Disclaimer I do not own RWBY

Chapter 8

Yang went through several more outfits with Ember and Celica, still trying to decide what kind of outfit they should wear.

Ruby, Weiss, and Myrtenaster simply watch bemusedly as Yang went on with her impromptu fashion show featuring the twins, with some even including herself so that they all wore matching outfits. They were all pretty sure that Yang had already picked out the twins' clothes, but decided to let her have her fun playing dress up.

"Oh yeah, by the way guys. Have any of you seen Blake and Gambol Shroud around?" Asked Yang, poking her head out of the changing room to put the twins into another outfit.

Ruby thought for a moment, her head tilting to the side humming all the while, "Hmm. Not really, I haven't seen Blake and her weapon yet."

"They're probably getting clothes on some other section of the store." Added Weiss.

"Oh!" piped up Ruby, "That reminds me, what happened to Bumblebee and Crescent Rose–Eeep!"

The moment she said her weapon's name a pair of arms quickly wrapped around her waist and her head was nestled in between a pair of now quite familiar breasts.

She could then feel hot breath brush over one of her ears. "Hello Ruby~" A husky voice dripped like honey flowing into them.

Weiss sighed at the sudden intrusion, Speak of the devil and she will come. She thought.

"I hope you like my outfit. I searched everywhere to get it juuu~st right," she tightened her hug affectionately, "Are you excited?" Crescent Rose asked, then released Ruby from her grip and stepped back.

Ruby was actually kinda excited at the prospect of Crescent Rose's outfit, wondering what kind of cool look she came up with. She was almost reminded of the time back at signal when she had just made Crescent Rose. She was so excited with finally building her own weapon that she actually had gotten quite ahead of herself and installed every kind of accessory, add-on, and basically everything but the kitchen sink (but not for lack of trying) onto her. What ended up with a huge mess of parts that looked really cool, but it was also an amalgamation of too much stuff that she wouldn't even be able to use most of the time as well as it being too heavy for her to even carry. Her uncle Qrow had face-palmed hard enough to cause the birds nearby to fly off in a panic when she finally finished the monstrosity and showed it to him.

That day she learned that form follows after function, though it didn't hurt to have a bit of flair here and there. But not after a very long lecture from said uncle.

Ruby quickly turned around to take a look at her weapon and as she laid her eyes on her, Ruby's face turned scarlet just as quickly while letting out a prudish squeak.

Yang on the other hand, peaking out of the changing closet, let out a low wolf-whistle, her own cheeks tinged in a blush. She even made a point so that neither Ember nor Celica would be able to take a look at Crescent Rose's attire.

Crescent Rose wore nearly an exact copy of Ruby's own outfit, but with several alterations. Like Ruby, she wore a black short sleeve blouse, but instead of one that buttoned up all the way, she opted for one that left a very generous amount of her cleavage. This was not helped by the fact that her corset was large enough to push up her breasts making them, if it were even possible, stand out even more. Her combat skirt or her "combat" micro-skirt that was so short that it might as well have not been there since every time she took a step it would give a clear peek at her panties, let alone how much more exposed she would be if she were to enter an actual fight. Not only that, but her stockings, while long, didn't reach up all the way under her skirt. Not that they would have been able to, and were strapped to her panties leaving open and emphasizing a provocative amount of skin along her thighs. On her wrists were a pair of bright red frilly corsages with black lace and on her feet were a pair of blood-red stiletto heels adding a couple inches to her already impressive height. Crescent Rose had also managed to find a large red cloak with hood, which completed the outfit.

To put it simply, if Ruby's body filled out in the next couple of years and she were ever to quit her training to become a huntress and turn into a stripper. What Crescent Rose wore probably wouldn't be too far of a stretch of the imagination what Ruby's stage outfit would be.

Between Ruby's squeak and Yang's whistle, it was enough to prompt Weiss herself to turn around and see the results.

Her reaction was to be expected.

Weiss' face went pink, much more obviously so with her pale complexion. Then into outrage.

"WHAT IN REMNANT ARE YOU WEARING!?" She screamed, drawing the attention of some of the other shoppers in the store, "That is the most inappropriate dress I have ever laid my eyes on!"

Crescent Rose simply looked at her and blinked twice as if nothing were wrong, then a mischievous smile began to form on her face.

"Really?" Asked Crescent Rose, "Well personally I think that I look great." Twirling in place, allowing her micro-skirt to flare out and a clear view of her ass and giving it a light spank while her back was to them. Giggling playfully, "Besides, I'm sure that you're just jealous that I can make a look like this work." said Crescent Rose making direct eye contact with Weiss looking away only to glance at her chest.

Weiss' pink blush was soon replaced with red faced anger. "Me? Jealous? Yes you're completely right." Said Weiss sarcastically. "I'm quite envious that I'm not able to look like a harlot."

"Yes you are." said Crescent Rose, as if she were taking Weiss seriously.

"Um, Crescent Rose?" said Yang. "I'd hate to burst your bubble, but even I wouldn't wear something like that, and that's saying something." still trying her best to keep the Twins from sneaking a peak at Crescent Rose.

"You see? Even Yang says what you're wearing is completely inappropriate." said Weiss

Crescent Rose simply shrugged off their words. "Hmph, I'm pretty sure Ruby appreciates my outfit, right Ruby?" Asked Crescent Rose in a haughty tone then she turned her gaze towards Ruby.

While she had expected Ruby to blush at her new look and hopefully somewhat entice her as well, which was the whole reason she had picked out this outfit in the first place. But the look on Ruby's face unnerved her. Seeing a huge mess of emotions that ranged from embarrassment, prudishness, and even. . . fear? No. Fear wasn't the right word, it was too extreme. Nervousness? Closer, but still not right. Then it hit her. Ruby was uneasy with the way that she looked.

"Ruby?" She repeated, when Ruby had not given her a response. Concern and even some of Ruby's own unease creeping into her voice.

Ruby was unable to look at Crescent Rose. She could see that Ruby was pointedly avoiding her gaze from the woman, her eyes darting back and forth trying to concentrate on something other than her weapon.

Crescent Rose's heart sank at Ruby's expression. She had only wanted to show herself off to Ruby, much like Ruby had shown her off to most of her friends and other huntsmen that she met. She was proud of her body, she was beautiful because Ruby had worked tirelessly to perfect her design. She was Ruby's pride and joy of course, but the look on her face said otherwise.

It was at that point that she began to feel the stares of the other shoppers who were now looking in their direction, or more specifically. Her.

Back at Beacon she never really paid much mind as to how the other students would look at her. Crescent Rose mostly had worn the clothes that Yang had lent her and it wasn't much of a problem. But now, wearing this outfit, it sent a disquiet chill down her spine at the number of now curious onlookers. Thinking back, at first it had seemed like a good idea but now she wasn't so sure anymore. Although she would have enjoyed spending time with Ruby dressed as she was, as well as being able to rub it in to the Ice Queen's face, which was just an incidental plus. She didn't want to draw that kind of attention towards herself and in turn in the same direction as Ruby. She could imagine what might happen if she did go through with it and buy this outfit and those thoughts didn't sit well with her.

"Just remember who exactly is paying for your wonderful outfit, and I'm definitely not going to buy something like that. Especially one that makes you look like a Promiscuous Call Girl." Said Weiss, she then thought, Goodness knows what would happen if Father were to ever look into my expenditures and find out what exactly I had spent my allowance on. "Besides, I'm only doing this because Ruby asked me to." Finished Weiss.

The effect of Weiss' words were only compounded by Myrtenaster's hard stare that seemed to tell her, This is by far the most idiotic thing you've ever done.

Crescent Rose nearly froze. Now what was she going to do? She had seemed so adamant to get this outfit, and now that she didn't want anything to do with it? She couldn't admit that, not in front of everyone. She began to think fast of an excuse, anything just so that she could leave and go look for something else. When it hit her. Crescent Rose could feel the cool blow of air from a nearby air-vent caress her exposed thighs.

"Actually, you know what?" Said Crescent Rose, trying to keep face. "I changed my mind. As much as I love this outfit, Vale's weather is a bit too chilly for something like this." She then began to walk off to find the clothes she had borrowed from Yang.

Crescent Rose wandered through the many racks of clothes within the clothing store, running her hand through the veritable curtains of clothing. Now into her loaned clothes and out of her previous outfit, and thankfully the stares that felt like cold slime running down her back were gone and she could relax once more.

"Stupid. Stupid. Stupid!" she hissed under her breath, punctuating each word with a mild hit to her temples with her closed hands. How could I have been so stupid? she thought.

Crescent Rose passed through several sections, glancing about and surprised at the wide range of different articles of clothing the store had. Never noticing with her earlier tunnel vision to find the most provocative dress which was similar to Ruby's.

Her thoughts of self loathing pushed aside as she got a better look at all the different clothes the store carried, And I thought those weapon expos had a lot of variation. Thought Crescent Rose.

She passed through women's, men's, children's, formal wear, swimwear, and pretty much everything else one could think of. Crescent Rose took particular note of the exotic underwear section and made sure to remember to pass through and sneak in a set or two when they were about to leave. A little something that she'd reserve for a special occasion.

Through her musings of what else she should try and sneak past Ice Queen, a voice spoke up beside her.

"Excuse me, miss. Are you looking for anything in particular?"

Crescent Rose looked to her left and saw one of the store clerks. She was of medium height, with fair skin and brown her tied up into a ponytail. She was wearing the standard blue uniform which made them stand out from the customers.

Taken slightly aback by the sudden intrusion she looked down at the woman who was smiling at her, she was able to bring her thoughts in order after a few moments.

"Yeah, umm, I'm not really sure about what exactly I want to wear, my first choice didn't work out so great. So maybe you could help me out?" responded Crescent Rose.

The woman's smile grew brighter at the prospect. "Of course." She then gave Crescent Rose a quick up and down with calculating eyes. "Hm. . ." she hummed, " Follow me if you could, miss." As she walked towards the women's section, "I'm sure I can find something you might like. But I guess I should ask first would you like a flashier or maybe a more conservative look?" Asked the clerk.

Crescent Rose thought about it for a moment, thinking back to her first outfit and guessing that the clerk probably won't make her wear anything as extreme as that, before replying, "I'm not really sure."

The clerk gave her another once over, her brows furrowed, "But I'm assuming that your motif would be mostly red and black, maybe even some silver accessories?" she asked.

Crescent Rose thought about it for a second. Well red and black were her real colors, apart from the grey of the steel of her blades, There isn't really anything else I could wear. she thought when she tried imagining those three colors in combination with anything else and then answered, "Yeah, I guess." Then added, "But I don't really know what kind of style would fit me."

"Well I guess we'll just have to try a bunch of different styles before we find something that fits, miss." said the woman.

While they went through the store the clerk grabbed several different clothes from different racks and laid them on her arm. By the time they reached once of the many changing rooms laid throughout the store the clerk was nearly up to her face with clothes.

"Just step in and try this on." Said the clerk, handing Crescent Rose some clothes.

Crescent Rose looked at them curiously then shrugged before walking into the changing room. She quickly changed into the clothes before stepping out.

She found the clerk waiting for her, standing attentively, "So what do you think?" she asked.

Crescent Rose looked at herself in the large mirror in front of her. It was a black sweatshirt with red trimming around the seams, collar, and cuffs. It hugged snugly against her body, greatly emphasizing her large bust despite being somewhat a conservative style. The skirt that the clerk picked out for her, was black with a red lace trim and reached down to her knees, quite similar to Ruby's combat skirt, but suited more for casual wear.

"It looks pretty nice, but I don't think the style really fits me. . ." replied Crescent Rose honestly. Put some glasses on me and I'll look like a librarian. No thank you. She thought.

The clerk nodded before passing her another set of clothes, "Well I thought that we should start with something a bit more simple, but I'm guessing that isn't really your shtick."

"I guess so. I'm looking for something that I can wear to most places, and" Crescent Rose somewhat blushed at having to admit this to a complete stranger, "something that will catch a certain someone's eye."

The clerk's ears perked up at her words and a grin grew on her face. "Well I think I may have just the thing that you might be looking for." she said, then rummaged around the stack of clothes which were now laid down across the large cushioned seats and picked out several items of clothing. "Here, put these on first then I'll hand you the rest of the outfit once they're on."

Crescent Rose gave a nod and took the few pieces handed to her and entered the changing room. She stripped and discarded the previous outfit that she was wearing and began to put on what seemed like the first of many.

The first was a black tank-top, that was fitted like the previous sweatshirt but this one ended just above her navel. Next was a deep red leather jacket with black trim, which fit her pretty well, save for the fact that she couldn't zip it up past her chest. After that was a pair of black denim short shorts. She was then handed a pair of striped red and black knee high socks and pa pair of black boots with red laces and silver buckles.

She stepped out and looked herself over in the mirror with the clerk waiting expectantly. "So how about it?" she asked.

"I don't know. . ." replied Crescent Rose. But she did in fact know, her outfit looked an awful lot like what Yang usually wore and she definitely didn't want to get that "older sister" vibe with Ruby. She wanted something that would put herself apart from the rest and make Ruby really go "Wow".

"But before you say anything, while you were in there, I took the liberty and grabbed some accessories to go with it," said the clerk, taking out a large black box and opened it in front of Crescent Rose, placing it down and grabbing a few pieces out.

She brought out a silver ring and handed it to Crescent Rose who wore it on her right hand. Afterwards she was shown a number of earrings of different makes and styles, one in particular caught her eye and it was a silver earring with a small rose that hung from a chain.

She picked it up and clasped it on her ear. Maybe I can have something like this with Ruby's emblem made when I have the time, thought Crescent Rose.

Looking within the box again she also spotted a black rosary with a bright red gem in its center, which hung from a leather choker and with the help of the clerk put it around her neck. Looking at herself once more in the mirror, she decided that the accessories definitely added some character to the outfit. Maybe with some makeup it might even complete the look. But ultimately she decided against it. Even with the look becoming somewhat more of her own, it still reminded her of Yang and Crescent Rose didn't want that.

Shaking her head she took off the earring, choker, and ring and placed them back into the jewelry box. "It looks good, in all honesty but it just reminds me of what someone I know already wears and I don't want them to think I'm copying them or anything."

The clerk's mouth made an o-shape in understanding, "I'm sorry, my mistake. I'll get you another outfit right away."

She quickly walked off in search of some more clothes, leaving Crescent Rose alone with a pile of clothes that she had already tried on and another pile waiting for her to wear.

Shrugging to herself Crescent Rose grabbed a random over-shirt and pair of pants. Might as well try some other stuff on while she waited.

The shirt Crescent Rose picked out was a black and red chinese shirt, but unlike the one Ren would normally wear, there was a large button above the slits where the other buttons would latch on to and the collar was a short v-neck. The bell sleeves were very wide, but didn't interfere with her hands. The pants were plain black and tight fitting, but allowed her a wide range of motion. She decided to keep the combat boots, finding them quite comfortable.

After stepping out of the changing room, Crescent Rose surveyed herself on the larger mirror trying to take a look at her new look from all angles. It looked nice enough, but it seemed to be off in a way.

"Oh, have you decided on that one?" Asked the clerk, she seemed to have arrived while she was changing.

"I'm still not sure, this one feels like there's something missing." Answered Crescent Rose, unable to shake the feeling.

"That shirt is a part of a set, see that big button? That's where you clasp the one-shoulder cape. Perfect for keeping the cold out." The clerk rummaged through the pile once more and pulled out the article in question. The cape was large and was meant to fit an adult, which suited Crescent Rose just fine, reaching down to her mid-calves. It was a bright red color, not as vibrant a red as Ruby's own cloak but it was still a few shades brighter than her own hair.

"Here, let me." said the clerk, stepping in front of Crescent Rose and draped the cape across her shoulder and clasping the front of the cloak on the button, then reached around for the black leather strap that went under her arm and attached it to the same button. "There, how does it feel?" she asked.

Crescent Rose rolled her shoulders a bit and found that the cape didn't move around her shoulders, but rested comfortably and securely across them. She looked at herself in the mirror and the cape did in fact bring the whole thing together, much like Ruby's own hood did.

Overall she did like it. Like the other outfits she did like them, but some parts of it didn't appeal to her. She did like the chinese shirt, but the cape had to go. Crescent Rose unbuttoned the cape and hung it up on a hook. She then undid the shirt and took it off and set it aside, asking the clerk if they had a similar shirt, but one without the buttons for a cape and a size smaller. She took off her t-shirt and changed into a red fitting tank-top and donned the new black and red chinese shirt and left it undone, not that she would have been able to close it anyway, but it did fit rather well despite it being left open.

Crescent Rose looked herself over in the mirror one last time, she decided that she liked the look. It was just the right amount of sexy, the tank-top hugging her curves nicely and showing a decent amount of cleavage. The shirt covered up most of her exposed skin and it left her looking halfway decent, something that she hoped would make the washboard of an Ice Queen shut her mouth for one, which solved the problem of attracted unwanted attention to herself. She also noted that in a way she kind of paired up yet contrasted with Ruby's own outfit.

"An odd choice of style, but I do have to admit it does suit you." commented the clerk.

"Yeah, it sure does." replied Crescent Rose, I can't wait for Ruby to see this. She thought.

"That's all well and good but y'know it is a bit plain, and I think you could use a few accessories." Said the clerk as she began to take out her box of jewelry and other accessories.

A stray tricolor cat sauntered at a leisurely pace. Like all cats it didn't have a care in the world, and why should it? Food was plentiful, all it had to do was rub up against the legs of a couple random humans and purr loud enough to get their attention, maybe paw against their legs for insurance, and they'd be more than willing to give it some food.

Now it went along its way through the city. The day had been quite normal for the cat after convincing some humans for food it went through its usual routes, it would have remained normal if it weren't for the strange human-that-did-not-smell-like-a-human-that-also-let-out-this-weird-hum followed it. This was nothing new for the cat, every now and then some young human would decide to follow the cat, and if it were particularly annoying, try to catch it. But the cat has lived in these streets all its life and it wasn't going to get caught today.

The cat decided that it was right about time it should ditch this weird smelling and noisy thing and darted down one of the many alleyways of the city and ducked underneath a dumpster.

Usually after doing this most humans would just give up following the cat after a few minutes of useless calling, prompting, bribing with more food, etcetera. But what the cat didn't expect was that the human-not-human to lift up the half-full dumpster over its head with a big smile over its face gazing down at the cat.

"Why are you hiding underneath here, friend?"

The cat quickly reacted and dashed off, it's ears turned back as it heard the crash of the dumpster being unceremoniously dropped then the sound of footsteps following after it.

"Ah, wait!"

While having someone or something chase after the cat so stubbornly was nothing new, this was the first time that anything had lifted lifted a dumpster just to get to it.

The cat quickened its pace and went further down the alleyway while the weird smelling not-human's footsteps also sped up to match the cat's pace. The cat then just ran as fast as it could in attempt to get rid of the not-so-human down through the back-alleys of the city.

Left.

Right.

Right again.

Straight.

Another left.

Straight once more.

Up a stack of boxes.

Jump.

Land onto a fire escape.

Into an open window.

"Where are you going?"

Underneath and between the random human's legs.

Ignore the human's scream.

Out the open door.

Stop.

The cat turned its head to check and its eyes widened to see that the human-like thing was climbing through the very same window it had entered through. So it started to run once more.

Down the hall.

Up the stairs.

It could hear the footsteps coming closer to it.

Through another open door

Up onto the rooftop.

"What are you doing?!"

Off the roof.

Land on the awni–Scratch that.

Get caught in the arms of the lookalike-human, which was not part of the plan.

"That was not very safe, friend." Said the not-really-human, as it landed on the street below.

The cat struggled against the grip holding it, digging its claws in and even attempting to bite the human-like-thing.

But for all its efforts were for naught. The very-human-looking-not-human did not seem to be deterred by the cat's actions, which seemed to have no effect.

"Oh? You wish for me to let you go, friend?"

The grip slacked slightly and the cat raced off once more away from this irritating human-looking-thing.

"Wait for me, friend!"

It wouldn't just give up. The cat just kept running as far and as fast as it could, they both had gone a fair distance away from where they had started. The cat crossed a gravel path with big pieces of metal and concrete lying along it. The loud noise of bells and the flashing yellow lights signaled the arrival of the big fast moving metal thing that ran along where the gravel path and the long bright colored poles moving by themselves came down high over the cats head.

The human-looking-thing remained a few yards behind the cat, ignoring the loud noises and flashing lights, its arm outstretched.

The cat was halfway across the gravel path in between the big metal pieces and the sound of the big loud metal box thing grew with each passing second.

The cat had crossed over the gravel path and the probably-not-human got closer to the big pieces of metal. When suddenly

CLANK

The big loud fast metal box things passed by and the sudden noise that the big loud fast metal box things made the cat pause in its tracks. Turning around to see that the not-human-thing had stopped pursuing it, in fact it could no longer see it at all. The cat took this as a good sign to finally shake it off its pursuer and disappeared into the streets.

"Well howdy everybody, what do you think?" Announced Bumblebee as she walked towards the changing rooms where Ruby, Weiss, Myrtenaster, Yang, and Ember and Celica were hanging around.

They all turned to see Bumblebee strut towards them with her lips turned in a big grin, each step she took was punctuated by a small metal clink.

Weiss took one good look at her and immediate face-palmed.

"You have got to be kidding me!"

Author's notes: Hey everyone! I know that this chapter has been a long time coming and I'm sorry for taking so long, BUT! I have good news, my muse is coming back to me and I've been writing like a maniac for the past few days. As I post this I'm getting started on chapter 9 and I really want to get the story moving forward, and I'm sure you all are as well. And don't worry we'll be moving on from clothes and what not and get into the real action soon enough.

Also I would like to say that Ruby vs The Machines made it past 500 followers and 45,000 views! This is way more than I could ever have expected and I would like to thank you all for your support, kind words, and encouragement. I cannot believe how big this story has gotten despite its somewhat sporadic update schedule and low word/chapter count. Now as a special treat for all my readers I will be posting a poll for which humanized weapon will be showcased next on my user page.

Again, I would like to thank my amazing friend Yokai Moon for her amazing work pre-reading my story. It would not be as good as it is without her help.

Well that's all I have to say for now. I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and don't forget

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