[This story is set in Paragon City, taken from the MMO game City of Heroes. All place names, hero names and registered trademarks belong to their rightful legal owners and are not intended as copyright infringement in any way. This work is purely meant as a piece of entertainment, and not for commercial purposes in any way, shape or form.]
And they began...
Every muscle on their exposed torsos, even on their legs, jumped into stark relief as their exertion commenced. Arm wrestling was not a mere matter of the arms, but of the whole body. Both were on their knees, and so their leg strength had to be used to stabilize themselves. Their trunks flexed to provide the thrust. The most visible sign of their contest, however, remained the biceps.
And what a pair of biceps! Barbara's and Valerie's arms were each ideal examples of female muscular development, in different ways. Both Elena and Cindy felt their breath catch in their throats, as they looked on avidly at this long-awaited contest between their mothers.
For Elena, her mother was clearly the underdog. She had grown up knowing the truth: that her mom was only trying to make her own way in a world that thought nothing of mistreating the weak. The comfortable middle-class hypocrites like Battler Babe and her blonde daughter, with their cushy lives and comfortable homes – what did they know? What did they know of the struggles that women on the street had to go through? Elena knew her birth itself was a miracle of love – Valerie had been made pregnant, then abandoned, by a police officer, a sergeant in the PPD. Instead of having an abortion, she had chosen to bring Elena into the world. What did big poofy overfed women like Barbara – Bimbo Babe – and her meaty bitch of a daughter Cindy know about life like that?
So here was a chance for vindication. They had pulled strings with their mysterious associates to carry out this staged act of revenge. They'd planned carefully. They'd risked everything on a throw of the dice, when Valerie had exposed herself to the yet-untested mutagen. Now, they would see the fruit of their labour. Vicious Vixen would defeat and destroy Battler Babe one on one, in front of Cindy, dashing the young girl's pristine image of her mother forever. She herself would get Cindy as her personal plaything. Oh yes, the fruit of their labour. It would be sweet, and delicious.
"Come on, Mom! Beat her!" she cried out. "Crush her!"
Cindy was not remiss with the cheering. "Come on, Mom! Show them your power! You're the bigger one – take her down!" Mom was on the side of right – she couldn't lose!
Neither of the women locked in their literal trial of arms had managed to gain any advantage – they were still at dead even, half a minute into the match. But neither woman was exerting her all – each had the same thought: to probe and test the other's strength first before committing.
"She's strong alright," Barbara thought to herself. "She really has super strength now, thanks to that mutagen formula – why, Steve? Did you really want to make her as strong as... or stronger than... me?"
"The cow still has some life in her yet," Valerie thought resentfully. "It feels as if we're almost even... but I know I've got the edge!"
Taking a deep breath, she grunted as she turned her force up a notch. Her already-flexed muscles bulged even more, and her arm muscles bunched up even more tightly, as she went on the attack. The small surge gained her a slight advantage momentarily.
"Hhhhssssss..." Barbara let air hiss out between her pressed lips as she rallied to absorb Valerie's sudden surge. Managing to quickly halt Valerie's progress, Barbara gathered her own strength and flexed her arm hard in an attack of her own. Their hands wavered, and shifted over a few inches to the other side, giving her the advantage now. Cindy smiled – Mom was winning!
But it was far too soon to tell. Valerie halted Barbara's progress too, her face still maintaining a mask of dark resolve and composure. Only the slight trembling of her jaw and the pulsing of her neck muscles gave a hint of the effort she was putting forth. Again, she put forth a surge, gaining a slight advantage once more. The corners of her lips turned up slightly.
Barbara struggled to maintain the same mask of equanimity on her face – no way would she let herself be shown up! Especially not with dear, dear Cindy watching... she wanted her daughter to see her mother triumph conclusively and confidently over this particular wrongdoer. But Valerie was strong, damn it... Barbara flexed hard, and yet again pulled their hands over to her side – Cindy's side. If Valerie lost, her hand would come down right in front of Cindy, which would be very gratifying indeed. She hunkered down and marshalled her strength, aiming to making that happen.
Beads of sweat had already formed on both women's bodies, and now were trickling down in rivulets, travelling down their ridges of defined muscle, making their skin gleam in the dim interior of the warehouse. Their foreheads too were beaded, as were their upper lips and cheeks. Trading surges, they took turns to go on the attack. Their hands wavered back and forth. It seemed that they really were even, after a full minute had passed in this way.
But gradually something could be discerned, if one watched as avidly and as alertly as Elena and Cindy did. Almost imperceptibly, Barbara was taking longer and longer to rally her strength and pull back for an advantage. By very, very small degrees, Valerie was finding it easier and easier to gain the upper hand in each exchange.
And after almost ninety seconds of this gruelling match had passed, Cindy's eyes widened with concern, Elena's with pleasure. The balance was shifting – Barbara could no longer pull Valerie over the top, and her hand was going noticeably lower than before now! Slowly but surely, Battler Babe's arm was being outmuscled by Vicious Vixen's!
"This... can't be!" Barbara thought frantically. Her arm trembled as she tried to hold off Valerie, who had gained a noticeable advantage by now and worryingly was maintaining it. "Can't... give up... have to win this..."
Both women were now trembling slightly all over with the force of their exertion. Moans and grunts escaped their lips, tightly pressed together, involuntarily. They still held gazes, but their eyes kept flickering down to the sight of their clasped hands, and each other's bare, sweat-streaked chests. In Valerie's eyes, though, there was a growing look of triumph.
"What's the matter, Battler Babe? Getting tired?" she said softly, sounding a little strained, but still controlled. "This little contest getting too much for you?"
"I'm just getting started," Barbara grunted in reply, sounding audibly more strained than her opponent. She didn't want to admit it to herself – but she was already getting a little bit out of breath! She was still recovering from the fatigue incurred during her journey here on foot, running and leaping without pause or rest.
Suddenly, she groaned – Valerie had just wrenched on her arm, and gained significant space. Now her arm was bent about a third of the way down, towards Elena. Their clasped hands trembled and shook in front of Elena's glinting eyes.
"No... no! Could it really be...? No!" Cindy tried not to let her anxiety show, but she fretted at what she was seeing. How could this hateful bitch be having the upper hand?
"Just focus, Mom!" she said, trying to sound encouraging. "You can do this! Focus! Pull!"
