Black Market Merchant

The beautiful woman came over to where the gangsters were laughing drunkenly at the shivering girl in the puddle. She looked down at the muddy red-haired girl and despite that she was dripping with muddy water, her dark tan skin was very noticeable. The girls fear was also clearly visible to her. The terror on her face and trembling dull green eyes was something the woman had seen before. Countless times, in fact, all during and throughout the Third World War. It was the look of absolute loss, terror and disbelief. Things a child should never have to show.

"What's going on here?" The woman asked casually putting a hand on the shoulder of one of the closest men.

He turned to her drunkenly, with a stupid smile on his face. "Matt saw this girl walking and tripped her. Ha-ha, she fell into the puddle like a rock thrown at the river."

"Oh ya?" The woman said tightening her grip slightly.

"Ya, ha-ha." The man said breathing hard into the woman's face. His breath reeked of booze.

"She fell in, like this?" The woman said pushing the drunk towards the big puddle and at the same moment she stepped on his foot, causing him to fall flat head long into the water.

Upon seeing this, some of the others around the puddle laughed at the sight of their friend splashing about while trying to stand. However, he was so drunk that he kept slipping and floundering in the muddy water. Two of the gangsters watching, that weren't quite so plastered from the booze, got mad. They approached the woman with a menacing look about them.

"What do you think you are doing? Don't you know who we are?" The first to speak was a short guy in a red shirt.

"We're the Mad Dogs." The other said patting his chest angrily. He had a blue and black striped shirt on and a teardrop tattoo under one eye. "If you know what's good for you, then you better think of a way to apologize to us. You feel me?"

The woman rolled her eyes, "Apologize? To two roaches like you, never."

"Hey boys, this freaky tall girl thinks she's something. We will show you that we ain't no punks." The blue and black striped shirted man said.

He reached out to grab the woman, but instead she suddenly grabbed his arm and twisted it until his elbow popped! He yelped in pain and clutched at his elbow. Then without wasting a second, she kicked him back into the red shirt guy standing closely behind him. They both collapsed into a tangled heap. Everyone started yelling and proceeded to try to attack the aggressive woman. That is when everything erupted into chaos.

Hanna struggled and slipped around in the puddle trying to distance herself from the fight now breaking out, but eventually managed to make it out. She quickly crawled behind a nearby, overflowing trash can. From its limited safety she watched as the street fight quickly unfolded before her.

A beer bottle whizzed past the woman's head and its thrower tried punching at her, but she simply stepped back and pushed his arm away. Another taller man pulled out a switch blade and tried swinging it at her center multiple times. She continued stepping back calmly, avoiding every strike. Then grabbing his wrist, she gave a sharp yank sending the blade clattering onto the ground. Then she kneed him in the gut, knocking the wind out of him.

The two women that were also at the puddle had run off shouting into the tavern and three men came lumbering out. Two of them were holding metal bats with barbed wire rapped around them and the other had a fireman's axe. The woman didn't appear afraid of any of this. She merely tossed aside the man in her grip and her rolled twice before struggling to stand up. The guy that chucked the beer bottle at her before tried to tackle her around the waistline. However, when he did make contact with her, she didn't even budge a step.

She merely looked down at him and smiled with a pitying look. She then grabbed him firmly by his belt and the back of his neck and swung him with ease at the three men coming out from the tavern. He flew nearly six meters! The men from the tavern jumped back in surprise, avoiding their buddy's flying body. The man's head hit the bottom stair of the tavern entrance and he appeared to have blacked out.

The gangsters changed their approach and now they started to circle her in the street carefully. From behind the woman, the rest of the gangsters that were by the puddle, quickly encircled her. She now had three armed men in front, five drunken men behind her and two that were incapacitated on the ground. Dozens of spectators from the market and side streets had now started to watch the fight curiously, but they kept their distance. It was not everyday that someone would challenge the Mad Dogs openly in broad daylight.

"Awe come on, ten versus one?" The woman said slipping her coffin off her back and dropped it onto the ground with a resounding thud. Some spectators murmured when they heard how heavy it sounded.

"Come on then." The woman said mockingly and motioning with her hand. "Let's see what the big bad gangsters can do."

The men were now furious, and the armed men charged at her first. The first guy on her left swung his bat at her head, but she dodged it by stepping calmly backwards. The other man on her right chopped down at her with his axe as she did step back. Yet he missed, as the woman leaned back just in time and his axe sent sparks flying off the road’s pavement. Then the third guy swung his bat at her as she stood up straight. Without even being fazed, the woman reached out and grabbed at the bat with her bare hand, narrowly missing the barbed wire.

"You swing like an old lady. Can't you do any better?" She said still mocking him.

She then quickly tugged the bat from his grasp and used it to block another swing coming from the other guy with his bat.

"Pa-ting!"

The shock from the impact stung his hands and he let go of his bat with one hand, shaking it to release the tingling pain. Just as he did, the woman clocked him in the side of his head with her stolen bat with blurring speed. He crumpled to the ground as a deep gash appeared on his temple. The bat had also left a deep impression in the man’s head, like a marshmallow with a bite taken out. The man had to have been slain from the blow.

The axe carrying man roared and swung the axe at her again, but she neatly stepped back avoiding the swing with ease. She then kicked him in the back of his knee, forcing him to kneel at her feet. Tossing her stolen bat aside, she grabbed him by the neck and chin then twisted.

"Crunch!" His spine crackled loudly, killing him on the spot.

From behind her the last armed guy jumped onto her back, yelling at the other five drunken guys dumbly watching everything going on, to attack. Then they shook off their stupor and rushed at her. The woman wasn't hindered by the guy on her back in the slightest, but rather just looked annoyed at his presence. So, she merely grabbed him under his arm pit and flipped him over her shoulder using a judo move, onto the street. Then without even skipping a beat, kicked him in the jaw with a heavy thud, knocking him out.

The other five guys made a series of swings and jabs at her, one even threw his last beer at her. However, they were all still quite drunk, and all their attacks were totally useless. She didn't even need to dodge some of them. She simply stepped forward knocking out the first man with a punch to his temple, elbowing the next guy in the gut and slugged him in the jaw. Then she kicked the next guy coming at her so hard in the chest, that she sent him careening into the wall of a nearby building. His body flew so fast it left cracks in the walls bricks upon impact.

The last two guys stopped approaching the woman upon seeing all their buddies being beaten so easily and turned to run, but it was useless. The woman grabbed one guy by his hoodie and slammed his head onto the ground with a crunch. The other guy she easily ran down, tripped and then pinned to the ground with her foot.

"Listen here, creep." The woman said grinding her shoe into his back, as she knelt closer to him. "Tell whoever you work for to stay clear of the lady with the coffin. You got it?" Her voice was like ice in the man's ear.

"Y-Yes!" The guy whimpered desperately to the woman.

"Good. Now get!" She yelled getting off him.

Being freed, the last remaining uninjured guy scurried up and jogged unsteadily off down the road. If not for the seriousness of the situation, seeing the drunk man trying to run would have been comical.

She turned around and kicked a guy behind her that was getting up in the head and his head twisted nearly all the way around, killing him. Clearly, she either lacked empathy or was just very annoyed. She then walked back towards the first guy she had injured on the elbow. Seeing her coming back at him, he screamed and fled into the crowd clutching at his twisted arm. The woman snorted in disgust and ignored him.

A couple of people from the onlooking crowd cheered at the woman, upon seeing the fight was over and the gangsters defeated. While others talked amongst themselves, curious by the strength of the woman's attacks. A few even looked afraid seeing that so many men had been beaten down or killed and hurriedly left the market. Many spectators were thinking that there was no way that this normal looking woman could have such inhuman strength? But she ignored all this commotion and simply walked back to her coffin and put it back on.

Hanna's mouth was open in surprise. "What just happened?" She thought. Then she saw the woman turn and had started coming right for her. Hanna couldn't move, she was much too afraid and much to exhausted.

The woman then crouched down towards Hanna and reached out a hand towards her. Unlike before, this motion was showing nothing but tenderness and care. She smiled kindly and said, "Hello there, little girl. Are you alright? My name is Lisa."