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The Crimson Waste was no stranger to contests of strength and at a certain bar at the edge of the vast desert, a raucous crowd was cheering on the latest challenge to grace these hardened lands. At the center of the bar, Adora had her hand gripped around that of another brutish patron of the establishment, She strained and grunted, glaring into her opponents eyes. She was a tall woman with short hair and a spiked jacket, determined to be the one to best Etheria's hero.
But unfortunately for her opponent, Adora had this in the bag, as she slammed her hand down on the table, the woman groaning as she was defeated. Adora smirked and sat up, pulling her famous smug face. The woman rubbed her wrist, glaring at Adora as the crowd continued to applaud. "You got lucky, blondie! I was holding back on you!"
"Sure you were," Adora sarcastically remarked, taking a sip of her drink. "Better luck next time!"
At Adora's side, Catra grabbed the small pile of gold the woman had wagered, and pushed it into a large sack, adding to an already sizable pile of riches they'd won already that evening. Catra smirked as the biker woman left in defeat. "She was bluffing. She's not nearly as tough as she looks. But what she lacked in strength, she more than made up for in donations. Nice going, Adora."
"Heh, I feel like I could keep doing this all night," Adora bragged.
Adora and Catra have been going at this all evening, Adora welcoming all challengers to try and beat her at arm wrestling, with Catra naturally pocketing all the winnings for herself. Considering no one could ever defeat Adora, even when she wasn't She-Ra, the two of them knew they had this in the bag. Catra was the only one who honestly knew what to do with all this money they'd earned anyway. Adora was just in this for the love of the game.
"Alright, anyone wanna try and beat my girlfriend next?" Catra called out, before adding under her breath. "And fail miserably trying."
As Adora's next opponent sat down and began to wrestle with the blonde, at a nearby table, Glimmer, Bow, Scorpia and Huntara were watching the whole thing, Glimmer and Bow naturally giving their friend encouragement
"Kick his ass, Adora!" Glimmer cheered.
"You can do it!" Bow added.
Huntara smugly folded her arms. "Blondie's impressive, I'll give her that. Even I don't even have a winning streak this long."
"Hopefully no one here is too much of a sore loser and decides to start a fight about it," Bow admitted with some concern. "They gotta be getting ticked off that Adora and Catra are basically stealing all their loot."
"Relax, kid, no one will come anywhere near Adora when I vouch for her," Huntara added. "Though it has been a while since there was a good fight in this place."
"Besides, that stolen loot is much better off with us so it can go to the orphanages near Brightmoon," Glimmer stated. "Gotta admit, this was a pretty brilliant idea of Catra's. We get to pilfer all that gold and riches right from in front of the nastiest goons in the Crimson Waste and we barely have to lift a finger except watch Adora beat them all."
"And she's doing so amazingly, might I add," Huntara chimed in. "I think Blondie's gotten stronger since the last time I saw her."
After Adora had beaten her latest opponent and Catra had naturally pocketed their winnings, another challenger approached their table. He was a large bulky Karikoni, a species of crustaceans. He had red skin and hardened scarred carapace, wearing an eyepatch over one eye. He chuckled, before sitting down, his voice sounding like a stereotypical pirate. "Aye, I'll play your little game."
"And you are?" Catra inquired.
"My buddies call me... Rockbuster," The Karikoni boasted. "Because my claws ain't for just attracting mates you see... they're strong enough to crush a boulder to pieces!" He demonstrated this by picking up a cup from the table... and crushing it in his pincer.
"Ooooh how scawy!" Catra exclaimed sarcastically. "I’m practically quaking in my boots… if I was wearing any. Unfortunately for you, crushing my girlfriend is against the rules. But the other rules are simple. You beat my Adora, you get all of our loot here. If she wins, we take your wager and your pride gets crushed."
"Heheheh, trust me, I've been arm-wrestling in these parts for years. Ain't never lost a fight yet! Heck, I even beat Huntara once! And if I beat She-Ra, well..."
"Oh, you won't beat She-Ra, that's for certain, so to give you a fair advantage, you're against little old me," Adora teased.
Rockbuster placed a large bag of gold on the table and held out his pincer. "Let's get this over with."
Adora grabbed the pincer and the match began. Rockbuster was tough, she would give him that. She strained as she pushed back against his giant claw, knowing she'd genuinely have to put all her strength into this one. But she knew in the end, Rockbuster's overconfidence would be his undoing, just like everyone she'd beaten here tonight. She smirked as she yanked his pincer upward.
"Too bad I'm gonna be breaking your streak tonight," Adora admitted. "I kinda like you."
"The only streak breaking here is yours, little girl, hahaha!" Rockbuster cackled. "And I'll be the richest man here tonight!"
"We'll see about that!"
The crowd kept chanting both Adora and Rockbuster's names, the contest being neck and neck. Catra just watched knowingly, confident Adora had this in the bag. Everyone had been consistently underestimating Adora's strength, as most people did. They always assumed that Adora was only strong when she was She-Ra, but Adora had spent many years training to be the best soldier in the Horde, working out every day and her becoming She-Ra had only enhanced her natural strength.
For a few moments, things looked tense. Adora started to strain more against Rockbuster's giant claw. He was putting on a lot more pressure that Adora had thought, but she was still determined to beat him. Sweat beaded down from her brow. For a moment, Adora almost thought about letting the man win. But then she remembered how the money she was making tonight would go to help so many orphans displaced by the war. She couldn't let them down.
Rockbuster cackled. "Can I admit something?"
"Knock yourself out, crabcake," Adora grunted.
"See, I've been here all night, watching you beat these schmucks. Gotta admit, you aren't half bad. But it's been a long night and I bet you're pretty tired by now. All the other guys. They're chumps, weaklings. But they warmed you up for me, wore you down and now, I'm gonna be the one to win and claim all that gold. After all, it's rightfully mine. I'm sure Huntara's told you all about how the strongest make the rules around here."
"Do you really love the sound of your voice that much?" Adora remarked, still straining.
Rockbuster smirked. "You should hear me recite poetry sometime."
"Well, let me tell you something... you're not even the strongest guy I've beaten. Sure I'm tired right now, but that hasn't stopped me before. Ever hear of a guy named Horde Prime?"
At that moment, Rockbuster's eyes widened in shock. And that gave Adora the opening she needed to beat the bandit fare and square. With all of her strength, she slammed the giant pincer into the table, the room echoing with the sound of a sharp crack as part of the shell around Rockbuster's claw was shattered. Rockbuster yanked his claw back, reeling in pain and letting out a painful groan, in shock that he'd actually been beaten.
"Oooooh that's gotta hurt!" Catra gloated. "Nice one, Adora!"
Rockbuster cried out in agony, two of the other patrons going to his side and nursing him towards the bar.
"Okay, that’s it for tonight, guys!" Catra called out, pushing the large bag of gold that Rockbuster had wagered into the big sack on the floor. "Thanks again!"
As the crowd dispersed, Catra sat down opposite Adora, who was rubbing her own wrist. "That certainly was satisfying. There's nothing better than watching a so-called tough guy get his ass whooped."
Adora nodded, wincing in pain a little. "Yeah, but I'm glad we called it there. Pretty sure my wrist is crying out for mercy right now."
"Oh is it now?" Catra smirked, before she put her hand on the table and held it out to Adora.
Realising that even when she was worn out, she couldn't resist her competitive side, especially when it came to Catra, Adora gently clasped Catra's hand, "Alright, but this really is my last one of the night. And I'll go easy on you."
"Fair enough, babe," Catra teased with a smug grin. On the other table, Glimmer Bow and Huntara kept watch as Adora and Catra wrestled again. Adora might have been going easy, but Catra certainly wasn't. Sure, she wasn't as strong as Adora, but her own muscular arms could hold their own easily against her girlfriend. Adora grunted, genuinely struggling for what seemed to be the first time that night. She was determined not to lose, tonight deserved to end on a perfect winning streak.
But as she opened her eyes, she saw Catra staring back at her, with those gorgeous mismatched eyes of hers. The blue and gold were almost hypnotic to her, the face of the woman she adored. Adora's heart fluttered, falling in love with Catra all over again in that moment. But unfortunately for Adora, that was what Catra was counting on as she slammed Adora's hand hard into the table.
"Oh come on!" Adora groaned. "That's not fair! I beat everyone else! You distracted me by being so... pretty!"
"Oh, Adora, I thought even after all these years, you'd know nothing's too low for me," she leaned in and kissed Adora deeply, the blonde's cheeks turning red with blush. When Catra pulled away, she threw the large sack of riches over her shoulder, claiming all of her winnings. "Better luck next time, Princess."
Still in a state of shock with her cheeks glowing red, Adora just stared as she heard the sounds of Glimmer and Bow's laughter, making her feel very embarrassed. Oh, one of these days, she would get Catra back for this.