The Jewel Thief

“Aww, not much fight, for a vigilante,” Ise mocked as she looked down at her floored opponent. Though to be fair, the masked girl did realise that a prolonged torture rack, and a long drop onto hard pavement, would knock the wind out of almost anyone.

Still, she couldnâ€t help but gloat. She crouched to look the kneeling girl right in the eyes. “Iâ€m Red Lotus,” she answered proudly. “Donâ€t mistake us for common criminals. We might live in the shadows, but that doesnâ€t mean we donâ€t have the strength to do what we want,” Irezumi patted the pouch of diamonds smugly.

“You know, you showed some skill following me here,” she complimented. “The Clan could use that… though would maybe have to fix that attitude…”

Irezumi turned her back, and cheekily slid the waistline of her costume down a couple of inches. Above the top of her butt, a red lotus was tattooed at the base of her spine.

“With a bit of work, you could have this…” she said impishly, wiggling her hips at the kneeling girl before pulling her clothes back up.

“Weâ€re not thieves!” Irezumi admonished, turning back around to face the kneeling girl. “Yes, ninja would be a much better description.”

“We have loyalty, and honour, of a sort… but we serve the strength of the clan, and weâ€ll get what we want by any means necessary,” she said proudly.

“Taking from the weak is not thievery, itâ€s just the natural way of things, an incentive for those of us who excel,” she explained. “If you serve the weak, and follow their rules, youâ€ll end up weak, yourself.”

“Frankly, Iâ€d think that was a waste of your skills… youâ€ve had ninja training too, havenâ€t you? What did you say your name was?” Irezumi inquired, trying to tease some information out of this girl while she had the upper hand.

Irezumi gave a disappointed pout as Akiko made her defiant speech.

“Your rigid morals… they would almost be cute, if they werenâ€t keeping you dumb,” she sighed. “Oh, maybe they are right… when all the wars have ended, Iâ€ll come over to your side,” she replied sarcastically.

“Seriously, Akiko, your code is admirable,” she added, a little less caustically. “But youâ€re making a vital mistake…”

She stepped up close to the kneeling girl and leaned in to whisper in her ear.

“Underneath… weâ€re all animals,” she purred. Without warning she would bring a knee up into Akikoâ€s gut, quickly and cruelly proving her point.

“Oooh,” Irezumi cooed in mock sympathy as her victim was sent sprawling onto the floor.

“Thatâ€s gotta hurt. Still, if you will hang out in dangerous back alleys…” she laughed. She turned to leave, but then had second thoughts.

“Actually, I donâ€t think Iâ€m done with you yet.”

Irezumi would bend down and grab the smaller girlâ€s feet. She would start dragging her foeâ€s body down the length of the alley, back towards where Irezumi had first descended from the roof.

The rope from her grappling hook was still dangling down the wall. Irezumi would move to wrap the end of the rope around Akiâ€s ankles, letting her hoist the smaller girl into the air and leave her hanging upside down!

Irezumi gave a mischievous cackle as she admired her handiwork - poor Aki hanging helplessly, legs tied in the grapple rope.

“Really not going to stop anyone now, are you?” she giggled, really rubbing in the shame of the smaller girlâ€s defeat.

The masked girl tilted her head sceptically to one side as Akiko swore vengeance. “You want me as an enemy? You want to make a habit of this?” she said coolly, with a hint of cruel steel in her voice.

“My clan has been known to mark its defeated foes with a black tattoo, so they remember not to mess with us,” she said ominously, reaching for her belt and walking towards Akiko.

“But youâ€re young and stupid, so Iâ€ll go easy on you for now. And you can have one of the diamonds back…”

Irezumi pulled a large diamond from the pack on her belt, and stepped up close to her dangling foe. “Just a little parting gift,” she chuckled.

The masked girl would pull Akikoâ€s top away from her waist a little, revealing the smaller girlâ€s midriff. Irezumi would then take the diamond and begin to scratch a little lotus flower into the exposed skin of her victim - not enough to draw blood or scar, but enough to make her point.