Chapter 1

Authors Note: Nemesis was the Greek goddess of Retribution.

Shauna was not normally so stupid as to walk through these streets at this time of night, but she had been forced to work late dancing at her stripper job, and she was in a great hurry to get home. Her two daughters were being watched by Grandma, but Shauna hated to put such a burden on her mother. If only she could get home soon, all would be right with her world. She was carrying almost $450 in tips—that was why she had stayed late. Such bounty was rare in her life, and the rent was due. Well, she had enough for this month, just barely, and next month would just have to take care of itself.

Suddenly, from the shadow of an alley, an arm shot out and grabbed Shauna by the upper arm and snatched her into the darkness. Someone else grabbed her from the other side, and the two assaulters pulled her deeper into the alley. They dragged her around to the back of a building where a dim light bulb gave off just enough light that forms could barely be made out. In that dim light, Shauna's chocolate skin made her almost invisible.

Unfortunately for Shauna, almost invisible was not good enough. A third person grabbed her purse and dumped it on the ground. Her money was in a roll held tightly by a rubber band, so it was easy to see as it rolled along the pavement. "Dammit, Bros, look what the Bitch had on her!"

"Hurry up, Sharpy, I got a hard on that would sink a battleship."

"Take it easy, Squeaky; I ain't finished with her purse, yet."

"Well, Fish and me ain't gonna wait fer you. Fish, you hold her while I cut her clothes off."

A commanding female voice was suddenly heard coming from just outside the ring of light from the miniscule bulb. "Boys, you have trespassed on my territory, and Nemesis doesn't allow that! Turn the poor girl loose and return her money and other stuff if you want to live. I have very little patience with scum like you, so get with it!"

Nothing could be seen of the person doing the talking, but she had the cultured voice and tones of an educated White woman. Unfortunately for them, that was not going to scare the 19^th Street Blasters. Well, they would live long enough to regret that!

"White Bitch, come out where we can see you, and you'll get your cunt reamed."

"Now, now, boys, I take that as a rejection, and I have never reacted well to rejection." A figure seemed to explode from the edge of light. Sharpy happened to be the closest of the three gang-bangers, and he was the first one to feel the wrath of Nemesis. In this case, he was speared in the left kidney by a "stick." It was a hardwood dowel 24 inches long and one inch in diameter. The blow was strong enough to rupture the kidney, though he did not know that—all Sharpy knew was that he had a monster pain in his back.

The force of the blow spun Sharpy around, and, when he was in the ideal position, he was hit in the solar plexus with the end of the stick. That knocked out what little breath the thug had left, and he fell to the ground, wracked with pain and unable to breathe. Nemesis had other fish to fry, so she kicked Sharpy in the throat with her heel and crushed his windpipe. He was never going to catch his breath, now!

Nemesis did not pause, but went after Squeaky next. Two quick slaps on the upper arms with the stick broke both of them and left him helpless as he dropped his knife. A quick jab to the crotch with the stick was enough to rupture his bladder and make him fall to the ground. Two sharp taps on his knees shattered them both, and Fish was the only one left of the trio.

He had seen what had happened to his companions and began to gibber and drool in fright. Unfortunately for him, Fish was holding on to Shauna's upper arms with a grip that was going to leave bruises visible on even her dark skin. Fish was tall and Shauna was sagging in his grip, so his entire face was open to Nemesis's attack. She jabbed him in the nose with her stick and shoved it back into his brain. That was enough to kill him, and Nemesis thought Note to self: go easy on the nose jabs. They are too easily killing blows. This twerp didn't suffer enough, dammit!

Fish collapsed and pulled Shauna down on top of him. Shauna was also frightened, but she felt a little better now that she was rescued from these thugs who obviously had robbery and rape in mind, if not murder. Nevertheless, Shauna couldn't seem to move, and it was Nemesis who gathered up her things and returned them to her purse.

That done, Nemesis shook Shauna by the shoulder to get her attention. That was when Shauna took a good look at her rescuer. All she could see was a complete body suit and hood of a dull black color. There was nothing glossy anywhere to reflect light. The only openings in the outfit were two eye-holes. The mesh of the weave of the suit was open enough for breathing, hearing, and talking; therefore, no other holes were necessary, or, at least, not obvious.

Nemesis said, "Girl! Girl! Get hold of yourself! You are OK, now. Here's your purse. Now go home and stay out of these streets at night. You ought to know better."

"I ... I do know better. I just need to get home to my kids."

"OK, I'll keep an eye on you until you get to a better neighborhood. Now, get going. I still have a lot of work to do, tonight."

"Thank you for rescuing me. What's your name. I'm Shauna Wilson."

"I call myself Nemesis. Now get going, dammit!"

"Yes, Ma'am, I'm going!" Shauna scurried out to the street and practically ran home, which was only two blocks away. Telling her to stay out of this rundown neighborhood was an exercise in futility.

Nemesis trailed her from a safe distance until Shauna entered her building. "That girl is tougher than most, but she sure better learn where it's safe to walk!"

Nemesis jumped for the bottom rung of a fire escape and climbed to the roof. She was patrolling this neighborhood of the city tonight, but she did not often get around here, so there were a lot of muggings and rapes that went on when she was not around. Since the muggers and rapists did not know that Nemesis was patrolling this area, she was getting a lot of business. As was her usual practice, she did not call 911 for the most recent trio she had encountered. Two were dead already, and, one was headed in that direction. She wanted him dead, so she was not going to call for help for him. She did leave her signature calling card where the cops and newshounds could find it so that no one else would be blamed for the murders.

She was running along the edge of a roof as she looked for more prey. She did not care if she was spotted, so she stayed close enough to the edge of the roof so that she could see down into the streets and alleys. Ah, there was another rape just ahead. It was certain that she was too late to prevent any rapes, but she could prevent some, and she could punish the rapists, all four of them.

Two men were holding an Asian woman to the ground while one was raping her, and another was closing up his pants. Nemesis was three stories up at this time, so she could not get down to attack with her stick, so she resorted to her gun. She had a custom modified Glock G22 in .40 caliber. The weapon was modified to have a laser sight set for 10 meters, and a special folding stock that could be used to fit Nemesis's shoulder when she wanted a steadier shot.

In this case, the distance was perfect for the G22's sight, so she did not need the shoulder stock, though she did use both hands to hold the weapon. She was using a special style of hollow-point bullet, so she knew that she could shoot the rapist and the bullet would expand too much to go all the way through his body. Therefore, she could shoot him without danger to the rape victim. Nemesis had that much confidence in her shooting ability.

Nemesis's first shot was into the back of the active rapist exactly between his shoulder blades. His spinal cord was cut, and it was safe to ignore him as she turned to the other rapists. The second man shot was the one who had just finished. He was gut shot so that he would feel the maximum of pain. Nemesis's bullets were guaranteed to do so much damage that no surgeon would be able to put him back on the street.