A Visit from Joanna 
Noël Burch nburch@wanadoo.fr 
Julian Schwarz aka "Jules-the-Fence", visited by a "mistress of the martial arts".   


The elevator door slid open with a barely audible whoosh and the woman stepped
out onto the marble surface. It was a well-appointed building. She glanced at
the floor-directory, then turned to her right and began walking down the
hallway at a leisurely pace, the black cape she wore brushing against the soft
leather boots that molded shapely feet and ankles. At length she paused before
a glass door marked Julian Schwarz, Export-Import. A tightly gloved hand
emerged from the folds of cape and grasped the knob. Julian Schwarz's
bodyguard, Jimmy Mahoney, was flirting with the fence's pretty blonde
secretary when the door opened and a woman entered so striking in her
appearance that he felt his mouth actually fall open at the sight of her. She
was of medium height only but her perfect bearing and a high-swept chignon
made her seem tall. She moved like a dancer and under the long cape one sensed
a slender, wiry body of considerable resiliency. Jimmy was fascinated. She
flashed a dazzling smile, meant only for him and said: "Hello there." Without
removing her black kid gloves, she opened a small bag she carried in one hand
and took out a visiting card. "Please tell Mr. Schwarz that Ms. Smith is here
to see him, "she said to the secretary, handing her the card, but her gaze was
on Jimmy Mahoney, and it seemed to be drilling into him. The woman wore a lot
of eye-shadow and mascara, and her eyes looked exceedingly dramatic. They
fascinated Jimmy and aroused him violently. Jimmy scarcely heard the rest of
the exchange, as the secretary ascertained that the mysterious woman did not
have an appointment but that her business was very urgent. When he heard the
door to the inner office close behind the secretary he felt a sense of elation
and urgency : he had to make his play quickly, there wouldn't be much time.
But he didn't have to make his play. "Do you like my eyes," said the woman
languidly as she took a step towards him. And another. She looked as if she
were about to kiss him. He seemed to be swaying towards her. He felt very
strange. Her hands moved towards his face, he leaned closer. Those moist,
glistening, nacreous lips those deep dark liquid eyes... The cool leather of
her finger-tips touched his temples and an electric shiver ran down his spine
. "Relax..." she whispered, "I'm not going to eat you... Let yourself go...
Her face was close to his now. He opened his mouth for the kiss he thought was
coming, hers seemed to hang there, tantalizing... Her eyes boring into his...
Her fingers gently massaging his temples... It felt good... "Your eyelids,"
she whispered, "they're getting heavy, you can hardly keep them open, can you
?" And it was true, he could hardly keep his eyes open, all of a sudden he
felt terribly sleepy, and yet he didn't want to close his eyes, he wanted to
keep on looking at those beautiful eyes, at that beautiful face hanging in the
air before him. And then he felt himself sinking, sinking, sinking... When the
secretary returned to the outer office to tell the woman that she would have
to wait a few minutes, she appeared to have left. Jimmy Mahoney was sitting
stiffly in his chair, staring at the wall. He didn't seem to be his normal
self. "Where is she, Jimmy?"The bodyguard made no answer, but a throaty voice
said in her ear "Here I am child" and she suddenly felt the back of her neck
caught in a vice-like grip like none she had ever known. Her senses began to
swirl. "Dont worry, child, just a little nap, "were the last words she heard
before a red veil descended before her eyes and she lost consciousness. "Ms.
Smith" eased the pressure which the knuckles of her gloved fists had been
exerting on the young secretary's carotid arteries and caught her as she
collapsed against her. She lay her on a desk and turned back to Jimmy, where
lie still sat staring at nothing space. She placed the leather palm of her
hand on his forehead and lifted one eyelid with her thumb. Satisfied with what
she saw, she spoke the man, Jimmy, slowly and distinctly :"You are to tie this
woman up with your belt and tie, hide her in the closet, then sit here and see
that Mr. Schwarz is not disturbed by anyone. Is that perfectly clear ?" "Yes
ma'am", said Jimmy, still not moving a muscle. "Then do it," said she,
snapping her fingers, and Jimmy immediately stood up and began to remove his
belt. Satisfied that he was under control, she turned away from him and with
that same gliding dancer's step moved towards the door leading to the inner
office. The wool cape swished audibly against the suede boots. Julian Schwarz
was deep in thought behind his broad mahogany desk. And his thoughts were
worried ones. For Julian Schwarz was very much behind in his payments to the
Community Protective Association, and the last letter he had received under
that heading had been quite threatening. And now there was some damn dame
wanting to see him. What the hell did she want? If only he could figure out
where to borrow ten grand. Business had been slow. Suddenly the door opened.
"Miss May, I told you I wasn't to be --", Julian Schwarz began before he
realizing that it wasn't the blonde Miss May at all who stood there but a
strikingly beautiful brunette in a long flowing cape and soft suede boots.
Another one of those kooks he sighed to himself. There'd been one in last
month, selling some kind of religious literature. He got up and started around
the desk. "Now look Miss, you'll just have to wait..." he began and then broke
off in amazement. For the woman had done an amazing thing. She had thrown her
cloak on the floor and she stood there, in Julian Schwarz's very respectable
office wearing the damnedest outfit Julian Schwarz had ever seen. It was a
kind of jump-suit made of soft black leather. It was snuggly fitted to a
lithe, shapely frame, but not so tightly as to restrict the woman's supple
movements in any way. Advancing gracefully across the big office with catlike
steps on suede boots, which were actually more like stockings and rose to
mid-calf, she stopped a yard away from him and finally spoke to the
flabbergasted man:"Julian Schwarz, you have an unpaid debt. I am here to
remind you of it!" Julian thought he was going crazy, or else it was her !
Yeah, another one of those kooks, only this one seemed to know things...
Private things... He mustered a superior way. He'd better humor her. "Oh
yeah, I'll bet your gonna hurt me real bad!" "You don't know the half of it,"
was the woman's rejoinder as she smiled back. Then, with terrifying speed she
acted; the move was so sudden, so devastatingly effective, that Julian felt he
had plunged from waking state to night mare... and indeed he had. Before he
knew it, her body was close to his, and she had seized his lapels, pulled him
off balance and somehow managed to kick his feet out from under him. He fell
heavily to the carpeted floor and she fell with him. But her fall was under
control, and his was decidedly not. He landed painfully on his tail-bone with
the lithe leathern figure beside him. She performed a practiced traction on
the floor and popped up into a kneeling position with one hard shin-bone
"accidentally" digging into his groin. He also realized that she had his right
wrist trapped under her armpit and was exerting such leverage on it with her
forearm that he found himself completely helpless. The effect on his morale
was spectacular. How had this happened ? He was a head taller than this babe,
he must have outweighed her by fifty pounds ! 'As if in answer to his
thoughts, the woman spoke to him in a neutral, quiet voice. " My name is
Joanna, I am a mistress of the martial arts and I am here to punish you."
Suddenly there appeared in her free hand a ball of what looked liked ribbed
leather. He'd never seen anything like it before . At the same time he was
aware that Joanna's wiry, gloved fingers were probing his captive biceps. At
first there was only moderate discomfort and he had time to wonder what in the
world... but then suddenly he opened his mouth wide in a scream he thought he
could never utter : it felt as if his whole arm were being skewered on a
red-hot sword. Then suddenly he tasted leather in his mouth: she had used his
scream to pop that leather thing into it and now she touched some sort of
spring, there was a "snap"... and the leather seemed to expand suddenly,
filling his mouth, stifling the very scream that had let it in. Had he fainted
from the pain ? The next thing he knew, he was lying on his back with a
headache and became aware that the terrifying Joanna was pressing her thumbs
in the middle of his eyebrows. When she saw him opening his eyes she stood up
and backed away. She saw him looking towards the door. " Wondering about your
employees? I have taken care of them... and of any eventual visitors." A look
of indignation came into the muted man's eyes. "Oh, don't worry, they are not
hurt. Hypnotism is among the martial arts that I have mastered." He looked at
the door again and sat up. She backed away further still and smiled. "Now, if
you're thinking of trying to make it to the door... that might be fun. Let's
play a game. If you can make it to the door, if you can just touch the door, I
promise to go easy on you, I might even let you off." Julian' mind was racing,
although the diabolical device pressing against the walls of his mouth made
him feel slightly dizzy. She'd caught him by surprise, that's how she'd gotten
the best of him that time. But if he caught her by surprise ...He stood up and
pretended to move towards the door... Slowly... The woman smiled and remained
where she was... but then without warning he hurled himself sidewise at the
leather clad figure... and found himself suddenly flying over the beautiful
Joanna's back, as she let his own moment propel him to his doom, gripping
wrist and Coat-collar to accelerate and guide his helpless fall. He landed on
his shoulder and felt the cartilages crack. He screamed, but could make only
pitiful grunts. He was terrified that he would vomit from the pain and
strangle on what came up ! He realized that she was still holding his arm as
she stood over him, and as he peered up the towering leather columns of her
legs he saw that with her free hand she was holding his captive wrist at an
odd, uncomfortable-looking angle. At first he felt nothing there, so great was
the pain in his shoulder. But then he discovered a dull throbbing, paralyzing
pain that radiated from a point between his thumb and first finger, and saw
that that one leather knuckle was digging deeply into what must have been
another nerve center. His whole body was going limp, the woman's skills were
spine-chilling, he felt like the "visible man", with his entire nervous system
exposed to the surgical eyes and fingers of this diabolical creature in black
leather, this woman named Joanna who had come to punish him.

She held him thus for what seemed like ages, smiling down at him, clearly
reveling in his fear and pain. "Having fun, Mr. Schwarz ? This is only the
beginning, you know! " He tried to plead with her, but the obstruction in his
mouth let only inarticulate groans. He could only lie there helpless, dreading
whatever was to come. Suddenly her leather clad leg flashed before his eyes
and all the breath left his body as a heel of molded rubber struck his solar
plexus with uncanny accuracy. He imagined he was dying so great was the
anguish, the panic, the ache. He was only vaguely conscious of being levered
to his feet as though he were a clild, of a sudden pressure under his arm-pit.
And just as he began to feel he could breathe again, he felt himself lifted
from the floor again and thrown helplessly over that smooth leather-clad back.
He fell heavily on his coccyx again as she maintained a tight grip on his
wrist and he hardly had time to register this new pain when he felt himself
spun around on the carpeting as if he were a mop at the end of his mop-handle
arm, and flipped over on his stomach. She gripped his ankles, crossed them in
a certain way... and now he was sure his knees would break as she rammed the
crossed ankles towards his shoulder-blades. He was screaming silently in
unspeakable agony, wishing he could faint, wishing he could die. "This one
hurts a lot, doesn't it Jules. I'll bet you'd like to pass out, wouldn't you?
But that won't help, you know, I'll just bring you around again... You'll
remember all this next time won't you Jules ?"He nodded his head vigorously.
"All right... end of round two..." and with one last excruciating shove on his
ankles, she stood up and backed off for a good look at him. Jules was in
pitiful shape. he could hardly straighten his knees, it took almost a minute
to do so. Joanna waited patiently with folded arms. Finally he lay on his
side, panting. He put his hand to his mouth to try to find a way of getting
that damned leather thing out of his mouth, but all he found on the protruding
end of it was a tiny slit. Joanna held up a key, a tiny key that glittered in
the light. "That won't come out until I take it out, darling," don't waste
your strength, you're going to need it... Now stand up." He couldn't believe
she was serious. He was in no condition to stand up, she'd broken both his
legs, or so it seemed ! " Julian, you had better do as you are told, or I will
stave in your ribs with a karate kick and let you accidentally drown in your
own blood . Accidents can happen in this line of work, you know." He began to
struggle to his feet and was amazed to discover that he was actually able to
stand, even to take a step or two. "There, you see? That's fine Julian, just
fine," she added, as she glided towards him on the balls of her feet.
Instinctively he stepped back. "But speaking of karate kicks", she went on...
and spinning away from him like a dancer, somehow succeeded in landing him a
vicious kick on the shoulder which sent him staggering. Almost immediately the
bunched tips of her gloved fingers came stabbing at his throat. He threw up
his hands and miraculously seemed to have blocked the blow, but almost in the
same instant he realized it had been only a feint, as she spun to his side and
kicked him in the kidney. He screamed inwardly with rage and pain and
suddenly he was beyond caring: he flung himself forward in one last desperate
bid against his slender opponent with the super-human skills. She actually
laughed for joy :"Atta boy, Julius! I knew you had it in you." She seemed to
fade from in front of him and as he hurtled passed her, she seized his hand
and wrist with a stylized, two-handed hold. Then, again, it was as if she were
dancing : she swung the captive wrist in a great circle, spinning lightly on
her feet .As she completed her circle, he suddenly realized that his captive
arm 'was being twisted mercilessly in what seemed to be several directions at
once. There was frightful pain again and he was being levered forward
irresistibly, then there was a sudden jerk and he did a frightening forward
somersault, landing heavily on his back again. "Wasn't that neat," said his
tormentress with feigned innocence. "That's Aikido you know... and here's some
more!", She was still gripping his wrist in her closely gloved fingers. Now
her grip shifted subtly and then she was kneeling beside him, pinning his
extended forearm to the floor with her knee bearing down on his biceps, his
hand twisted inward toward his wrist, her thumb punishing the knuckle of
his little finger Her face was calm, uncontorted by her seemingly effortless
grip as she peered at his face looking for signs of the agony he was going
through. The pain was already unbearable and still she increased the multiple
pressures. Suddenly he heard a sickening snap and was submerged by wave of
inhuman pain... He awoke in a sitting position. He felt hands... "her" hands,
he knew... pressing up under his ribs, helping him breathe. She was kneeling
behind him, holding his body against hers. He could feel her breasts, her flat
stomach, her thighs... and suddenly it dawned on him that he was being beaten
to a pulp by an extraordinarily attractive woman. The thought made his mind
reel, he almost passed out again from the unbearable contradiction. But Joanna
realized he was awake again, and wasted no time - she caught the skin below
his naval between thumb and forefinger and applied another one of those
vicious pinches of hers. Her "patient's" body arched and spasmed as she
released him, rose to her feet and stood looking down at him. She seemed
undecided about what to do next. He lay there, his hands clasped to his
burning belly, looking up at her with apprehension. Suddenly, her foot lashed
out and the suede- clad heel caught him with unerring accuracy just below the
sternum. He found himself gasping desperately for air, his limbs flailing....
She caught his ankle with those skilled hands, stepped over his thigh and bent
his calf leg across her own thigh in a diabolical hold. She gripped the tip of
his shoes and bent the leg ferociously. He tried to scream for help, but
remembered it was useless.. He suddenly was invaded by a terrible fear : be
was going to die, this ferocious beauty meant to kill him. Or leave him a
cripple for life, perhaps... She increased the pressure on his foot slowly,
inexorably. A raucous scream tried get past the ball of leather in his mouth
as his wind finally returned. She smiled down at him with a cruel twist of the
lips. "Yes, Mr. Schwarz, you are in great pain, I know... I am going to break
your leg in such a way that it will never heal properly. You are going to have
a limp to remember me by, Mr. Schwarz." She placed her free hand on his
knee-cap. Her touch was almost gentle. She interpreted his groans "No, no,
Please, please... I'll pay " The woman's grip tightened on his knee-cap, then
suddenly her arms tensed, twisted, jerked up and around. Julian Schwarz felt
the tendons in his leg snap; the pain was unbearable. He was about to faint
again, but the terrifying woman suddenly leaned down and her forked fingers
were poised over his defenseless eyes : "Faint, I'll scoop your eyeballs out
of their sockets!" The threat overcame the tempting slide into oblivion, he
remained conscious... and suffered! Joanna backed away again and stood hands
on hips. Her lips were curled into a cruel smile. He was whimpering, holding
his injured leg. "Do you think it is finished, Mr. Schwarz ? You are wrong. My
instructions were to be very hard on you." Slowly, very slowly, she knelt
beside him. Her movement, emphasized by the flowing contours of the black
leather jump suit were those of a dancer in slow motion.

Her gloved hands touched his flanks, slid quite gently along his ribs, she
almost seemed to be caressing him. What was she going to do to him now ?
thought Julian Schwarz. Her knowledge of the human anatomy body seemed
diabolically unlimited ! He whined, he whimpered, he whimpered behind the gag,
trying to tell her not to hurt him anymore, that he would, he swore he would,
he'd borrow the money, he'd find some way... Joanna was oblivious to his all
but inaudible pleading. Her hands had now reached his arm-pits, she caressed
his chest a few seconds more and then suddenly her steely fingers pinched the
pectoral muscles and twisted in a strange, marvelously efficient way. The pain
was terrible. Again he could hardly breathe. He tried to pull away, but her
gloved fingers were like steel claws. And now his arms were paralyzed, he was
powerless to even attempt to fend her off, he was completely in this slender,
beautiful woman's power. His mind began to reel. "Mr. Schwarz, " said Joanna
gently, "can you hear me ?" He could only whimper in reply. "You must never
keep the syndicate waiting again, Mr. Schwarz, for if you do, I will be
back... and it will be much worse, believe me, much worse." And she relaxed
the excruciating pressure... only to clap both hands to his ears with a sharp,
practiced move. He screamed again as pain exploded in his brain. Joanna spoke
again, but he could not hear her, for the diabolical blow had rendered him
deaf, bursting both his ear-drums. He lay on the floor, trying ineffectually
to press his limp arms to his aching ears, as the terrifying woman rose to her
feet and stood looking down at him. He gazed fearfully up the leather shafts
of her shapely legs. Was it over? Slowly she backed away to where her cloak
lay on the floor. Still gazing at him with a half-smile on her face she bent
and picked it up, slipped into it and took a step towards him again.
Instinctively, his pain-wracked body drew itself up. She stood looking down at
him. "You poor wimp, look what a "mere woman" has done to you." She leaned
down at he saw the tiny key appear in her hand. He felt a click in his mouth
and the restricting ball was removed. "Aren't you ashamed? Aren't you ? Her
insistence was threatening, and her left foot was cocked as if to deliver one
final, devastating blow. But what was she saying? He couldn't hear the
words... She gave him one last kick in the solar plexus, and he doubled up
gasping for breath. "Let us hope this lesson will stick," she rasped for
herself and turned on her heel. Trying to recover his breath, through the veil
of pain that clouded his senses he saw but did not hear the door open and
close. In the outer office, the bodyguard still sat with his eyes glazed.
Joanna, clearly in no hurry, went up to him and laid her gloved hand on his
forehead. "Jimmy, can you hear me ? " 'Yes, ma'am" came the wooden reply. "I
am going to count to ten, you are going to sleep at "ten" and when you awaken
you will remember nothing of what has happened between you
and I. Is that clear ". "Yes ma'am." The beautiful woman began to count, and
when she reached the count of ten, the young man's eyelids closed and his
breathing slowed. Joanna smiled with the satisfaction of a job well done. From
inside the closet she could hear noises which indicated that her second victim
had regained her senses. She left the office and headed for the stairs. As she
left the building, the elevator operator threw her an appraising glance. "Wow,
that is one beautiful chick! Wish I could get into her pants!" It was a good
thing he had the sense not to try !