elephant approached.

"Julie, my fight is with your brother, not you. He played the coward and threw you into the middle of this. Please surrender to me and sign over your ownership of the dojo, I've no wish to harm you," Blue Elephant said.

"Never," Julie breathed between gasps. "My family has taught this art for generations. My father taught my brother, and after he died, he taught this art to me. I'm not giving up the family legacy."

"Your brother taught you? That explains a lot. Your father was a master; your brother is a huckster who barely got by. Please, surrender and let me fill you in on what's missing."

"My brother defeated you twice," Julie said defiantly. Yes he has, while I was still a novice. Now my powers and abilities have grown while he's been at the same level for years, doing a disservice to our discipline. Now I ask you again, please surrender."

Julie looked at her with tears in her pain-filled eyes. "No."

Blue Elephant bent down, pushed Julie over on her back, and applied a claw hold with her left hand to her stomach. After roughly five minutes of intense pain and screaming, Julie finally voiced her surrender.

"Thank you," Blue Elephant said, "I took no joy in doing this. Now sign the papers and I'll aid in healing your wounds. But know this, after our business is concluded here, I will go upstate and find your brother and make him pay for running away from me, his disgrace, and being a bad teacher and nearly robbing you of your potential. It's because of him that the Cheng dynasty is dead."

-----

"Now I knew Ben was mine from the day I first saw him," Janelle said, as she walked toward Huntress, who was on the floor trying to crawl away from her, but her injured limbs made it difficult. "In a short period of time, we're going to get married, a day I've been looking forward to for some time. I look forward to living with him, having kids with him, and growing old with him. And no bald-headed freak who calls herself a tough name and talks big and bad, is going to take him away from me. Do you understand?"

Huntress just looked at Janelle with a blank expression as she tried to get on her feet.

"I said, do you understand?" Janelle yelled.

Huntress nodded her head and mumbled yes quietly. Her back was against the dojo wall, and there was nowhere to run.

Janelle looked at her for a moment. "You know, the problem with people like you is once they get a silly notion in their head, they'll try to follow it through, even if it kills them. I think I need to slam the lesson home one more time," she said.

Huntress glanced over at the dojo door, her only way out. If she could run or more likely hobble in that direction, maybe Janelle would let her get away. She can't fight her off, so escape had to be the only option. She attempted to make a break for it.

Janelle quickly reached out and snatched her left arm. "And where do you think you're going, young lady? I'm not finished," she said.

Huntress howled from the pain in her injured arm. She didn't think it was broken, but it hurt badly enough. Janelle pulled her closer, causing even more pain.

"Poor little Huntress, did I hurt your arm? Well that's nothing," she said as she started to pick Huntress up and held her over her head.

"No, please don't, I give up," Huntress pleaded.

Janelle's own bruised ribs were screaming with pain, but she put it aside and focused at the task at hand.

"Here's the main point of the lesson; leave my Ben alone! He's mine, do you hear me, he is mine!"

Then she threw Huntress against the dojo was again. Huntress landed on the floor in a lump, barely conscious, sobbing from the pain.

"He's mine," Janelle said. "Class dismissed."

As an afterthought, Janelle turned toward Huntress and bowed.

-----

The body of George Jones laid flat on the floor of the fraternity house, blood flowing freely from his nose and mouth. He was out cold, dead to the world. Little Tiger, the author of the carnage, stood over him, shaking her head.

"Well that didn't take long," she said.

"Whitney," took off her blond wig and let her brown hair down. Her real name was Ashley, a recent recruit of the Daughters of Athena. They both dated the same man, not at the same time, but roughly a year apart from each other. The difference was Little Tiger got to beat him to a pulp before Ashley could be a notch on the former basketball player's bedpost.

"It was excellent work though," Ashley said. "How long did it take, thirty seconds or so?"

"About a minute or so, and I was taking my time," Little Tiger said. "It would have been a little more satisfying if he fought back a little better. The man folded like a piece of paper."

"So he had a glass jaw and a beer belly; he's not an athlete, I told you that," Ashley giggled.

"I know, I know." Little Tiger then put her right toe in George's blood, and started to smear it on his face, like she was creating some type of macabre painting. "You sure this is the last guy? There aren't any more frat guys to beat up?" She said.

"I checked and double-checked; this is the last one. Congratulations, Sallie Mae, you beat up a whole fraternity. Maybe there's a sorority on campus you can take out. That reminds me, where did Sif and Mina say they were going again?"

Little Tiger dipped her toe in some more blood to apply to George's forehead. "They said they were going to their sorority. They said something about dethroning the queen. Sounds a little more exciting than what's going on now," she said.

"Well we'll be meeting up with them later on tonight over pizza, so they can give us the details," Ashley said. "Maybe they'll have some more victims for you. Anyway, we need to get out of here before someone sees us."

"Hold on, I'm almost finished here." Little Tiger turned George's head over and finished painting a smile over his unsmiling face. "Okay, you remember your story?" She asked.

"Yeah, while you sneak out the back way, I go out the front way screaming and crying, telling anyone who'll listen that my "boyfriend' was beaten up. While everybody runs into the frat house, I run into the woods, "Whitney' is no more, and I meet everyone at the pizza place. That it?" Ashley asked as she put her wig back on.

Little Tiger pulled her mask off, revealing her short blond hair. "Boy, it gets hot under there. Yeah, that's it." She paused to look at her feet, particularly her right one that was covered in blood. "Er, you think I should wash off my foot? What about my footprints here on the carpet, do you think someone will track them?"

"If it was Sherlock Holmes or CSI leading the investigation, sure; but this is campus police. They'll think some drunken thug ambushed him. Considering that George here smells like a brewery, they're not going to believe him a hundred percent. They might just think he fell or something," Ashley giggled again.

"He'd had to take a big fall down the stairs to do what I did to him."

"My point is to get out of here and leave the details to the rest of the campus. According to the latest gossip, you're an assassin now."

Little Tiger laughed at the news. "Okay, let's go. Oh, one more thing," she said.

She walked back to George and wiped the biggest bulk of blood on her foot on his jeans.

"See you tonight," Little Tiger said, putting her mask back on as she left.

"Bye," Ashley said.

Little Tiger took the back exit, but not the conventional way. She went out an open window that placed her on the roof of the old house. Then she walked to a nearby tree that shaded part of the building. She shimmied down one of the branches, jumped to the ground, and disappeared into the back woods. By the time she reached her car, she had her mask off and wore a hooded sweatshirt and a black baseball cap that she stashed under a bush along with some moist towelettes she used to wipe the remainder of George's blood from her right foot. She drove to her dorm room with plans of showering and changing into jeans and another sweatshirt for the pizza fest later that evening.

Ashley waited five minutes after Little Tiger had left, then went to the bathroom to get her hands wet to smear her mascara a little, while practicing her facial expressions in the mirror. She peeked out the front window to see if there were people outside on the sidewalk. It seemed to be between evening classes, so there were a few people out. Good, Ashley thought to herself.

She made a final adjustment to her wig, took a deep breath, then, as Whitney, burst out of the fraternity house, acting frantic and screaming at the top of her lungs, "Help, help, somebody attacked my boyfriend!"

After she drew the attention of some people, and telling them where George was, she ran into the woods, "distraught" and with "intentions" to tell the first policeman she could find, "Whitney" disappeared as well.

-----

Pillar and Gazelle waited patiently outside the dojo doors. However, instead of listening to the sounds of combat, the two women were engaged in lively conversation. Neither woman were strangers to Huntress' brawling.

"It shouldn't be long now," Gazelle said. "By the way, what is Huntress going to do with a judo dojo?"

"Beats me," Pillar said. "None of us practice judo, maybe she'll convince the students to change arts or something."

"Whatever, I'm sure she'll think of something. She said after she's finished with Miss. Judo here, she's going to go over and grab her man. He has some pretty cute friends too."

"Yeah, that tall guy I had last night? I would've loved to have a taste of him. That stupid water gun caught me off guard."

"Don't feel too bad; I saw it coming and it didn't do me any good."

"I'll be ready this time," Pillar said. "Hey, do you remember that party we went to a month ago, where that stuck-up woman made fun of us because we were African?"

"Yeah! And she told Huntress she was going to yank her hair out? Do you remember the look on her face when Huntress took off her hat and shown her that she didn't have any hair?"

"Oh yeah, I especially remember what her face looked like after Huntress got through with it. Anyway, I heard she's supposed to be out of the hospital next week. Think she'll want a rematch?"

"Not if she has any sense. She was pretty stupid challenging our girl in the first place. Hey, are you going to try out for the Elite Guard next month?" Gazelle asked.

"You know it! We need to show these yanks how tough we really are. We're a team."

"Yeah!" Gazelle said as she and Pillar exchanged high-fives. "Our girl should be finished by now."

As if on cue, the dojo doors opened, and before either woman could take a peek inside, the limp body of Huntress was thrown outside. She lay there in a heap, moaning. Both ladies looked at their friend in shock, then they looked at the dojo.

Janelle poked out her head and said, "Next?"

Gazelle and Pillar remained speechless, still taking glances at Huntress, and the woman who subdued their champion.

"I don't know if your friend is still conscious enough to hear me, so when she wakes up, tell her if she messes with my Ben again, I will personally break every bone in her body, then for spite, mail her a wedding invitation and a tape of the ceremony, and make her watch. You got that?" Janelle said.

The two slowly nodded their heads.

"And as for you two, Kevin and Jessie are off limits. If I so much as see or hear anything about either of you even looking at them the wrong way, I will personally hunt you down, and you will end up looking like your mighty "Huntress' here. Is that clear?"

Again, both nodded their heads.

"Good. Now if neither of you two are planning to fight me, I need you to pick up your Huntress and get out of here. I have to teach a class in an hour."

And then she shut the door.

-----

Patricia Wellington couldn't believe her eyes. It wasn't a rout of her throne by majority vote it was a landslide. Everyone except her court of officers stood up in favor of ending her reign as president. How could that be?

"Why are you doing this?" She asked.

"According to the words of many, you have been running this sorority like your own personal kingdom with you as the Queen of England," Mina said. "This is supposed to be a service sorority, where we serve the community and help people in need, not to seek publicity and help out only when we feel like it."

"You can't do this!" Patricia said, trembling in anger.

"Sure we can, it's in the handbook. The only difference is we're kicking you out of office on proven charges instead of the trumped-up ones you framed on your predecessor," Mina said as she slipped off her loafers for what she predicted was the action to come.

Her prediction came true as Patricia leapt off her throne with a loud scream, her hands extended towards Mina. She thought about pulling Mina's hair out, then quickly remembered Mina was bald, so she settled for scratching her eyes out instead.

Another thing the general public didn't know about Patricia was she was also a pretty fearsome cat fighter, often leaving her enemies and rivals (and sometimes potential sorority presidential candidates) bruised, bloody, and beaten. It also was another way she kept control of the sorority.

The initial conflict did not last long, as Mina grasped one of Patricia's arms and delivered a hip throw. Patricia found herself flat on her back with the breath knocked out of her, her left arm extended in a painful hold, with Mina's stocking-covered foot on her throat, the big toe pressing down directly on her larynx. Meantime, Sif kicked off her shoes and came and stood in front of the two women, while facing the president's court.

Mina looked down at Patricia. "Don't move please, we still have the details of your soon-to-be former presidency to go over. I don't want to hurt you, but if you make any false moves, you'll have a dislocated shoulder and more than a frog in your throat, okay?" She said.

Patricia, who realized the vulnerable position she was in, wisely and tearfully nodded her head.

Though Mina initially meant no ill will as far as physical harm toward Patricia, the same could not be said of Sif and the four officers, who rose as one to advance on her and rescue their imperiled leader. Tension had been building between Sif and the officers for some time. Now that all pretense of civility was gone, Sif looked forward to putting these snobs in their place, and to give them a well-deserved beating as well.

The first officer to approach Sif received a left side kick to the solar plexus. The woman bent over, clutching her stomach. Sif leapfrogged over her, then pushed her in the way of another attacker. The two ladies collided, then tumbled to the ground. Sif seized the arm of another attacker from the presidential court, giving her an over-the-shoulder throw, slamming her on the growing pile of women on the floor. The last attacker rushed her, attempting to catch Sif while her back was turned. However that didn't work as Sif quickly turned and grabbed both of the woman's arms. Sif gave the surprised woman a foot sweep with her right foot, sending her down hard on her rump. Sif reached down and grabbed her right foot, and while twisting the ankle, sent a vicious stomp to the woman's stomach and another one against her jaw. She turned around, twisting the woman's ankle in the process, toward the pile of officers she just made, watching for any more future attacks. At the moment, the fallen women were more concerned with getting untangled from each other.

Mina waited for the skirmish to cease, and then spoke to Patricia. "Here's the deal; as of now, your official term as president of this sorority is over," she said. "However, since the school year is not over yet, you get to sit on your "throne' for the rest of the semester, but only as a figurehead, just like the real Queen of England. This is so people won't ask any questions about what happened here. While that is going on, we will have a genuine election for officers with their terms becoming active immediately. At the start of the new school year, you will step down from your so-called "office' graciously, and you will leave this sorority immediately. You can have the local news and other publicity cover the event if you want to make a big deal of it.

"Just in case you're thinking of making any comebacks, you will be under constant surveillance here; of course all the members here are aware of your schemes. Your "court,' as soon as they recover, are to leave this place immediately, unless they want Sif to beat them up some more."

Sif displayed a devilish grin as she gave the trapped officer's ankle another twist, bringing forth a few agonized cries from the victim. The other three officers stood their distance, feeling helpless as their own personal reign was coming to an end.

"This sorority has also become an official branch of the Daughters of Athena. No more outside funding will be needed, and whenever there's a serious need on or outside of campus, this group will be there to help. This sorority will return to the reason it was created."

"What makes you think that I'll concede to your demands?" Patricia croaked, her throat still under Mina's foot.

"Because if you violate this agreement, news of how you conducted business here will be made public to the campus, the community, and especially to the Fraternity/Sorority commission on campus. They had suspicions about this group for some time, but nothing could be proven. One transgression and all your dirty laundry will be exposed. If that's not enough of an incentive, you also will be left to Sif's tender mercies. You saw what she did with your officers; just imagine what she could do to you one on one without me to hold her back. I'm the one thing that's keeping you from suffering any broken bones right now. Now, do we have an understanding, or do we ruin your reputation, while Sif ruins your face?"

Tears flowed from Patricia's eyes. This must be a nightmare. Her reign, her own personal kingdom, has come to an end. She would spend the remainder of the semester as a puppet president, while the start of the new school year will make her an exile, just like a political prisoner. She could hook up with another sorority next year, but there would be too many questions to answer. Besides, how long would it be before the Daughters of Athena take them over, too? Trapped to spend her senior year in obscurity, she had no choice.

"Yes, I understand," Patricia sobbed.

Mina motioned to Sif, and she let go of the ex-officer's ankle. As she released Patricia's arm, Mina also motioned for the four former officers to leave the sorority house, the last one limping due to Sif's ankle twisting as they reached the door. Patricia curled up in a ball and cried.

"Meeting adjourned," Mina said.

-----

After Janelle closed the door, she staggered to the center of the dojo floor, fell to her knees, and started to cry. The pain from her side, previously ignored, seemed to come back to life; a flaring physical pain to add to the emotional pain she was also feeling.

She did not think her sensei would be proud of her this day. Not because of the fight itself, Huntress gave her no choice. Not because of the motive either, Huntress and her two friends had threatened the man she loved and his close friends. For that, Janelle would be prepared to fight to the death if necessary. The reason would be how she fought. Huntress made her look like a rank amateur. There were white belts she taught that had shown better poise. Fighting from purpose and not fighting from emotion was what she taught her students. She had won the battle, that much was true, but Huntress was able to score major points on her by threatening to take Ben from her. Even though those threats were groundless - she knew Ben loved her as much as she loved him - she still played her like a violin enough to not be thinking clearly when she attacked.

Another mistake she made was assuming that the issue would be settled in honorable combat. If she didn't hit the ground like she did at the beginning of the battle, Huntress would've knocked her head off, ending the fight before it begun. She knew that there are no rules of conduct out on the street, yet they fought in her dojo, a place where honor and respect is given to the opponent before they engage in combat. She was trying to fight an honorable battle with an opponent who had no honor. Huntress was right; this wasn't the same Daughters of Athena her sensei fought years ago.

As she sat there, she remembered that Huntress said something else too; that a number of things were happening, a "clean sweep" she said. What other events were happening at this moment, what other "takeovers" were occurring that had the Daughters of Athena's fingerprints on it?

Through her tears, a sudden revelation came to Janelle. Huntress had made a few mistakes, and she had paid for them. But she made one big one that will be costly; she alerted Janelle of the organization's presence, and their plans of conquest. They will not succeed, not if she has something to say about it.

-----

Jane Foster was slumped over backwards in her chair. Blood stained her white blouse and blue business suit. Her face looked like it went ten rounds with a heavyweight boxer. Nearby, Leather Dragon pulled her gloves off as she faced the window. Lady Shiva handed her a damp cloth to wipe the blood off her face and arms.

"Good work," Lady Shiva said.

"Thank you," Leather Dragon said. "I would have gotten through sooner if she wasn't begging and pleading the whole time. I was instructed not to break any bones, but she was getting me really tempted. Well, all we need to do now is to put her worthless carcass in this recycling bin and dump her in an alley someplace. You got my coveralls and shoes?"

"Right here." Lady Shiva handed Leather Dragon a pair of gray coveralls with the words "Rose's Recycling Service" printed in blue on the back. She also handed her a pair of black clogs, which if worn with long pants look like a pair of work boots from the front.

"Jade, do you really think those tapes we're taking with us are something more than business meetings?" Lady Shiva said, addressing Leather Dragon by her real name.

"Nuvana, I would bet on it. That camera system is not connected to the general system, that alone is pretty strange, and second, how many bosses do you know put a camera in their own office? There's business here, all right, monkey business," Leather Dragon said.

Lady Shiva looked toward one of the large recycling bins. "I know one way we can find out," she said.

Leather Dragon sighed as she finished pulling her coveralls on. "Okay, let's ask him, but we need to make it quick. I want to get that woman out of here before she starts whining again, and I think it's getting close to that scene in the movie where Clarence gets his wings."

They walked to one of the bins and opened it, revealing a frightened Alex, bound and gagged with duct tape.

"We don't want to hurt you, we just want to ask you a few questions, okay? Your boss won't be bothering you anytime soon. Lady Shiva, stop gawking at the man and take his gag off!" Leather Dragon said.

Lady Shiva snapped out of her trance and took the duct tape from Alex's mouth. He blinked his eyes several times before he spoke.

"What are you going to do with me?" Alex asked.

Lady Shiva smiled and looked longingly at him.

"Don't answer that!" Leather Dragon said to Lady Shiva. "Alex, what we wanted to ask you was about the tape collection your soon to be former boss left in the office. It's not of business meetings, is it?"

Alex shook his head. "No, it's of meetings between her and her personal assistants. She told us if we didn't do what she wanted, she would show the tapes to our loved ones or get us fired. As long as she had the tapes, we couldn't quit, either," Alex said.

"How many personal assistants does the woman have?"

"Four, but I was her favorite. Sometimes she would chase me around her desk, and make me play crazy games with her after office hours. She'd even take me along on business trips to take care of her "luxury expenses.' Lately she didn't even bother hiding anything. She would come to me in front of everyone, pinch my butt, and whisper "Mandingo' in my ear. That meant I was to go to her room immediately. It's crazy."

"Mandingo?" Lady Shiva said.

"It sounds like someone has been watching too many movies. I'll explain it all to you when we get in the van," Leather Dragon said.

Alex continued. "She said she has just enough clout to keep me from getting a job at a fast food place if I ever leave her company. What's going on? Where is Ms. Foster?"

"Well to quote another movie, we made your boss an offer she couldn't refuse. My boss had bought her out, so the next time you return to work, you'll have a brand new boss who'll treat you like an actual employee instead of a boy toy," Leather Dragon said.

"And if anybody is pinch your butt and chase you around the desk, it's going to be me," Lady Shiva said, again looking longingly at her new prize."

"Ah, who are you?" Alex asked, giving Lady Shiva a curious look.

"I go by "Lady Shiva,' but for you, my name is Nuvana. It's pronounced "Nu ' vannnn ' ahh," Lady Shiva said seductively. Alex started to return her gaze.

"That's a lovely name," Alex said, now taken with Nuvana's beauty.

"Thank you," she said huskily.

"Ahem, excuse me, but we have a schedule to keep," Leather Dragon said, getting a little impatient. "Alex, it would take too long to explain, but we'll need you to stay in the bin for just a little while longer. Do you need to use the bathroom or anything?"

"No, I'm okay," he said. Leather Dragon replaced the well-ventilated lid.

"Lady Shiva, right now I'm tempted to put you in the bin with him, but I need you out here. Hurry up and put your coveralls on so we can take care of our "baggage.' I think she's starting to stir. We'll also need to drop by security to pick up Web Head and your DVD. After we drop Jane off, then I'll play chaperone as you two get better acquainted. Sound like a plan?"

"I don't need a chaperone," Lady Shiva protested.

"I'm doing that for his sake, not yours. You're going to eat the poor man alive! Take it easy, huh? Now let's grab Jane here and go. I know just the place to drop her off at."

When Alex returned to his job, he felt like a new man with a fresh lease on life, as did his other co-workers now that his old boss was gone, replaced with a new one who even paid them better wages as well as better respect, not to mention a new girlfriend to go with it.

As for Jane, after she received her check in the hospital, and made the formal announcement that she was leaving the company, she fled the city and started another company in a smaller town. She made a mental note for the next time someone came by and made an offer to buy her company for more than it's worth to take it, no questions asked. The results would be healthier.

-----

Velvet didn't have anything better to do that evening, so she decided to drop by The Iron Foot and see if Janelle was around and to hang out there. She was in the mood for sparring and found that her maid had mysteriously disappeared. She reminded herself the next time she wants to practice her holds and throws to not make it so obvious. Even some of the students of equal and lower rank almost run the other way when she shows up.

As she drove her car into the parking lot, she saw three figures coming from the dojo. As she came closer, she noticed that they were the three bald women her and Janelle saw the other night. Two of them seemed to be half carrying one of their number. Apparently one of them made the mistake of messing with Janelle, Velvet thought.

After she parked, she saw the two women putting the injured one in their car. Velvet pondered going after them, but she thought it would be better to check if Janelle was all right. She trotted from her car into the dojo, and found Janelle on her knees in the middle of the floor, crying. As Velvet checked on her, one of her hands touched Janelle's injured side.

"Aaaa!" Janelle said.

"What's wrong?" Velvet asked.

"My side, it's a little bruised. It's not anything I haven't had before."

"We still need to go to the office to take a look at it."

Janelle laughed a little through her tears. "You should see the other gal," she said.

"I did see "the other gal,' they practically dragged her to their car. What happened?" Velvet asked.

"To give you the short version, I left a message for Huntress to meet me, so I could tell her to leave Ben and his friends alone. She disagreed, so we fought. I won the argument," Janelle said.

"So I see," Velvet said. "So how did you end up with a busted side? That's not like you."

"The brat actually managed to get me rattled, make me angry. If I didn't come to my senses, she could've beaten me. She also practices capoeria."

"That stuff that looks like break dancing? No wonder you had problems. It's a weird discipline to figure out."

"Well she's not going to be doing any of that stuff for a while, I saw to that."

"Yeah, I don't think any bald chicks will be dropping by Ben's anytime soon. I'm glad it's over."

Janelle wiped her tears with the sleeve of her gi. "No, it's not over," she said. "I'm going to stop them, Velvet."

"Those three girls? But you already took care of them."

"Not them, the Daughters of Athena. They have returned in full force, just like our sensei predicted. While Huntress was here, she was talking about a "clean sweep,' and "settling accounts.' That was also the other reason she was here, she wanted to finish what that one woman failed to do ' defeat our sensei by beating one of the successors ' me. She also thought she could get the dojo if she beat me. She'd have to walk over my dead body before she would get that. Who knows how many other "accounts' they planed on settling? Well Huntress made a big mistake when she came here; she told me that the DOA is back. And right now, I am declaring war on the Daughters of Athena. I am going to fight my way to the top. And then I will find the leader, and I will take her out."

-----

Rose stood in the middle of the freshly vacated, newly owned Mirror, Mirror on the Wall Costume Shop. After they deposited the check, the Hubers demanded to come back and clean out the place for her; so they did. All that was left in the building were fixed objects such as the lighting, the front counter, and the industrial sewing machines used to make costumes (the Hubers decided to throw those in for no extra charge). Rose slipped off her pumps, and started to walk around the shop.

The Hubers were excellent costume makers, Rose thought, and she would've loved to keep them around, but with the orders she planned to make in the future, they might be tempted to ask a few too many questions. In any case, the seamstresses and fellow apprentices she'll bring in that weekend should be up to the task.

Rose smiled to herself as she walked over to a nearby sewing machine. The regular members of the group were happy, content, and proud of their trademark black swimsuits, and her yoga and gymnastic warriors were satisfied with the T-shirts, shorts, and leotards they wear on their missions. But for her Elite Guard, they needed more, much more.

-----

"Okay, so you have made a declaration of war on the Daughters of Athena. So how are you going to go about this?" Velvet asked as she kneeled beside Janelle.

"I, I don't know yet. I'll have to figure out something later tonight," Janelle said.

"You do realize that this is a probably a large group, growing faster by the minute, don't you? Finding the head honcho may take a while."

"Yes, I'm aware of that. Are you trying to talk me out of it?"

"No, no, girlfriend, I'm in there with you. I'm just reminding you of what you might be in for. You forget, I was there when our sensei warned us too."

"Sorry Velvet; we were some of our instructor's "pride and joy.' What was it that was said about us two? Oh yeah, that I had the moves of a dancer, and you were as ferocious as a lion."

"And I always roared when they said that," Velvet laughed. "I guess since you run a dojo, you'd make a higher profile target."

"I imagine they'll be knocking on your door before long," Janelle said as she started to get up. "Well, my class starts in less than an hour, so I better get ready to-"

"Oh no you don't!" Velvet said. "First, we're going to the office and look at your side. Even if nothing's broken, something needs to be put on it. After we take care of that, you're going home. I'll teach class tonight. Your day has been long enough. You need to get some rest, and I'll need someone to spar with, so it'll work out okay."

"I should've known. Did your maid disappear on you again? Velvet, you need to be a little gentler with your victims ' I mean sparring partners. Even the other black belts are afraid to go near you. If I'd known you were looking for someone, I'd invited you over to waltz with Huntress' friends."

"That's okay, I'm sure I'll get my chance soon. C'mon "victim,' let's get you looked at."

Velvet pulled Janelle to her feet and helped her over to the dojo office.

-----

Artemis was learning to love the sound of breaking bones. In fact, she was finding this part of the hunt an orgasmic experience. She didn't realize she had a passion for such destruction since she beaten and molested her former college history professor and former lover, Caesar Greene. She loved it all, the seeking, the stalking, and the final capture and destruction of her victim. She wondered as she dislocated another joint on Elroy's body what she'll take home as a trophy. Maybe that necklace around his neck will do.

Street criminals make the best prey, Artemis thought. There are plenty of them, so they're not an endangered species, they have a habit of preying on helpless victims, so nobody likes them, nobody will miss them, and they are fun to break. A big plus is it would also be considered a public service, as attested to from the comments of several when they ran across her victims.

The fact was Artemis didn't have too much of a moral obligation on who her victims were, with the exception of children, the handicapped, and the elderly. It just turned out that thugs who ran the street were the best choice. Every now and then, someone from the group who trained her, the Daughters of Athena would give her somebody to track down and beat, maim, and whatever else she wanted to do short of killing them.

Hunting them down in nothing else but her black swimsuit also gave her a primal thrill. She considered conducting her hunts in the nude, but that might be just a little extreme, even for her. The best thing about hunting in a swimsuit was the indoor pool at her condominium. After a regular hunt, she can go for a swim, and wash the blood away.

Snapping out of her thoughts realizing that if she held Elroy the way she did for a minute or two, he'd be dead, she let him go, dropping him to the ground. She was not ready to cross that line, not yet. She looked him over, decided she did enough damage, and bent down to look at his face. She then started something she saw in a movie that seemed a little corny at first, but rather effective.

She dipped her finger in a puddle of his blood, making sure he could see it, then took that same finger, put it to her mouth, and licked it.

"I now have tasted your blood, and your essence. We are now linked. If you do anymore drug peddling, I will know it, and I'll be back, to finish what I've started, to devour you whole," she said, finishing the licking of her finger.

Elroy screamed, then Artemis knocked her out with an overhead blow to his temple.

Artemis chuckled as she took Elroy's necklace and disappeared into the night. "Gets them every time," she said as she left.

She remembered as she was leaving about someone else who appeared to be doing the same thing to street thugs that she did. She had heard what she (she believed it was a "she") had done to the "Panty Gag Rapist" a month or so ago. Excellent work. The note hung around the rapist's neck was a nice touch. Artemis herself would've had the sign written in the man's own blood, but the impact was still clear.

She would like to meet this woman, not to team up with or even just to meet, but to hunt. This prey sounded like she would be an opponent worthy of her abilities.

Artemis reminded herself to be on the lookout for this fellow hunter. She licked her lips in anticipation for the hunt to come.

-----

Benjamin was sitting in his apartment, watching a wildlife show on the Discovery Channel. He found it rather ironic that after being "stalked" and "hunted" and nearly "captured," he would be watching a show about some poor gazelle, rabbit, or other vermin get chased down by hawks, lions, cougars, and wolves. He supposed it was the concept of watching other people's (or in this case, creatures') problems to get away from your own.

Janelle was supposed to meet him after her black belt class later on. She suggested that he should go ahead and cook himself some dinner or order a pizza or something instead of waiting for her. Benjamin wasn't in the mood to cook anything, and he absolutely refused to order pizza. It seemed like bad things always happened when he ordered pizza to be delivered. He was starting to wonder if whoever decided to come after him had the pizza places bugged to see if he'd call in an order. The next time he wanted a pizza, he'll either go to the place itself, or do a carryout, no more delivery.

Benjamin almost jumped when he heard the doorbell. He shook his head, a little annoyed at himself for being so jumpy. If Huntress was planning to make another move on him, she wouldn't have to wait so late to do it. Besides, he would be ready the day after. He unlocked the door, opened it and there stood Janelle, holding a large box of pizza.

When Janelle got home, she soaked in the tub for a while, then got dressed and headed to Benjamin's apartment, despite Velvet's suggestion of postponing coming over and spending the rest of the evening at home nursing her injuries. She was wearing a sleeveless pink pastel blouse, which allowed for her truly defined arms to show. She also had on a long white spring skirt that hung down to mid-calf length. Finishing off the outfit was a gold ankle bracelet around her left ankle, and of course, no shoes.

"Hello sweetheart," Janelle said.

"Janelle, what a pleasant surprise," Benjamin said as he let her in. "How did you get here so early?"

"I decided to take the night off," she said as she placed the box of pizza on the dining room table. Benjamin came behind her to give her a hug, unknowingly touching her sore spot on her side.

"Aaah!" Janelle said, startling Benjamin.

"What's wrong?" He said, alarmed.

"Work related injury. It'll be better in a couple of days, nothing serious."

"Sorry about that. Oh, I'm also sorry for last night, too. I wasn't trying to give you a guilt trip or anything."

"That's all right, I understand. Besides, Huntress and her friends won't be bothering you anymore."

"That's good news," Benjamin said. "Hey, there's a good movie on TV that's coming on in a few minutes."

"Sounds great, I'd like to see it."

They sat on the sofa in the living room with their slices of pizza and glasses of lemonade (since being out on his own, Benjamin had gotten to be an expert on the making of old-fashioned lemonade). After the movie was almost halfway through, Benjamin turned to Janelle and spoke.

"I am happy to say that I had a rather uneventful day today," he said.

"That's great, honey," Janelle said with a tired smile.

"It was funny; I called Kevin and Jessie and asked them how boring their day was. Kevin said his day was nice and dull, and Jessie said this was the first time he looked forward to doing homework in a long time. That's unusual, since Jess-"

"Honey?"

"Yes dear?"

"Let's not talk about our days today."

"Okay, so what would you like to talk about?"

Janelle pulled her feet up, and then stretched out on the sofa, placing her head on Benjamin's lap.

"I just want you to tell me you love me," she said.

"No problem there," Benjamin said. "I love you, honey."

"I love you too, baby."

They didn't say anything else until the movie was over. Benjamin stretched his arms.

"That was a nice movie, wasn't it, Janelle? Janelle? Janelle, honey?"

He looked down and realized that Janelle was asleep. Must've been a hard day at the dojo, Benjamin thought.

He realized it was also time for him to turn in as well. He looked at the peaceful look on Janelle's face and realized that he couldn't bring himself to wake her up. He took a thick throw pillow from his end of the sofa, and carefully replaced his lap with the pillow. After he slowly got up, he walked into his bedroom, and grabbed a lightweight afghan his mother made for him, and covered Janelle up with it. Then he kissed her lightly on the cheek, and turned out almost all the lights with the exception of the one in his bedroom and the lamp by the sofa.

"Good night honey, I love you," he said, softly.

He then turned off the lamp, walked into his bedroom, and closed the door.

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