Have we met before?

Competition day

'Well this is a lot more people than I expected.' Adora couldn't help but feel amazed as she looked around the packed arena, it was buzzing with high schoolers from all different schools. "So, remind me how this works?" Adora leaned over to Glimmer, shooting her a nervous glance.
Glimmer groaned dramatically, tearing her excited eyes away from the fenced off pit of the arena that still remained empty from teams. "Each school builds a robot, there eight total schools that enter and after every competition a school gets eliminated. It starts with testing the robots' speed with a race, strength with a lifting competition, and then finally durability in an all out robot fight." Glimmer was basically vibrating in her seat now, eyes shining with fire as she explained the rules to her foster sister. "How well your robot does in each competition gets you a set amount of points, the one with the lowest point gets eliminated and that school is out for the year." Adora nodded as Glimmer concluded and turned her head back to the empty pit, buzzing with excitement as the games loomed ever closer.
"So what if a robot breaks in the battle?" Adora questioned softly, remembering how small their team's robot was compared to the other's she got glances of on the way in. 'There's no way something so small could stand up to those things..'
"Well it'll lose the team a ton of points, but as long as they did well in the first games they still have a chance to stay in it." Adora nodded slowly in understanding, turning her own eyes to the empty seats next to her. 'Catra and Scorpia better hurry, it'll start soon.' The pair had almost instantly disappeared when they had sat down, Catra had been acting odd since they had left the house and Scorpia seemed like she had been trying to cover for her friend. Adora hadn't pushed but they had been gone so long she was starting to worry, anxiously bouncing her foot as she checked her phone for any message from Catra. Nothing. She sighed as she turned her attention back on her excited foster sister, who was doing her best to contain her cheering until the completion actually started but Adora could tell she was about to explode from keeping it in.
"Folks, we will begin shortly! Grab your last snacks and let's get ready to rumble!" A loud voice boomed over the speaker, causing an uproar of approval from the teenagers that now seemed to be making bee lines for their seats.
"Hey hey sorry we took so long! Long bathroom line!" Scorpia grinned sheepishly as her and Catra reappeared, the smaller girl's eyes averted to the ground while Scorpia nervously played with her tuft of white hair. Adora and Glimmer stared at the two, unconvinced of the reasoning, but didn't push.
"Whatever, sit down it's about to start!" Glimmer commanded excitedly, Scorpia nodded happily complying by plopping down into the seat between Adora and Glimmer while Catra took the seat on the end next to Adora. Catra was still silent, mismatched eyes looking anywhere earning a worried glance from Adora.
It felt awkward and tense, Adora couldn't understand why. 'What happened? Everything was good again.' The blonde resisted the urge to outwardly whine, instead playfully hooking a finger through Catra's choker and giving a small tug to get her attention. The other girl's head instantly shot up, eyes narrowed as a blush crept over her cheeks and for a moment she was worried she had upset her friend.
"Hey Catra." She finally choked out, not nearly purring it as sweetly as Catra would've but it had the desired effect making Catra grin a little. 'There's my girl.' Adora thought happily, a bit of the tension fading from the air. Glimmer's scream of excitement quickly broke the moment and the two girl's snapped their heads around to see that the robotics teams were setting up for the first game, the race.
Glimmer was on her feet the second Bow came into sight, Scorpia and Adora quickly following her lead in a less lunatic fashion by yelling their cheers from their seats. Catra snorted at the others, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning back in her chair to watch the game.
The Etherian robotics team was clad in matching team uniforms thanks to Glimmer, the alicorn mascot from their school across the backs of the shirts and names of the team members stitched on. Adora couldn't help but grin widely as she saw their hard work being shown off, and it looked like the team loved it as they strutted across the pit to set up. As Bow placed their robot down and Entrapta began measuring the sides of the robot in last minute checks, Adora couldn't help but notice that theirs was the smallest of all eight schools. 'At least they'll have the race in the bag.' Adora mused to herself, the buzzing excitement and cheering around her infecting her with excitement.
"Let's go Bow! Crush them!" Glimmer screeched, bouncing up and down in place and waving her fists like a lunatic. Scorpia whooped quietly next to her and Adora had to suppress a snort of laughter as Bow shot them an embarrassed look of acknowledgment.
"Sparkles is really going nuts huh?" Catra chuckled, watching Glimmer with an amused grin.
"She's been looking forward to this, you should've seen her when she was making these." Adora replied, gesturing to her own cheer outfit. Catra's face instantly went red again as she followed Adora's hand, mismatched eyes shooting in every direction they could in an attempt to not look at her friend. 'Wait.. Is it the cheer outfit?' Slow realization crept up Adora's spine as she saw Catra's reaction, a small blush creeping over her own cheeks as the realization crashed over her head like a wave.
Before she could question the girl thought the loud booming speaker cut in again. "Alright robotics fans it looks like our racers are ready and raring to go." Glimmer screeched again making Bow cover his face in embarrassment as a couple other team's took notice of the pink haired girl's antics and started giggling. "Racer's to your stations!" The speaker commanded the team's retreating away from their robots to take their designated spots to control their metal creations. From what Adora could see Hordak had the controls in his hands currently, a look of pure concentration on his face as he focused in on their lane. "On my count racer's will release their robots to run the track 3 times, whoever crosses the finish line first will be the winner of this leg of the competition. Racer's are you ready?" The crowd and teams yelled their approval and Adora could feel her breath catch in her throat, bouncing in her seat a bit in anticipation. "3.. 2.. 1.. Go!" As the speaker boomed the command the crowd roared into cheer's, the metal creations rocketing off from their starting points.
Scorpia and Adora were on their feet now, pumping their fists and screaming their encouragement in the same fashion as Glimmer now. Adora could feel her heart rate increasing as her icy eyes kept track of the small etherian high robot that was speeding down the track, not in the lead yet but was easily weaving its way to the front of the pack. Hordak had a look of pure concentration as Bow and Entrapta frantically yelled encouragement to both him and their creation. The crowd was cheering from all angles but Adora could barely hear, blood roaring in her ears as she excitedly watched the metal objects rocket down the track.
"And coming in first in the first lap is.." The crowd's roaring cheers were replaced with an audible inhale of anxiety, the Etherian high bot coming up right on the tail of the leader of the race. "Etherian High!" The crowd cheered and booed in some areas while the trio screamed in victory, Glimmer about bursting the ear drum's of everyone near her. Adora let out a deep laugh, glancing back at Catra to make sure the quiet girl was still there. Sure enough she was and Adora had caught her staring, her freckled cheeks instantly turning the same burning red as before as her eye's shot back to the track as if Adora hadn't caught her. The blonde gave a cheeky smile, adrenaline from all the excitement getting to her head a little as she smugly shouted to her friend.
"See something you like?" Catra's eyes turned on her in a narrowed glare making Adora giggle, swaying her hips a little to turn Catra's annoyed expression into one of embarrassment and surprise. 'What am I doing?!' Adora mentally scolded herself as she turned back to the track, eyes locking back onto the Etherian bot that was fighting back and forth for the place at the front of the pack. She hadn't meant to flirt with Catra but something had gotten to her, she couldn't help but feel a sense of pride everytime Catra blushed in embarrassment. 'That's something for later Adora to deal with.' She decided, giving her head a firm shake as if to rid herself of the thoughts but she couldn't rid the feeling of Catra's eyes on her.
"YEAH GO TEAM ETHERIA!" Scorpia yelled as the screaming group of robots closed in on the second lap.
"And the winner of the second lap is.." Adora held her breath as the smaller robot was shoved by the other team's, screeching forward in the slight stumble. "Golden Boar high!" The crowd went wild again, Adora could see Hordak growl in rage as the Etherian robot came rocketing back to its place next to the Golden Boar bot.
"BEAT THEM INTO THE GROUND BOW!" Glimmer demanded, eyes filled with fire as she screamed the command. Adora found herself yelling too, not to the extent of Glimmer or even Scorpia, but an encouraging excited yell ripping through her in support of her team. The smaller bot and the much sleeker but bulkier bot were neck and neck again, barreling towards the finish line in the final lap.
"It's neck and neck folks, it's gonna be close." The speaker man exclaimed as the pack of robots came barreling closer, everyone in the stadium seemed to suck in a breath of anticipation. A noticeable silence fell over the crowd as everyone's eyes glued themselves to the pack leaders. "And the winner of the final round and racing leg winner is.." Adora watched with bated breath, blood roaring in her eyes as she let out another yell of encouragement that she didn't even know she had in her. "Etherian High!" The stadium exploded with excitement, Glimmer being amongst the loudest with Scorpia and Adora coming in as close seconds. The stadium scoreboard lit up with the rankings of the school, first Etherian High with 40 points and Golden Boar trailing in second with 20 points. Hordak seemed to let out a breath of relief as the score appeared, Bow and Entrapta instantly wrapping in an embrace as they cheered in excitement.
"Alright folks that is the end of round one, please take your seats while our teams get ready for the second leg of the competition!" Adora plopped down, chest heaving as her lungs filled with air that she didn't even know she had been deprived of.
"See, I told you you'd love it." Glimmer grinned at her, voice a little hoarse as her body heaved with her own pants of exhaustion.
"You did, this is awesome!" The group chuckled at Adora's exclamation, settling down to rest before the second round started. Adora shut her eyes as she leaned back in her seat, a content smile tugging at her lips as she caught her breath again. 'I can't wait to cheer at all of Bow's competition.' She concluded happily.
Adora could feel a pair of eyes watching her again and she cracked an eye open to shoot Catra a smug look, who's embarrassed to be caught again, tried to look away. Adora chuckled, letting her eyes flutter open she leaned over so she could whisper to Catra. 'Be cool be cool..' She tried to coach herself before opening her mouth to speak. "Whatcha starin at Catra?" She cooed so only the other girl could hear her words, Catra's clawed hands instantly running nervously through her hair.
"N-Nothing!" She stuttered instantly defensive, making Adora chuckle even more as she leaned back in her seat. The wild haired girl sucked in a breath as if to compose herself, her look of embarrassment was quickly gone. Replaced with one of her usual confident cocky grins making Adora be the one to blush this time, earlier confidence disappearing from her limbs. "You're just distracting, you know?" Catra purred softly, leaning over to come nose to nose with Adora now who audibly gulped. Catra chuckled, hand running up Adora's cheek to gently poke the other girl in the forehead. "But I can be more distracting." There was an ominous edge to her voice that left Adora speechless and fumbling with her thoughts. 'What is going on?' She mentally screamed, letting her eyes dart to Catra's lips that instantly turned into a sly grin. The two stayed like that for a moment, Catra's smiling smugly as Adora fumbled for words, their faces barely an inch away from one another.
A soft clearing of someone's throat brought the pair back to reality, snapping their heads around to see Scorpia and Glimmer were staring at them. "Are we.. interrupting?" Scorpia finally spoke, awkward and unsure making the two instantly turn red and break apart and fall into their own seats.
"We were just messing around." Catra quickly replied, being careful not to meet anyone's eyes. Adora's own eye's were to the ground, hands anxiously wringing around themselves in an attempt to gather her thoughts. 'Is- Is Catra really flirting with me?' She could barely believe it but there weren't many other ways to interrupt the other girl's antics. When Adora did look up again though she was met with the all knowing smug smile of her foster sister.
"Shut up." She snapped before she even had a chance to open her mouth, turning her attention back on the arena that was now filled with a number of different objects from a beach ball to a mini fridge. 'Later Adora problem.' She decided again, focusing her energy back onto the game in front of her.
"Alright folks we are back and ready to go for round 2!" The awkwardness faded as the group turned their attention to the pit, Glimmer excitedly vibrating again as the team's reappeared with their bots.
"Let's go take round 2!" Glimmer cheered, Bow grinned up at her and Entrapta excitedly waved as they set up their station. Their smaller robot now had an arm like appendage at the top, Entrapta at the controls it was excitedly pinching at the air.
"This portion of the competition will be judging strength, we have laid out a number of objects all varying in weight, the further down the line that a team gets the more points are earned. We will start at the bottom of the leader board and make our way up, teams are you ready?" The teams shouted approval, the lowest team on the board zipping their bot to the front of the pack excitedly revving the engine. "Alright first up is School of O, 3.. 2.. 1.. Go!" It was like a shot out of a canon and the crowd was alive again, the pink haired girl on the other team expertly weaving the bot through the field to lift the objects over it. It wasn't a fast bot Adora could see how it was in last but it was strong and climbing the leaderboard rapidly. She found herself excitedly watching the extremely powerful machine with wrapped attention.
To her side however, Catra wasn't at all paying attention to the game, all of her fake attentiveness thrown out the window as she watched Adora carefully. She glanced at the pair to the side of Adora, an almost nervous look crossing her face as she looked at them but seemed to quickly shove it away to replace it with her more thoughtful look. After another moment of hesitation she reached out and tapped Adora with her clawed finger, the blonde turned around smiling brightly at her. Catra grinned crookedly, a cocky and confident look in her eye as she slipped out of her seat and in front of Adora.
The girl looked up at her with a cocked eyebrow making Catra giggle a little. "I told you I can be more distracting." She purred, making Adora roll her eyes in amusement. 'Standing in front of me is distracting.' She thought to herself, eyes drifting a little behind Catra to see School of O had gone up quite a bit and the next school was starting their rounds of lifting objects. Catra chuckled as Adora's attention half left her, ignoring the curious stare of Scorpia as she leaned over and grabbed Adora's chin to look into her eyes. Adora felt a flush cross her cheeks, narrowing her eyes a little at the confident grin on the other girl's face.
"What're you-?" Before Adora could finish her question Catra had pushed her back so she was leaning back in her seat, hitting the back with a small oof. She opened her mouth to question Catra again but the girl had leapt across her lap, perching herself perfectly across her to sit almost like in a bridal style on her lap. Adora's face with red as Catra wrapped her arms around the other girl's neck, pulling her close so she could snuggle her face into the taller girl's neck. Scorpia and Glimmer were gawking now, a few other people nearby were too, and Adora shot them all apologetic looks as her face turned into an even more burning red. Blood roared in her ears as she tried to concentrate on the game in front of her and not on the lithe girl perched onto her lap, her face buried into her shoulder, lips inches away from her skin.. Adora shook her head as if to bring herself back to earth. "Catra! Do- Do you have to sit right there?" She snapped through gritted teeth, making the smaller girl chuckle a little.
"What? I'm not doing anything." She whined, purposefully drawing out her words as she moved her head to be more against Adora's chest so she could watch the games down below. Adora's heart felt like it was beating out of it's chest; she was sure Catra could hear the booming in her chest. 'I'm going to die.' Adora suppressed the urge to outwardly groan, the feeling of Catra so close was making her heart fill with an ache she hadn't known it could feel. She could've easily slipped the smaller girl off her, she barely weighed anything in Adora's mind, but she knew her body wouldn't let her. As embarrassed as she was by Catra's antics she couldn't help but feel the greedy jealous monster in her chest purr, everyone around them thought Catra was hers. Adora glanced down at the girl in her lap, a small smile tugging at her lips as she tightened her grip on Catra's legs and small of her back, Catra seemed to feel the tightening and grinned to herself.
"Adora! Concentrate!" Glimmer's voice snapped her out of her daze, earning a chuckle from Catra as the blonde girl snapped her attention back to the game in front of her. The Golden Boar was out now, lifting a lot of the much heavier items down the line. Adora bit her lip nervously as she watched their points total go up, by the time they were off the field it was a whopping 60.
"Yeah Adora, concentrate!" Catra teased, earning her a wordless glare from Adora. Scorpia and Glimmer glanced at one another, unsure if they should even mention what was happening beside them. They seemed to decide against it, instead hooping and hollering as the Etherian bot zipped up to the start point.
"GO ETHERIANS!" Scorpia and Glimmer screamed in unison, Entrapta now at the controls zipped the bot out and began lifting the objects in the field. Adora bit her lip as she attempted to keep her attention on cheering for her friends, it took quite a bit of concentration to ignore the pretty distraction that was seated on her. 'I'll get her back for this.' She almost grumbled to herself as Catra shifted, snuggling herself even closer to Adora's chest. Adora's attention was brought back to the game by Entrapta's tell tall shouts, the bot's arm was failing and fast.
"Come on Emily one more thing!" She pushed and cheered for the bot, the crowd doing the same, but it was done the small object couldn't lift anymore. Glimmer shouted in upset as Etherian High was dropped to second, sitting with 50 points.
"Don't worry we're close, we'll take them down next round." Scorpia said optimistically, patting a sulking Glimmer on the shoulder. The pink haired girl sighed, slowly nodding as her eyes narrowed on the changing scoreboard.
"And the winners of round two are.. Golden Boar High!" The crowd erupted in cheers around them as the group mostly sulked and glowered. "Don't go away folks, our third and final round will begin soon!" The speaker boomed as it clicked off and the teams on the field dispersed to their own stations.
"Now we get to see them kill each other right?" Catra questioned, Glimmer turned her attention to the other girl with narrowed eyes as she looked over the sight of Adora and Catra.
"Yeah." She responded flatly, still eying the two girl's with a curious expression. "Should I- Should I even ask?" She finally asked Catra, making the lithe girl laugh and Adora to blush. 'Catra loves killing me.' Adora thought annoyed, but still not pushing the girl off.
"No." Adora grumbled, Glimmer and Scorpia glanced at one another curiously before shrugging, turning their attention back to the empty field.
Catra turned her attention to Adora however, smugly grinning down at her blonde friend. 'You're gonna get it.' Adora silently threatened, narrowing her eyes a little as she stared at Catra. "What's wrong Adora?" She purred teasingly in that smug voice that made Adora wanna throw her off and kiss her all at once.
She slowly leaned in, whispering a soft threat in Catra's ear. "Just remember you're sleeping in my bed tonight." Adora was surprised as the gentle threat came out through gritted teeth, it was like her desire was taking over. Catra softly chuckled, playing with Adora's blonde ponytail slowly.
"Oh, I'm counting on it." Catra responded, flirtily twisting Adora's hair around her clawed fingers. Adora felt her face heat up, blood roaring in her ears again as she attempted to keep herself calm. 'Who am I?' Adora questioned, her aching heart taking over all sense of reason. 'Later Adora problem.'
"Teams return to the field to begin the final round!" The speaker called, snapping Adora and Catra back to the world and pulling away from their intimate flirting to watch the field.
"Oh thank god." Scorpia breathed a sigh of relief as the pair finally broke apart, Glimmer laughed and Adora shot her a look of 'shut up'.
The teams of high school students flooded back to the field, setting out their robots to face one another. The crowds and teams were all buzzing with excitement and anticipation, Glimmer was on her feet again excitedly shaking her fists.
"Let's go guys! Kill them!" She called encouragingly, the team waved up at the excited pink hair chuckling a little.
"This round will be the final one of the day, an all out robot fighting match. There is a timer set to go off in the next 20 minutes, any robots destroyed will not qualify to be thrown back into the fight, whoever lands the most damage wins. Teams, are you ready?" The teams yelled approval as the speaker concluded the reading of the rules, everyone making their way as far from the pit as possible to let the robots start to fight. Bow was at the controls this time, teeth gritted in concentration.
"GO BOW!" Glimmer screeched, Adora resisted the urge to laugh as she caught Bow's lip tug into a small smile before turning his attention back to the bots.
"3.. 2.. 1.. Go!" A buzzer went off and the bots were off like bullets out of a gun, Adora sucked in a breath of excitement as she watched the robots clash. Catra noticed and chuckled a little at her reaction, watching with excitement as the sound of metal attacking one another.
"I hope something blows up." Catra said excitedly, giving a whoop of cheering acknowledgment making Adora smile a little. 'Of course this is what she cheers for.'
"Yes! KILL THEM!" Glimmer was screaming like a lunatic as the Etherian bot shot into the side of the Golden Boar's bot, leaving a large knick in its side. The short haired girl from Golden Boar gritted her teeth and shot Bow an angry stare, which he returned with a shining grin. The brunette stranger whipped around, narrowing her red makeup painted eyes as her the crowd cheered for her to retaliate, frantically tapping away at the controls.
The two bots seemed to hone in on each other and Adora found herself yelling and cheering with Scorpia and Glimmer, wriggling Catra around a little as she did. Even Catra was getting into the spirit now, not nearly as enthusiastic as the other's but excited nonetheless. The robots tore and attacked at one another, locked in a fierce battle, the smaller Etherian bot getting pushed back rapidly by the bigger metal creation.
"Let's go Bow!" Adora was the one screaming now, on her feet with a screeching Catra held in her arms bridal style. Glimmer and Scorpia laughed at the sight, only distracted by their antics for a moment before turning their attention back to the battling robots.
"Come on Emily!" Entrapta screamed, bouncing up and down beside a glaring Hordak. Finally the Etherian Bot wrapped away, the smaller machine zipping it's way under the Golden Boar bot to throw itself up and throw the other on it's back. The Golden Boar grunted in effort as it tried to flip back over, being smacked over and over by the smaller robot. Adora screamed so loud she thought she would lose her voice, Catra clinging to her for dear life as she screamed along too in victory.
"We're in the last seconds folks, count down with me! 10.." The speaker cut back in as the larger robot growled in more effort, trying to flip back while the smaller one continued to attack it. The crowd instantly screamed the count down back to the speaker, excitement filling the stadium air as the final seconds ticked down. "9.. 8.. 7.. 6.." The crowd screamed along with the speaker, Glimmer wildly jumping up and down in her spot as the Etherian bot ripped off the side of the Golden Boar bot. "5.. 4.. 3.. 2.." Glimmer screamed the loudest yet, Scorpia whooping and hollering, as the wheel on the Golden Boar creation was ripped off. Adrenaline pumped through Adora's limbs, blood roaring in her ears as she started to bounce a little jostling Catra as she did. "1.. That's it folks! The winner of the final round is.." The teams stalled and dropped back from their controls, panting as if they had been fighting on the field themselves. It felt like electricity was shooting through the air as everyone waited with baited breath for the announcement of the winners. "Etherian high!" The crowd erupted in excitement, the scoreboard sliding around to accommodate the new first place winner.
Bow screamed in excitement, barreling over to Entrapta and Hordak to crush them into a tight bear hug. Glimmer screamed in victory, pumping her fists into the air. "That's my best friend!" She shouted, voice clearly more hoarse than before.
"They did it!" Adora yelled, jumping up and down jostling Catra again as she cheered for her victory. Catra yelled in excitement, clinging to Adora as she was thrown around for a moment.
The teams milled around, shaking hands and congratulated one another in victory. Even the girl from Golden Boar shook Bow's hand and gave him a soft grin of respect, which Bow returned with a hug. Adora flopped into her seat, puffing out pants as a tired smile tugged across her lips. Catra was doing the same, turning her head to lean against her forehead against Adora, the two panting and smiling at one another. Adora felt a small flush cross her cheeks as she realized how she was looking at Catra, how she had been acting the whole game. Slow realization crashed over her with a hint of anxiety tugging at her chest, it felt like the rest of the world was falling away and all she could do was stare at her friend that was still perched on her lap toothy grin pulling at her lips. 'Oh no. I'm later Adora.'

A/N: Sorry I disappeared a little, I spiraled out into a depression pit and needed some time. I think I am going to switch to one upload a week, we'll see how I feel later on this week and if I upload. But yeah, fun flirty times and now Adora has to deal with what she did, it's gonna be good. >:3c We're really gonna be running now with the gayness, get ready y'all. Also.. if you noticed the names of the other schools, let me know, and let me know if after this series you would like to get know everyone over at Golden Boar. ;) But that will be.. very much in the future. As always stay safe you guys, keep fighting keep resisting, wear a mask and have each other's backs. See y'all next time! <3