The time was the early twenty-first century. A lone figure made her way through the night in search of her target. She walked endlessly through the city streets in search of a certain dance club on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. She had been hired to locate and retrieve a young woman who held a great deal of apparent importance to her employers in the faction seeking to wrest control of their section of the country and curtail the anarchy that had broken out in the wake of the Y2K disaster. Their reasons were unknown, but she had been promised an exorbitant amount of cash for the delivery of this woman, and she was the finest bounty hunter she knew. Her target was a formidable opponent herself, as she had heard. It would be an interesting night, to say the least. However, she guaranteed that as sure as her name was Barb Wire, she'd see the job through with no problems ... so she thought.

Barb entered the seedy bar, calmly looking over what she witnessed inside. Aggressive techno blared deafeningly over the speakers in the vast hall as exotic dancers writhed sensually to the music. The patrons had a certain free, uninhibited sense to them that seemed quite normal for this day and age. Resolving to blend in with her surroundings as well as she could, which wouldn't seem too hard, Barb sat down at the far end of the bar, the overhead lights reflecting off her black catsuit, ordering something to drink.

It wasn't long before Barb spotted her target across the nightclub. Suddenly, catching movement out of the corner of her eye, she turned behold another woman, apparently the same height as herself, with dark brown hair and wearing black leather pants and a tight-fitting matching T-shirt. As they made eye contact with one another across the bar, Barb realized this stranger at the other end of the bar appeared to fit her description perfectly.

Before Barb could make a move, the woman had already picked up a heavy motorcycle jacket from the chair she sat on and strolled casually across the length of the bar, heading directly toward Barb. As she came closer, Barb became convinced that this was in fact the woman she had been hired to seek out. Her given code name, she had been summarily instructed by her employers, was Dark Angel, although she had not been given any additional information as to her identity or her importance.

It didn't matter to Barb. She had an obligation to fulfill and that was the end of it, she resolved as the woman drew closer still. Traversing the distance between them, she approached Barb easily, with the utmost inner calm and dignity that spoke of a subtle sensuality that rivaled her own overt appeal. For some reason, this quality of hers seemed to make Barb uneasy as the Angel sidled up to her, addressing her with a low, even voice.

"I assume you're the one who's been hired to take me in?" was all she said, in a manner that suggested she already knew the answer.

Dark Angel was staring directly into Barb's eyes as she asked the question, which sounded much more like a statement than anything else. Her expression somehow allowing no room for further deception on her part. In that moment, she knew there was no sense in mincing words with the woman. Upon first sight, Barb had instantly been made; apparently her intended target was at least as resourceful as Barb was herself. Finally, she elected to reveal her intentions without putting into action the cover story she had planned out before her arrival here.

"I am. Obviously you've been doing your homework. Not that it matters, because I think you and I both know how this meeting of ours is going to turn out. Why not make it easy for yourself; we wouldn't want to create a scene in this respectable establishment, would we?" she continued threateningly, her face hardening in an attempt to intimidate the Angel.

The attempt ultimately proved fruitless. Dark Angel simply raised her eyebrows at Barb, leaning casually against the bar with that unnerving relaxed sensuality.

"Well, Barbie Doll," the Angel returned cheerfully enough, clearly unimpressed by Barb's in your face, imposing attitude. "I have known you've been on the lookout for me for quite some time now, ever since your friends paid you the hefty bounty to come around this city looking for me. I assume you know whom I mean, by the way?"

She smiled slightly, enjoying the reaction her friendly sounding comments elicited on Barb's face.

"I have some friends of my own around this city, and let's just say we help one another out whenever the need arises. And considering the people you're working for, I can imagine that you yourself are a woman who cares little for scruples, just as long as you get the job done."

"It doesn't matter to me in the slightest," Barb asserted harshly, seeking to gain an advantage in this stalemate between them. Becoming increasingly angered at the Angel's mocking attitude, Barb went on, "I have a job to do, and I'm going to see it through to the end. I'm taking you with me, one way or the other."

In response, Dark Angel's face hardened, her eyes narrowing.

"You should know, the only way you're taking me with you is if you drape my unconscious body over your shoulder," Angel admonished, accenting her statement with a sudden change in tone of voice and body language that suggested in no uncertain terms she clearly meant what she said.

"If that's the way you prefer it!" Barb suddenly exploded, moving forward and reaching out as if to grab the woman.

Before she knew what was happening, however, the Angel had seized hold of her arms, spinning her around in one fluid movement and slamming her forehead into the bar with a resounding thud. The blow had not been intended to knock Barb out, but nonetheless had dazed her for just enough time to allow the Angel to escape, if that was her intention. Incredibly, when she had cleared the cobwebs from her head, Barb saw Dark Angel was still standing in front of her, now glaring at Barb openly, all humor now completely absent from her face...

Barb glared back at the Angel, steeling herself to make another lunge for the woman, when all of a sudden from behind the bar a tall, stocky man approached them menacingly.

"HEY!" he thundered. "No fighting out in the open! If you two want to rip each other apart, go to the cage and do it!"

With that, he motioned toward a steel cage in the back of the nightclub, where a substantial crowd was gathered, watching a fight that was on the verge of ending between two other women at this moment. That area was apparently where the patrons of this bar settled their petty differences, but, Barb decided, the differences between herself and the Angel were much more important.

Looking back at Dark Angel with an heatedly quizzical expression, Barb saw the Dark Angel glancing toward the structure. Turning back to Angel with a companionable shrug Barb said, "If you'd like to give everyone here a show, sure, why not."

"After you, Barbie Doll," the Angel continued sarcastically.

Shortly, they entered the steel cage soon after the two bruised, battered and bloodied women had exited, one of them almost too far gone to walk. Barb was barely able to contain her rising anger at the mocking attitude of the woman as Dark Angel followed her inside and the door to the cage was slammed shut behind them. She slowly surveyed the interior of the cage around her as she walked it's length. It was bare and completely devoid of weapons. So they would be fighting hand to hand. It was just as well, she decided as she turned to see her opponent to be standing tall at the other end of the cage; she terribly wanted to wipe that smug look from the Angel's face.

"Okay, Barbie, ready to start playing?" Dark Angel asked her almost mischievously as outside the cage another crowd was gathering, eager to witness another catfight.

Barb was so plainly incensed at this point that all she could do was intone, "Not quite yet," as a sudden idea struck her.

Seeking an early advantage in this contest before it started, she proceeded to peel off her catsuit, exposing nothing but a black G-string underneath. She had elected to remove her clothing with the expectation that her actions would garner enough moral support from the onlookers so that psychologically it would prove to work in her favor. She stood there in the cage amid the noises coming from the crowd outside, staring at Dark Angel hard with a piercing expression.

As for the Dark Angel, she had appeared to take no notice whatsoever either in her enemy's display or the reaction she had garnered from the audience outside. Summoning the inner quality of seductiveness she had showed Barb back at the bar, she opted to remove her own clothing in a playful, seductive striptease, peeling off each piece one by one, deciding to go Barb one better. She slowly, sensually, removed her black panties, standing naked at the other end of the cage, waiting expectantly as other members of their audience howled their approval at the sexiness she displayed and the natural allure of her own body.

Staring back at Barb, she came toward her, moving close enough so that their equal height was apparent to all. They stood there face to face, their breasts touching slightly.

"I'm sorry, you'll have to clarify something for me. Was this supposed to be a fight or a striptease contest?" the Dark Angel asked sarcastically.

Her features hardening, Barb moved slightly forward, pushing back at the Angel with her own chest, slightly harder, "Oh, this is going to be a fight all right, you can be sure of that."

With that she reflexively slugged the Angel as hard as she could across the face. Her cheek stinging, Angel snarled and quickly returned the favor, balling her hand into a fist and driving it into Barb's face. The blow caught the blonde directly in the mouth as the Angel followed this up with a fierce roundhouse kick straight to Barb's gut. Barb could feel the impact of Angel's fist and the devastating force of the kick. Without warning, the two women proceeded to hammer one another with vicious blows, rained with closed hands upon their faces, chests and stomachs. Coming together, they grabbed double handfuls of the other's hair and stumbled around the ring, the harsh blows now being delivered with kicks and knees to their stomachs and groins that thumped and reverberated bluntly within the closed space of the cage.

Barb suddenly whipped the Angel around as if to throw her hard into a corner. The dark haired woman reversed the motion at the last instant, hurling her blonde opponent headfirst into the steel bars of the cage. The force of the impact dazed Barb, but she was somehow able to regain her equilibrium as she saw the Angel rushing forward, heading straight towards her. When she was within range, Barb grasped the bars behind her, lifting her legs and slamming them tightly around the Angel's neck, locking her ankles together, gritting her teeth in concentration and exerting fierce pressure.

The Angel's pretty face was contorted in agony, her own teeth clenched as Barb's thighs bulged in their constriction around her throat. The dark haired woman hammered her fists into the soft flesh of the blonde's thighs in an effort to loosen them. Finally, Angel reached behind her, slamming her fists into Barb's inner thighs; hammering the soft areas until Barb was forced to release the hold. She dropped to the floor of the cage as the dark haired woman stepped up and shoved the blonde backward. Barb grabbed her wrists at the last instant, yanking Angel with her as she fell backward. Crashing to the bottom of the cage, with Angel landing on top, they rolled and thrashed around, each seeking an opening to exploit as the crowd outside roared in approval, cheering on their favorite combatant.

They ended up standing in the center of the cage; Angel coiled her arms around Barb's waist from behind, yelling in the blonde's ear at the top of her lungs as she squeezed powerfully. She is rather strong, Barb thought to herself as the breath was forced from her lungs by the unexpectedly powerful grip. Well, two can play at this game, she decided as Angel stood up. Ramming the back of her head into Barb's forehead, Angel managed somehow to turn around in the excruciating bearhug, wrapping her powerful arms around Angel's slender waist and did some crushing of her own. Barb's muscles bulged rigidly as she crushed Angel's waist. The Angel's face contorted in pain as she in turn redoubled her own efforts, tightening her arms further around Barb's midriff. Their bare legs brushed together as both women writhed sensually to break free of the other's devastating embrace.

"Why don't you concede the fight now and save yourself a lot of unnecessary pain?!" Barb demanded as she constricted her arms tighter still around the Angel's midsection.

"Don't count on it," the Angel snapped back defiantly. "It's still early in the game, I'm just getting started!"

Locked in their mutual grip, the combatants stumbled around the cage, seeking to outcrush the other, their movements growing more violent with each passing second. Then, quite unexpectedly, the Angel reared her head back, slamming her forehead viciously into Barb's nose. At that moment, she released the bearhug, lashing out with a kick that knocked the blonde's legs out from under her. Barb collided face first down onto the floor as the Angel straddled her, coiling an arm around Barb's neck and securing it behind her other wrist. Pulling upward then, the Angel exerted fierce pressure around her opponent's throat, wrapping her legs around the blonde's midriff to restrict her movement.

In spite of herself, Barb uttered a startled, choked cry as she felt the Angel's arms constricting her windpipe and her deceptively soft thighs crushing her sides with surprising strength. Barb bucked and thrashed wildly to free herself as the Angel held her. The dark haired woman finally released her hold around Barb's neck, letting her drop to the floor of the cage on her back. As Barb's face registered the pain of the impact, the Angel slid her legs around her foe's neck, leaning back on her hands and applying a tight figure-four scissors lock.

"You know, Barbie," Angel taunted, "I'm actually enjoying fighting you woman-to-woman!"

"Not as much as I will be!" Barb yelled back defiantly, holding back choked cries as she again began to buck and squirm earnestly to break free.

Barb's fists and fingernails punished the Angel's unmercifully constricting thighs, trying to force them apart. In response, Angel constricted her legs tighter, almost as if trying to squeeze her adversary into passing out. Her head suddenly whipped backward; she screamed piercingly as Barb's teeth sank deep into her soft inner thigh. For additional impetus, the blonde balled her hands into fists, slamming them with brute force into the dark haired woman's groin area, over and over again. Barb continued this until Angel eventually released the hold around her neck.

Crawling away while shaking the cobwebs from their heads, both women slowly regained their feet and charged each other once again, meeting with a loud clash in the center of the cage. Angel again coiled her arms around Barb's waist, yelling at the top of her lungs as she lifted Barb off the canvas and squeezed powerfully. She wrapped her own powerful arms again around Angel's slender waist in desperate retaliation, her muscles bulging. Angel threw her head back, her face contorting in pain again as she in turn tightened her arms around Barb's midriff. Both women struggled and writhed once again to break free of the other amid the crowd's cries of, "Squeeze the bitch!" and "Make the cunt squirm!"