Adora was thankful she was alive and able to question a lot of the things that happened as of late.
How had She-Ras of old shown up on Remnant? What happened to the people who built that mountain complex? Were they First Ones? Going by the writing, they must've been, but the blonde didn't know. Thank goodness Catra had taken photos of the place. That allowed them to go over what they got so far. The builders of the place probably being First Ones, maybe even Rebels aided by Mara, also explained the presence of a portal facility in the Emerald Forest, of all places.
"Miss Spinner!" Adora winced at hearing Weiss's jovial voice. Right...
Well, she'd told Catra they needed clothes. But what she was wearing right now, she wasn't so sure of. She yelled back "I don't know, Weiss! I... This feels weird! Can't we just sow my jacket back together?"
"Oh, come on, Miss S, I'm sure ya look fine! Hell, Weiss generally knows her stuff when it comes to clothes." Yang called out. The rest of Team RWBY had also joined them. JNPR couldn't because of Jaune's presumable 'work' with Cardin. She swore, she never knew what was up with the blonde boy. Oh, well, at least he and his team weren't here to witness this.
"Seriously... I feel out of place, wearing this! Didn't you say this was Vacuoan fashion?" Adora called out.
"Yes! Ruby, however, insisted that we give you something that you can wear to match the little surprise she has for you. I was quite proud of her when she said she wanted to match your style with your weapon." Weiss returned, more jovial after hearing Ruby yelp. She added calmly "Now, c'mon! I'll have miss Clawdeen try on new clothes next ,but we have to hurry. There are other people waiting." and, indeed, behind the Team, there were others waiting at the changing rooms. Fellow Huntsmen and Huntresses, presumably.
"Yeah, c'mon, Adora..." Catra started "We gotta get this over with so we can go back to Beacon. I wanna spend my Sunday lazing around for a bit."
"Not like you don't usually laze around after classes." Adora shot back in a murmur.
"Yes, but I'm getting paid to do that today!" Catra quipped, giggling. The blonde Princess could swear she felt her grin permeating that smug aura through the place. Or maybe it was just her actual Aura, which they still wanted to figure out. Catra added "So, c'mon! We're all waiting with oh, so bated breaths to see you in your new Clothes, my darling Princess." garnering chuckles out of Blake, Yang and Ruby.
Adora sighed, bowing her head in defeat. She picked up another article of clothing from the bench in the changing room, gave herself a once-over. She looked back, then yelled "I'm coming out!"
"And kittens everywhere rejoiced." Catra quipped, getting more laughter out of Yang and probably a blush out of Blake and Weiss. Adora was going to choke the hell out of her some day to get the jokes out of her system. With another sigh and a slow build-up to her reveal, Adora pushed the curtains aside and stepped out, a hand on her hip. The first person she laid eyes on was a Catra whose jaw was scraping the marble floor of the fancy Huntsman clothing shop. Her pupils were also as wide as a cat's when she stared at something she liked, covering most of the eye in an 'Alien'-esque look. There was also a slight twinkle. It was adorable.
Adora chuckled awkwardly... The young woman wore an outfit like those out of movies about the Vacuoan Wild West. A red leather jacket bearing her 'emblem', that of the open, gold wing pointed to the right, was put on top of a tight, white shirt with zip-up sleeves that the blonde had folded in on themselves, giving a slightly puffed shape around the elbow while not constricting mobility. Meanwhile, a belt of similar color and material held up a pair of tight brown pants, with a red leather holster strapped to her hip, big enough for a handgun and on her feet were combat boots, colored red and white. To cap off the outfit, a cowboy(or in this case, cowgirl) hat sat pretty on top of Adora's head, only revealing the small hair tuft that was her signature and her ponytail, which was now tied lower, near the neck, to accommodate the new accessory.
"Wow." Yang smirked. She gave Adora a thumbs up "Lookin' awesome there, miss S!"
"It looks very good." Blake nodded.
"Totally awesome!" Ruby smiled broadly too.
Weiss smiled proudly, arms crossed to her chest. She didn't even need to say anything for Adora to tell how proud she was. So, instead, she turned her attention to Catra, a healthy flush on her face. The catgirl wasn't much better, though. Her face had gone from smug and normal to a shockingly bright red. All the blood in Catra's body seemed to have rushed to her face, too. The blonde rubbed the back of her neck, then asked "So... How do I look?"
"I... Uh..." And, of course, Catra was dumbstruck. Only uttering gibberish for a few seconds, before she quickly turned around, breathed in and out, then turned to face Adora again, a more awkward variation of her catty grin on. She nodded rapidly "Yeah, looks great. It really does fit'n'... Yeah.. I..." She turned to Weiss, practically begging to be dragged out of this. With a chuckle, Weiss nodded, pulling Catra over to the booth and handing her a few new clothes.
Adora looked to Yang, disheartened, then asked "Was it really that bad?"
... The blonde brawler burst into laughter, nudging Blake with her elbow and whispering "Get a load of miss Spinner..."
"It looks great, Adora." Ruby said "It's just that miss Catra probably... Didn't know how to say it best."
Adora smiled at the ever-happy Rose, giving a nod. She sat herself down by the girls' side, then asked Ruby "So... You're gonna give us the surprises back in Beacon?"
"Yup! I'm surprised at how fast I got miss Catra's back, though. Then again, I shouldn't be, since the same happened with miss Peach's weapon." Ruby noted, beaming "Oh, I can't wait for you to try them out! Thank the Gods Beacon has the specialized range I imagined."
"Did you even doubt it does?" Blake asked rhetorically, smiling at her leader.
"Well... No, but-" Ruby clearly hadn't caught on to the quip. Blake knew Ruby had read up on the city-school. Adora tuned out the conversation for a moment, looking at herself in a mirror. The hat was the weirdest detail of the outfit, but Adora couldn't complain. Apparently, it was meant to stay on no matter what, even in combat. How a simple item of clothing was meant to achieve that, she didn't know.
She heard Catra complain about something, but she didn't know what. Instead of acting like Adora, though, the girl simply called out "I'm ready." before exiting the cabin. Now, it was Adora's turn to blush. And considering she was paler than Catra, it really showed as she gave the girl a once-over. Keeping her old colors, much like Adora, Catra was wearing an updated version of her old two-piece, tight catsuit, with her own emblem, an open hand with claws on all 5 fingers, as well as a white, shoulder-length glove on her right hand, resembling of what she wore before she was captured by Horde Prime, with a small difference in the form of a blue diamond on the right shoulder, instead of red. Her white and gold jacket was on her right shoulder, hanging off the side like a cape and covering her left arm.
There were also other slight differences in Catra's uniform, including the presence of what looked like extra pockets for ammo around her waist and a belt containing what looked like Dust vials. Oh... She also had a beanie that seemed to cover much of the catlike parts of her ears, making her look like a Faunus with only the tail as her trait. She wanted to not be asked about the traits anymore anyways.
Flashing a grin at Adora, the girl asked "So... Went a bit back in time for this design, but the fingerless arm glove always felt comfy as hell to wear. What do you think?"
"It's totally your style." Yang smirked
"Yup! It's... I really have no other word for this, but it looks awesome!" Ruby giggled. Catra ran a hand through her own hair, then looked to Adora, who was almost drooling. And she chuckled. At least she wasn't the only one out and staring at her girl's new digs. Looking to Weiss, she gave the worried Snow-White a thumbs up and she flashed a toothy grin at the girl, before stretching.
She yawned, then said "So... Up next?"
Ruby grinned "The surprise."
A short flight back to Beacon and the girls marched into the academy's shooting range. Few students were present today, since it was Sunday and most were likely in the city. Ruby led them on to a table with the most visible look of excitement on her face to date. On the table, there were two reinforced boxes, one smaller one of a faded steel color, while the other was big and pure white with the coat of arms of Atlas.
Ruby was basically jumping on the spot as she said "Open them! Left's for miss Adora, right for miss Catra."
While the former went for the faded steel box, Catra went for the big box, a raised brow as she looked at Ruby. Catra stopped in front of her box, then nodded to Adora to open it first. The blonde quickly undid the locks, then pushed the top of the box up, revealing, stuck in an indenture in the foam inside, a handgun with a long, thick barrel. It had black plastic grips and a cylinder for loading... Adora smirked, seeing the complete weapon, then she removed it from the box, only now noticing the high-caliber rounds in the bottom left of the box, all neatly lined up.
"500 Magnum revolver, loaded with high caliber armor-piercing and hollow-point rounds." Ruby explained "You still need to name it."
"Heh. I got a few ideas for names, Ruby." The girl nodded, looking over the weapon. She noticed a button on its side and pressed it, watching as the cylinder inside popped out on the left. Six holes about the size of the high-caliber rounds were spread around it, with thick walls in-between them. Adora nodded to Ruby, who motioned to a shooter's booth, before showing Adora how to load the weapon.
Walking up to the booth with Catra behind them, Ruby said "Six rounds in in the gun. You look down the slit in the middle and align it with the notch at the front to aim. Then, you gently squeeze the trigger to fire... I'd also brace myself, since 500 Mag is a pretty powerful round, for pistols at least."
Adora nodded "Got it. Thanks, Ruby." And she took a stance, wrapping both hands around the grip of the weapon and thumbing the safety. She aimed down the pistol's sights, right at the center of a Beowolf-shaped target, breathed... And slowly, the girl squeezed the trigger, bracing herself. She, however, could not be braced enough when the gun fired.
The roar of 500 MAG reverberated across the entire shooting range, enough that even the few students training around stopped and stared with wide eyes at the teacher. The same teacher who was now thankful she had held the gun down with both hands. It had kicked so high up that the muzzle wound up pointed at the ceiling, still smoking, and a massive hole replaced the Beowolf's chest cavity.
"... Holy shit." Catra winced, hearing a light ringing in her ears "That's a powerful round."
Ruby had covered her ears before the shot. And she was now grinning ear-to-ear, happy with the success of the gun. She raised a brow at Adora, who rubbed her wrist as she looked at her. The blonde teacher smiled, then said "I think I'm gonna like this thing... Provided I learn how to use it without breaking my wrists." and turned to Ruby, to ruffle her hair. "Thank you, Ruby. I love it."
The redhead smiled proudly at her teammates, of which Yang gave a thumbs up, Weiss stared with wide eyes and Blake read her book, while also giving a thumbs up. She and Yang were fairly alike in the way they silently congratulated people. Ruby then turned to Catra as Adora thumbed the safety on the gun back on and slid it into its holster(while also taking all other rounds from the box).
Catra smirked, then went for the box as well, unlatching it and pushing the lid up. She gasped, her cat's eyes wide. In the box was a set of armor made up of a breastplate and gauntlets, with added, skeletal-looking arms and legs. Multiple servomotors were linked at the joints, while on the arms, the gauntlets and vambraces were reinforced. In said vambraces, there were two Machine Guns attached, with straight, triple-stack magazines made up of some semi-transparent black plastic. The bullets inside were armor-piercing ,going by the shape... And the barrels of the guns stuck out just above the wrist, not restricting movement. The heels and calves were also reinforced with light armor plating, while the chest had her symbol on the left, on a white plate with blue diagonal lines going down toward the abdomen.
All-in-all, a light armored suit. And on the back of the armor plate, there was a reinforced metal pack that had a single Dust-based power cell, as well as extra storage for equipment and ammo. It also seemed to be the thing around which much of the armor itself was built. Adora grinned, walking up beside Catra and throwing an arm over the drooling kitten's shoulder. She looked to her, then motioned to the armor suit and said "How about it, Catra? Gonna take it for a spin?"
"It's really easy to put on." Ruby offered "I designed it as foldable for ease of transport when you don't wanna wear it... Though I imagine, on missions, you'll need it all the time..." And she looked worried for but a moment as she asked "What do you think, miss Catra?"
Catra picked up the armor set, unfolding it, to see it was perfectly designed for her. The Catgirl's expression went from dumbfound awe to a smile filled with childlike joy. She looked to Ruby, then said "Ruby Rose, this... Is... Awesome. Look at it! Armor, guns and even calf and shin armor! You really thought of everything. And the modular pack... Jeez, I thought Entrapta was a genius."
Adora smirked "Oh, there's no lie in saying Ruby and Entrapta will be best of friends."
"In that case..." Ruby smiled "I can't wait to meet her. Want me to help you put it on? We can test it at the obstacle course."
"Oh... Hell yeah!" Catra grinned. After quickly putting it on, Ruby started going over the details.
"Okay, so you got a reinforced armor plate made with experimental alloys and with kevlar padding in the chest and back, the power pack and everything else in the torso region. You've also got reinforced exoskeletal servomotors based off of some of the best stuff Atlas had laying around. And on the vambraces, these are 5,7x22 Submachine Guns with laser sights to help with aiming, as well as autoloading capabilities, meaning you don't have to reach for the magazines, because the suit will load them itself. Your pack lets you carry about a dozen triple-stack magazines, each hauling around 54 rounds. You've got 108 rounds total right now, all armor-piercing, loaded into the SMGs. Oh, also... Your claws."
Catra raised a brow. She saw Ruby move her arms forward fast and followed suit in the movement. Before she knew it, segmented metal armor wrapped around her fingers, with sharpened ends that attached to her claws and acted as extensions thereof. She also felt a little something extra in the claws, with some hairline channels in the plates. Odd. She looked at them, moving each finger individually like she would normally, then she smirked "You really thought of everything, eh?"
"Hey, only the best for our teachers." Ruby smiled "C'mon. I wanna make sure that it doesn't inhibit mobility. And we got some tests to run."
"That is one sexy kit." Yang smirked "But then again, what else can I expect from my tecchie sis!" And she pulled Ruby into a hug, ruffling her hair. Adora smirked as the group walked out toward the obstacle course. A string of military-like training courses like a climbing wall, monkey-bars, mobile target shooting and even mannequins to strike down at the end.
Ruby said "Climbing wall and monkey-bars first. Gotta make sure you can move."
"It feels alright to me, but sure." Catra noted "Just tell me when to go."
"Alright. Shooter, ready?" Ruby nodded as the others went to the sidelines. Catra nodded... And Ruby added "Set! GO!"
Catra then surged forth, the servos in her new suit whirring to life and providing a small boost in her speed. She ran up to the climbing wall and jumped onto the fourth step up on the wall, digging her claws into its sides and dashing up it, before she wound up at the top, sat on it like a crouching tiger. She bounced off the wall at high speed, grabbing onto the first monkey bar with ease, then she pushed herself forward via momentum, grabbing bar after bar.
"Shooting up next! You got the triggers in the index armor plating! They're pretty sensitive, so make sure it's a light squeeze!" Ruby yelled at her.
The cat dismounted the bars, landing on her feet and giving a thumbs up to Ruby, before she balled her hands into fists and felt for the triggers. Running forth, she watched two targets pop up on either side and, without fear or remorse, she aimed. Both red dots from the lasers marked the targets' centers. She squeezed off one burst, emptying almost a tenth of the magazines into them accurately.
Two turrets with stun rounds appeared next. Catra knew they were stun rounds because of the symbols on their armor. As they tracked and fired, the girl spun through the air, dodging shell after shell. Rounds burst through the dirt, narrowly missing the catgirl as she raised both SMGs and squeezed off again, this time in a longer burst. Automatic fire peppered the two turrets, while a third that had just appeared found itself sheared in half by the armored claws. She jumped over the husk of the central turret, before noticing the mannequins ahead.
"Catra!" Ruby yelled again, smiling "You've got Dust vials in your pockets, right? Grab one and crush it in your hands!"
Catra did as asked, picking two vials, one blue and one red, and squeezing 'till she heard the pop of glass. She almost staggered, doubling over as she watched energy course through the claws. The red one, fire dust, was in her right, while in her left was ice. She grinned, knowing very well what to do... Imbuing the dust-filled armored claws with Aura(which was really hard to do, since it necessitated focus in the heat of battle), she surged forward, opening up both hands and slashing at the mannequins.
Blades of fire and ice gutted the Grimm-like dummies with extreme prejudice, while Catra simply passed through the center one after splitting it in half and hitting the end of the course. She looked at her hands, a grin on her face and tail waggin' happily, then she approached the bell at the end of the course and rung it. Cheers came from the 'adoring crowd', Ruby included, as they celebrated the successful test of Catra's weapon.
After a quick stretch, Catra turned to the gang and gave a thumbs up. Oh, she was gonna love using this thing.
... Maybe she could convince Adora to go Grimm hunting this time.