Chapter 27: Much Needed Downtime
October 2014:
Catra made it back to Avengers Tower after a relaxing walk around Central park. Things had been really hectic since the fall of SHIELD, not helped at all by discovering her father was a brainwashed psycho HYDRA assassin. Honestly, the best thing to happen to her in recent months was the fact that Tony paying a stipend to all Avengers meant she wouldn't ever have to worry about finding a job. She didn't even want to imagine how tough finding a job would be for her. She couldn't exactly work fast food since she'd get fur in everything, same with a cafe job.
Adora had still been pretty stressed out since the incident with Pierce too. Not that Catra could really blame her considering how long Adora had been a part of SHIELD. Things were also definitely not helped by Adora realizing that Jasper Sitwell had been the one to collect Loki's staff from the wreckage of New York. Catra had been told stories about the Battle of New York by all of the other Avengers, and was obviously not at ease by the idea of HYDRA holding on to something as powerful as Loki's weapon. And when Adora gets stressed, she tends to immediately take to the gym. Strangely enough, Adora hadn't wanted to join her for the walk today. Said she had something to help Tony with. She did promise Catra they'd hang out afterwards at the very least.
Though Catra also couldn't shake the feeling she was forgetting something.
Either way, she made her way back to Avengers tower and took the elevator to her and Adora's apartment. To her surprise, JARVIS didn't immediately turn the lights on as she entered the room, and the blinds were closed. She brushed it off as maybe JARVIS was in sleep mode or something, and went to flick the lights on herself. The moment she did, she heard a myriad of voices yelling, "Surprise!" Her tail stiffened up and she turned around. To her amazement, the Avengers and several of their friends had gathered together underneath a giant banner, which read "Happy Birthday Catra."
NOW she realized what she'd forgotten.
If Catra thought her first Birthday with the Avengers was incredible, Tony somehow managed to one-up himself this time. There were so many people gathered together, and even Thor was actually able to attend this time. Apparently the year previous he was dealing with some Elf and something called the Aether, Catra and Adora really couldn't understand. Tony also apparently had a pretty rough time a while back dealing with something called Extremis. The girls realized that pretty much the entire team had one hell of a last two years since New York.
"So, with SHIELD down, I guess that makes you guys full-time Avengers now." Tony commented, drinking some whiskey.
"I suppose it does." Adora replied, sitting next to Catra who had her face in a slice of cake.
"Now then, I think we oughta get to presents." Tony said, chuckling bit as Catra almost choked on her cake. "Jesus Tabby, maybe you should slow down a bit."
"Shut up Tony." Catra admitted, coughing a little and downing a whole glass of soda. "This is only the second birthday I've been able to enjoy in years, lemme have this."
"Alright alright...just remember not to chew on the ribbons this time." Tony teased, prompting Catra to flip him off. The night then progressed as everyone gave Catra their gifts. She was given many things she knew she'd enjoy, as well as some clothing and money. Tony on the other hand, was waiting until the end with a box in his hand. "Hey Princess, wanna give yours first?"
Adora laughed a bit and handed Catra a tiny box. "Here, Wildcat. Wasn't sure what to get you so I just trusted my gut."
Catra looked at the box and unwrapped it. As she opened it, her eyes widened at the sight of a beautiful necklace. It was a beautiful Catseye pendant. Catra slowly pulled it out and put it around her neck. "Adora, this is beautiful." She said with a smile, giving Adora a big hug. "I love this!"
"I'm glad you do Catra." Adora replied, returning the hug.
"Alright, now it's mine." Tony added, setting the box down. "Enjoy, Tabby." Catra looked at the box curiously and opened it. The first thing that she noticed was a red, protective Headpiece. She pulled it out and set it over her face. "Like with Adora, I tried to model it off the show. But I felt you wouldn't appreciate me making a Cat headband, so I improvised. It's tough enough to act as a guard." Catra smiled a bit and pulled the rest of the suit out. The suit had maroon pants, with black leggings, the bottoms of which were designed to wrap around her ankle and heel, while leaving room for the rest of her foot to be bare. The Top was a lighter shade of red, with the sleeves, shoulders and upper-chest area being black. The final touch were Black finger-less gloves the could go up her forearms. There was even a hole in the back of the pants to fit her tail. "Figure if you're an avenger, you'd appreciate a new Uniform."
"I gotta admit, Tony." Catra said, grinning, "This looks fucking awesome."
"Fabric's the same as I used for Adora meaning it won't damage easily." Tony continued. "I also figured you wouldn't want boots considering how weird you were walking in shoes at the Dance a few years back." He took another drink. "Not to mention, the original show's costume looked way too revealing. I doubt you'd wanna fight in a red leotard."
"That would be hot…" Adora commented under her breath, causing Catra to flash her a smug grin. Adora's face flushed red and she immediately shut up.
"Well, we've still got the rest of the day." Natasha commented.
"Indeed, let us enjoy the festivities!" Thor quickly shouted as well.
"Then maybe later, we can go back to our other little project." Bruce quipped.
"What project is that?" Catra asked, everyone grinning.
"Trying to find a superhero name for Adora." Steve explained. "She's been wanting one since we formed." Catra looked over at Adora with a wide grin.
"Oh this is gonna be fun~"
"Strongarm." Steve suggested. "You throw one hell of a punch."
"Nah, seems to simple." Adora replied, sipping her soda.
"The White Avenger?" Catra suggested next.
"That….sounds a bit uncomfortable to me." Adora replied to that one.
"Valkyrie?" Natasha suggested next.
This time Thor spoke up, "While it would suit her, I feel it may be disrespectful to the actual Valkyries of Asgard."
"How about Wonder Woman?" Bruce suggested.
"That would be cool," Adora admitted, "But it also just seems a bit plain."
"Good god I hope trying to come up with a name for Catra won't be this hard…" Natasha deadpanned, groaning.
"I don't need a codename." Catra boasted. Adora quickly gave her a look of doubt, and Catra sighed. "I did pick one though. Wildcat, Adora's nickname for me."
"Aw that's a shame." Tony deadpanned. "I'd have gone with Kitty girl."
"Tony I will claw you." Catra replied, flashing her claws as Tony backed off with a smug grin. He then picked up his cellphone. "Hey I gotta make a quick call, you guys keep going."
"How about White Knight?" Bruce recommended.
"I don't really look like much of a knight do I?" Adora asked. "Besides that implies I'm some pure-hearted hero. I'm really not."
"Don't sell yourself short Adora." Clint said, leaning back in his chair. "You're a pretty good kid."
"Yeah, all things considered you've turned out alright." Natasha added.
Adora smiled at the two, "Thanks mom, Uncle Clint."
"UNCLE Clint?" Catra repeated, chuckling.
"Yes, Uncle." Adora deadpanned with an annoyed look. "Can we get back on track?"
"Shining Knight." Catra said, putting the conversation back on Adora's name.
"Eh, enough with the Knight thing."
"Shining Avenger?" Natasha suggested.
"Shining Guardian?" Steve added.
"I appreciate it, Mom, Dad. But I'm not a fan of the 'Shining' part either." As they continued to discuss it, Tony eventually walked back in, hanging up his phone. "Oh hey Tony, what was the call about."
"Oh nothing," Tony said, putting his phone down. "Just finalizing my purchase of the He-Man and She-Ra licenses." Everyone stared at him in stunned surprise. "Genius, Billionaire, Playboy, Philanthropist. Besides, it seemed like the easiest way to solve this debate." He put his feet up with a smug grin. "Congrats Adora, you're She-Ra now."
"Huh…." Adora was completely flabbergasted at Tony's decision, but eventually smiled. "Well then, I guess my hero name is She-Ra then."
Catra gave her a deadpan stare. "Adora, I respect your willingness to use the name, but I refuse to call you that…"
With the party having wound down, Adora and Catra decided to take some time to brush up on their combat skills. They made their way to the Tower's training room, having changed into their new uniforms. "Look at us." Adora said, stretching as she walked into the center of the room, and setting her Sword down. "She-Ra and the Wildcat."
"Yeah yeah, get over yourself A-dork-a." Catra quipped, smirking and cracking her knuckles. "I gotta say, Tony knows his stuff. This suit feels incredible."
"You know he's really good at that sorta thing." Adora replied, doing a few stretches. "You realize he's made like thirty of his Iron Man suits?"
"You're kidding me." Catra said in disbelief.
"Nope. Calls em the Iron Legion." Adoa explained, getting into her combat stance.
"Dude has way too much free time…" Catra sighed, chuckling a bit and getting into her stance. "I won't lose this time Adora."
"Gimme a good fight Catra." Adora chuckled. "If you beat me, you get to pick where we order dinner from tomorrow."
"I'm thinking some Sushi." Catra chuckled. "And if you win?"
"We're getting Schwarma." Adora replied. "Y'know after New York The Avengers all went out for some. It's actually amazing."
"Don't get excited. I'm planning to win." Catra chuckled, letting her claws out.
"Likewise. Ready? GO!" The two rushed forward and leapt at one another, ready to engage in their 'friendly' spar.
To Be Continued...
Pretty short chapter this time. It's honestly nice to work on something lighter and quicker after how rough those last few chapters were.
So yeah we've now got resolution on the naming argument. I figured after the near burnout of the last arc, the perfect capstone to it all would be that punchline. As for Catra's costume, it's obviously intended to be her Season 4 outfit, just with the black sleeve covering both of her arms, and no boob-window. I've never been a fan of the cleavage window design on character outfits in comics and cartoons. Just looks weird to me.
I do not own She-Ra or the MCU. Feel free to leave a review if you enjoyed. Also Feel free to check out the Tvtropes page, even add to it.
NEXT TIME: Finishing off HYDRA.