Stick 'Em Up
By Littlesilverstar, silverstar222b@yahoo.com
A young woman stops a robbery

NOTE: This story was inspired by a young woman (a stranger) that I happened
to see one day.  Her beauty and the confidence with which she carried herself
gave her the image of a lovely Amazon fighter.  Although this story is a work
of fiction, I would not be surprised in the least to find out that the real 
woman is capable of doing the things that the heroine does in the story.

Shelley sighed and tossed back her ponytail wearily.  It had been another 
long and tiring day for the 21-year-old college student.  After attending 
classes in the morning and early afternoon, she had gone straight to her 
job at McDonald's.  Although the job took up a lot of time that could have 
been used for studying or partying, she needed the extra money to pay for 
her tuition.  Her single father's job as a plumber could only pay for part 
of her college education by itself.  Although working at McDonald's was not 
her ideal job by any means, she was well-liked and respected by her boss
and most of her coworkers.  In fact, she had been promoted to assistant 
manager in a surprisingly short time because of her intelligence and 
determination.

She looked at her watch.  It was 9:50 in the evening.  A little over two 
hours to go before they closed at midnight.  Although she was supposed to 
have gotten off work at eight today, the other assistant manager had called 
in sick and Shelley had to cover for him.

Mark, the only one of her coworkers who was still there, walked by and 
smiled shyly at her.  She smiled back as he passed.  Shelley knew that Mark
had a crush on her.  It was not difficult to see why.  Shelley was a very 
fit and athletic young lady with a deep, sexy tan.  At 5'5" and 132 pounds,
she was not particularly big, but her body was firm and well-muscled.  Her 
dark brown eyes added to the beauty of her already pretty face, and her long 
dark brown hair provided additional appeal.

For her part, Shelley was quite fond of Mark.  He was 18 years old and a 
senior in high school.  He worked at McDonald's to help supplement his 
single mother's income, so his situation was not that different from her own.  
Also, although he was attracted to her, he was always respectful, unlike some 
of her other coworkers who whispered sexual comments about her when they 
thought she wasn't listening, or some of the customers who ogled and whistled 
at her.  Plus, he was kind of cute.  Mark tended to be rather shy around her, 
not only because of his quiet personality, but also because she was his boss
and he was a little intimidated.

Just down the street, a red Mercedes cruised slowly along. "All right," said
the man in the passenger seat. "So what's this brilliant idea of yours for an
easy wad of cash?"

The driver of the vehicle grinned and pointed to the McDonald's on the 
corner.  Seeing the doubtful look on his friend's face, he said, "I read in
this book that fast-food restaurants have a lot more money in 'em than 
liquor stores, with very little security.  I also read that if you go there
late at night, there's usually just an assistant manager and one or two 
other employees there.  This'll be a piece of cake." He casually patted the
gun in his pocket.

Back in the restaurant, Mark's voice called out to Shelley. "You want me to 
lock the doors?" he asked.  Although the drive-through was open until 
midnight, the restaurant itself closed at ten.

"No, that's all right," she replied. "I'll take care of it." As she was 
about to step out from behind the counter, she saw the red Mercedes pull 
into the parking lot.  Two men got out and entered the restaurant.  They 
were both big men, husky and a little over six feet tall.  The man in the
lead looked to be in his late twenties, while his companion looked about 
five years younger.

"The dining room's closing in a few minutes," said Shelley. "I can only take
a to go order."

"That's fine," said the first man.  An evil grin appeared on his face as he
reached into his pocket and pulled out his gun, pointing it at Shelley. "How
about an order of all the money in the cash registers, to go?" Both men 
snickered loudly.  Mark, who had just appeared from the back, stopped and
stared in shock when he saw what was going on. "Don't move, little punk,"
snarled the man with the gun.

Shelley groaned to herself, wishing that she had her own gun with her.  The
boss, however, forbade the employees from having guns on the job.  The older
robber growled at her threateningly.  With a sigh, she opened first one cash 
register and then the other.  The younger man took out a bag and began 
filling it with the money, while his comrade continued pointing his gun at
Shelley.

"You were right," said the younger robber to his friend. "There's at least a 
thousand dollars here."

"What did I tell you?" grinned the older man. "We should do more of these.
That liquor store we did last month, we got only what, 75 bucks from it? 
Fast-food places are where it's at." As she listened to the thugs casually
talk of crime, she took a closer look at them and became even angrier than
she already was.  Both men were wearing $100 brand-name sweatshirts and $150
sneakers.  These guys had expensive clothes and a fancy red Mercedes.  They
didn't even need the money, and yet here they were, robbing the place. When
she thought about her own financial situation, she became even more pissed
off.

The man with the bag finished emptying the registers.  Then the man with the
gun spoke. "All right, both of you, into the back," he said.

Shelley froze.  She had read stories in the newspapers about robbers who
herded restaurant employees into the back and then executed them in cold
blood.  She also remembered something she had seen on a "crime prevention" 
TV show. "Never let the criminal take you someplace isolated. That's a sure
sign of danger," they had said.  She would have to fight the thugs.  Giving
thanks that her father had insisted she take self-defense classes, she 
looked for the moment to strike.

If she was going to do something, she had to do it soon.  Mark was already
slowly making his way towards the back, spurred on by the angry threats of
the man with the gun.  Both robbers moved behind the counter, over to their
intended victims.  The older one approached Shelley. "Get moving, girlie,"
he said, pointing the gun right at her chest.

A grunt and a growl were heard.  Mark had stopped walking and the younger
robber was giving him a shove.  The other thug turned to look when he heard
the noises, briefly turning away from Shelley. That was all the opportunity
she needed.

With a loud but feminine warrior cry, she kicked the gun out of the thug's
hand, sending the weapon sailing over the counter and across the room.
Before he could react, she delivered a quick one-two combination of punches
into his face and then roundhouse kicked him, sending him to the floor.

Mark, although small and shy, reacted with courage and initiative.  When he
saw Shelley launch her attack, he launched one of his own, punching the 
other robber right in the face.  Unfortunately, his punch didn't do much
damage to his larger and stronger opponent. The thug gave Mark a hard shove,
then grinned evilly and pulled out a knife.

Shelley, seeing what was happening, placed herself between Mark and the
knife-wielding criminal. "You want to pick on someone, punk? Then pick on 
me," she growled. The robber willingly obliged. Approaching her, he slashed
wildly at her with his knife.  She dodged out of the way and knocked him 
back with a kick to the chest.  He grunted, then charged directly at her 
with the knife raised.  At the last second, Shelley sidestepped the charge
and smashed her elbow into the side of her opponent's head. She then kicked
the knife out of his hand as he was groaning and stumbling from the impact
of her powerful elbow hit.

Meanwhile, Mark, seeing the older thug starting to get up, dropped a heavy
box of frozen hamburger patties onto his head.  The robber growled in pain.
"I'll get you for that, you little twerp," he snarled.  He stuck out his
foot and tripped Mark to the ground.  They wrestled briefly, but the thug's
size and strength advantage allowed him to quickly gain control of his
opponent.  He fired several hard punches into Mark's face, knocking him
unconscious, then climbed back to his feet. His partner had by now recovered
from Shelley's attack, so she was now facing two very angry opponents.

They both charged her at once.  Shelley, who had some gymnastics training, 
as well as fighting skills, performed a fast standing back handspring, one
foot impacting each of the robbers' faces as she flipped.  While her 
opponents were briefly stunned, she shifted position so that they were 
lined up, then kicked the older thug, who was closer to her, hard in the
chest.  He was knocked backward and crashed right into his partner.  The
impact knocked the younger criminal into a wall.  He banged his head and
slowly slid to the floor.

The older robber let out an enraged roar. "What are you so mad about?"
Shelley smirked. "It's not two against one anymore, but you're still bigger
than me.  Are you such a pussy that you're afraid of a little girl?" He
snarled and began swinging punches at her, but her speed allowed her to
dodge or block all of his wild attacks.  She then counterattacked, starting
with a knee to his stomach, then a punch to his jaw, and then another punch
right into his left eye.  She was about to kick her wounded opponent when
she was suddenly tackled to the ground by the second thug, who had recovered
and snuck up on her from behind.  Cursing at herself for allowing herself to
be surprised like that, she broke free long enough to fire a brutal back 
kick from a kneeling position into the older thug's midsection, stopping his
intended attack.  

The younger criminal quickly seized her again.  As they wrestled, Shelley
managed to wrap her powerful thighs around her opponent's waist.  She 
squeezed him as hard as she could.  He began gasping and moaning in pain.
Seeing the other thug recovering, she gave one last burst of power with her
thighs, then punched the young robber in the nose.  She then got up and, for 
good measure, kicked him in the head as he lay on the floor.  

The older thug was snarling and his fists were raised, but there was also a
look of nervousness and uncertainty on his ugly face. "What's the matter,
asshole? Is a little girl like me too much for two big ugly fucks to handle?"
Shelley taunted.

"You'll pay for that, bitch!" her opponent roared.  He swung a punch at her
pretty face, but she blocked it with her thick forearm, then socked him in
the gut.  He growled, then fired a kick at her, which she dodged.  A second
kick, however, caught her in the side.  The thug then punched her hard in 
the jaw and followed that up by grabbing her and tossing her into a pile of
boxes.  Shelley stumbled to her feet dizzily. Her opponent, grinning evilly,
sauntered up to her and grabbed her by the throat. "How did you like the
lesson, girlie?" he snickered.

Shelley, although she was choking, didn't panic.  With all her strength, she
smashed her knee right into her opponent's groin.  He howled in pain and
released her neck, clutching his wounded family jewels.  She then headbutted
him, knocking him backwards. "My turn to teach," she growled.

"Lesson number one," she said.  She delivered a powerful high kick to the 
thug's face, knocking him back and into a wall.  Hearing a noise behind her,
she performed a beautiful spin kick that smashed right into the head of the
younger robber, who had gotten up and was trying to sneak up on her again.
"Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me," she told him as he
fell to the floor from the force of her dangerous kick.  She kicked him a
couple of times while he was down, then bent over him and delivered her
strongest punch right into his jaw, knocking him out.

Shelley turned her attention back to the older thug. "Lesson number two," 
she announced.  As he charged her, she kicked out in front of her, causing
him to run right into her outstretched leg.  She then performed a front flip
kick, her feet brutally smashing into her opponent's head one after the 
other.  Landing perfectly on her feet, she fired a powerful barrage of
punches into his face and chest, then balanced on her right leg and launched
several vicious high kicks to his head with her left. When she was finished,
the robber was bleeding in several places, his face was horribly bruised, 
and he was swaying on his feet, barely conscious.

"School's out," said Shelley.  With that, she performed a powerful backflip
kick.  There was a loud THWACK as her kick impacted the thug, followed by a
loud THUD as he fell to the floor, knocked out cold.  As she made a graceful
landing, she heard a noise behind her.  Whirling around, she saw that Mark
was regaining consciousness.  She hurried over to him. "Are you okay?" she
asked.

Mark rubbed his head, then nodded. "I'll be all right," he said.  He looked
around and saw the two would-be robbers lying unconscious in undignified
positions on the floor.  He then looked at Shelley, who seemed all right
except for a few bruises and her messed-up hair. "Wow," he said.  Shelley
smiled and blushed, then gave him a kiss on the cheek, which made it his
turn to blush.

Mark called the police, while Shelley gathered up the gun and the knife that
the thugs had used.  The criminals, who had both regained consciousness by
the time the police arrived, snarled angrily as they were handcuffed and 
led away.  Shelley modestly told the cops that she and Mark had defeated the
robbers together.  After they had finished giving their statements, they
closed the restaurant early.

As Mark walked out to his car, Shelley called out to him. "Would you like to
come home with me tonight? My roommate's away for the night," she said.  She
added, "I thought you might feel safer with me."

Mark smiled shyly. "I'd always feel safe next to you," he said.  He climbed
into the passenger seat of Shelley's car.  The two of them then drove off
into the night.

THE END

NOTE: Yes, some of the quotes are borrowed from a Chuck Norris movie.  It
was cheesy, but still fun. :-)

silverstar222b@yahoo.com