Disclaimer: See Prologue
Outlaw Star: All in the Name of Love
Chapter 4: Part 5
As Gene handed the bouncer back the key, the rather large dark-haired man commented, "Man, you go up there and back this fast again, I'm going to have to start calling you speedy." He snickered.
Gene just glared at the guy as he directed Melfina toward the bar with a gentle push to her lower back.
Reaching the bar, they spotted Jim and Aisha ordering another round of drinks.
As they approached, Jim asked. "Hey guys, where'd you disappear to?"
As Melfina blushed, Gene turned toward the bartender and ordered another drink.
Aisha grinned widely an added. "Yeah Gene, where did you go?"
Turning toward the Ctarl Ctarl, Gene replied, "It's a good thing the band didn't let you sing. With your voice, you would have emptied this place out in less then a minute."
Aisha's ire flared up in an instant. "Why you!" She snarled as she took a step toward the outlaw, her fists clinched and her fangs bared.
Jim quickly jumped in front of her, placing his hands on her waist to stop her forward progress. "Settle down Aisha. Gene was only teasing." He pleaded.
Thinking quickly, the catgirl grinned wickedly. 'Okay Gene Starwind, two can play at that game.' Turning her attention to Melfina, she said. "I guess Gene must have been a major disappointment in bed Melfina."
"WHAT!" Jim's eyes went wide, as did Melfina's. Her hands shot up over her mouth as her cheeks turned bright red. Jim stepped away from Aisha in shock as his gaze shifted from Melfina to Gene and back again.
"Next time, just me and you will go out and I'll find you a real man, not a ten second man like Gene here."
Gene slammed his drink down on the bar and snarled. "Why you!" This time it was his turn to clinch his fists and step toward Aisha.
The Ctarl Ctarl was more than ready for a fight as she raised her guard and readied herself for action. Melfina immediately jumped in between the two of them, placing a hand on Gene's chest and her other hand on Aisha's chest as well, above her breasts, near her neck. "Settle down you two." She said, trying as hard as she could to sound forceful in her small timid voice but failing miserably.
"Yeah!" Jim added, finally recovering from the shock of the idea of Gene and Melfina having sex together. "The last thing you need to do is get yourselves thrown in jail for fighting." He reasoned.
After a few moments, Aisha backed down. "Fine. You're not worth my time anyway, Gene Starwind." Saying his name as if she were spitting out something foul from her mouth.
Gene pressed against Melfina who was still standing between them and Aisha raised her guard once again. Melfina pushed back against Gene. "Fine. If the two of you need to show off your strength then do it some other way. Arm wrestling or something." The brunette said as firmly as she could.
"Yeah! I saw an arm wrestling competition some months ago, before we came here." Jim said as his excitement level skyrocketed. He turned to the bartended. "Say can I borrow a couple towels?"
Thomas looked somewhat confused but obliged the fair-haired young gentleman.
"Thanks." He replied, then he rushed over to Aisha and pushed her in the direction of a small vacant oval table. He pushed the chairs out of the way and folded one towel. Placing it near the center of the table but slightly on Aisha's side, he said. "Okay Aisha, set your elbow on top of the towel."
"Hmm?" Not sure what the boy genius had in mind since she missed seeing the tournament and had no idea what arm wrestling was.
"Just like this." Jim demonstrated, setting his elbow on the table and holding his forearm and hand perpendicular to it.
Meanwhile, Melfina had taken hold of Gene's arm and was leading him over to the table as well. "Okay Gene, set your elbow down next to Aisha's so we can make sure your arms are of equal height."
The outlaw obliged as well, and with fingers extended, his hand was still several centimeters higher than hers was. Jim folded the second towel and placed it under the catgirl's elbow to get the correct height.
"So, what's the objective of this anyway?" Gene asked.
"The objective is to pin your opponents hand onto your side of the table without lifting your elbow off the table or place any other part of your body on the table." Melfina explained.
"If your elbow comes off the table or you put another part of your body goes on the table, you lose. If your hand slips out of your opponents hand, you lose and of course if your hand gets pinned, you lose." Jim elaborated
"So let me get this straight, all I have to do to win is force Gene's hand down onto the table, like this?" Aisha brought her hand down onto the table, palm down.
"Right." Melfina nodded.
"Too easy!" Aisha grinned. "Come on Gene, let me show you what real strength is."
"Alright catgirl, you're going down." Gene clasped her hand as he snarled at her. Aisha snarled right back.
Jim placed his hands over theirs. "Okay, when I let go of your hands then the match has started and you try to pin the other's hand as fast as you can. Okay?" He looked to Aisha first, and she nodded her understanding. Then he turned to Gene and he nodded as well. "Okay, Ready, Set, Go!" Jim lifted his hand instantly and almost as fast Aisha pulled Gene's arm down to the table's surface with a thud.
"I WIN!" Aisha raised her hands over the head in triumph.
"Hey, I wasn't ready!" Gene complained.
"What do you mean you weren't ready? Jim explained it simple enough. What are you, just stupid or something?" Aisha waved her nose at Gene while her hands were on her hips.
Gene snarled, "Let's do it again." He insisted.
"Okay, but if you want to take on Aisha, it's gonna cost ya." She gave him a wicked grin.
"What do you mean?" Gene snapped.
Aisha pulled out a bill from a small hip pocket. "One hundred wong, if you win, it's yours. If I win, you give me a hundred wong."
Gene scrunched his face, giving Aisha an evil stare. "Fine!" He reached into his pocket, pulled out a wad of bills and threw down a hundred-wong bill on the table.
"Okay." Aisha smiled.
They bent over the table again and clasped hands, their faces just centimeters apart. Jim placed his hands over theirs again.
"Okay, Ready, Set, Go!"
The result was the same.
"DAMN!" Gene slammed his hand down on the table.
"One more time." He insisted.
"You want another shot, put down another hundred." She grinned.
"Okay, so if I win, I get all three hundred, right?" He raised an eyebrow at her.
"And when you lose, I keep all three hundred." She smiled.
Snarling again, Gene tossed down another hundred.
"Okay, I got it figured out now." He said with supreme confidence.
"Again, Jim placed his hands over theirs. "Okay, Ready, Set, GO!"
This time Gene got the initial advantage pulling Aisha's arm a quarter of the way down as he threw his shoulder behind his arm for extra leverage. Aisha's eyes grew large as saucers at the prospect of losing and she pulled with all her might, slamming Gene's hand to the table and sending the rest of the outlaw to the floor.
"Easiest two hundred wong I've made since being here." She smiled down at the redhead as she fanned herself with the three bills.
One of the big, broad-chested bouncers walked up to Aisha. "Excuse me ma'am." He said politely.
"Ugh, yes, ugh, can I help you?" The catgirl responded, hiding the bills behind her back, worried that she was going to be thrown out for gambling.
"Do I understand correctly. If I wager a hundred wong against you in arm wrestling and win, I get the total of your current winnings?" He asked.
"Ugh, yeah, sure." She responded uncertainly.
"Okay, here is a hundred wong. Let's get it on." He handed Aisha the bill and set his elbow on the table.
Four bouncers, three customers and a marshal's deputy later, Aisha had 12 hundred wong in her hand and showed no signs of slowing down. The band walked up to her each giving her 25 wong. She gave them a questioning stare. Then they each placed their elbows on the table right next to each other, placing their hands against each other as well. Aisha giggled and took their hands.
"Ready, Set, Go!"
All four of the lads ended up on the floor.
Through all of this, Melfina watched studiously. Observing Aisha and the way she prepared herself with each new challenger; the total concentration evident in her eyes, the way she focused on her opponent. After her earnings totaled 1700 wong, Melfina felt confident and approached Gene.
"Gene, can you lend me a hundred wong?" She asked with her palm out to receive the bill.
"Sure Melfina, what for?" He asked casually and he pulled out the wad of bills from his pocket.
"I'm going to beat Aisha." She said confidently.
The outlaw stopped from separating the bill from the wad of cash he had in his hand. "Melfina, are you sure about this? I mean, I wouldn't want to see you get hurt."
"Don't worry Gene." She smiled innocently. "I have a fool proof plan. Come on over if you want to see how I'm going to do it." She pulled the bill out from the rest and walked over to Aisha. Gene's curiosity was peeked. He pocketed his cash and followed after his girlfriend.
Aisha had just finished dispatching her latest opponent and her total was now 1900 wong when Melfina walked up to the table and set her bill down.
"Melfina? What do you think you're doing?" The Ctarl Ctarl gave her friend a questioning stare.
"Challenging you at arm wrestling Aisha." Melfina answered calmly, placing her elbow on the table.
Aisha shook her head. "Okay, if you really want to lose a hundred wong but understand, just because you're my friend doesn't mean I'm going to take it easy on you."
"Okay." Responded Melfina, giving Aisha an innocent smile.
Shaking her head again, the Ctarl Ctarl moved the towels out of the way, and leaned forward and clasped the bio-android's hand.
As before, the two opponents were just centimeters apart. As Jim placed his hands over theirs, Melfina leaned a little closer and Aisha copied her move. Now only a couple centimeters separated the two women.
"Ready…"
Melfina stared straight into Aisha's eyes, leaning forward just a little bit more.
"Set…"
Again Aisha duplicated her movements, bringing them within a breath of each other.
"Gooo…"
Melfina leaned forward again and pressed her lips against Aisha's, closing her eyes in the process. Aisha's eyes shot wide open as she jumped back.
"Melfina! What are you doing?!" She screamed.
Melfina jumped up and down, her hands raised in the air over her head in victory. "I won! I won!"
"No you didn't!" Countered Aisha.
"I'm afraid she did Aisha." Replied Jim. "You lifted your elbow and broke your hold after I said go." He added.
"Bu-But she cheated! She kissed me!" The feline protested pointing at the ecstatic brunette who was still jumping up and down.
"Well, I don't know all the rules in competitive arm wrestling but I've never heard a rule that said you can't kiss your opponent."
Melfina calmed down enough to reach for the money on the table. Aisha slammed her hand down on it, preventing her friend from taking it. "I want a re-match." The catgirl glared at her friend.
"Sorry Aisha." Melfina responded coolie. "I'm officially retired from the sport." She smiled and gave her friend a wink.
This caused the catgirl to back away again, nervously.
The small crowd that had gathered to watch Aisha couldn't help but laugh at what it finally took to defeat the proud Ctarl Ctarl.
The band, after an extended break, had taken the stage again and Aisha saw this as her way out of an embarrassing situation. "Come on Jim." She grabbed his hand and dragged him along. "Let's dance." Jim went willingly.
Melfina held the wad of bills to her face and giggled. Before she knew it, she was hoisted almost six feet into the air. Gene had grabbed her and lifted her up onto his shoulder. "To Melfina, the strongest person in the bar!" He screamed. Melfina laughed and the crowd cheered and laughed along, while Aisha fumed.
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AN: I know this is something of a detour but it seemed fun when I wrote it. Hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. ^_^
Please review this chapter and let me know how you like it so far. Still one more part to this chapter, then things start taking a very different turn.
A. Amishi