Although both were incarnations, Annie usually had almost no interaction with Makima. However, through Su Modie's shared memories, she was well aware of that woman's way of doing things.
Makima didn't view the "dogs" she controlled as human at all, and she even lacked basic empathy for her fellow Villainess companions.
She only cared about herself and her Master, Su Modie.
Any other existence was merely a disposable consumable meant to advance her plans.
Sending Camilla to the Thunderbolts was no different from pushing her directly into an insatiable pit of fire.
Facing Annie's warning, Makima remained noncommittal, her tone still calm: "Miss Camilla is a very capable young lady. If she joins, it would be a massive boost to the Thunderbolts' combat power."
These words sounded polite, but in reality, they were steeped in deep-seated arrogance and disregard.
Because Makima wasn't responding to Annie at all; she was bypassing her to speak directly to Su Modie behind the scenes.
She knew that Annie, a mere C-Class Avatar, had no say in the matter.
Not just Annie, even she, an S-Rank incarnation, didn't have the final word.
The true final decision-making power was held solely by Su Modie.
Now it was Su Modie's turn to be in a bind.
You Villainesses... can't you just get along in peace...
To be fair, Makima had a point.
Camilla had Bruce Banner's blood in her veins, making her essentially the Hulk's half-daughter.
This power would definitely be useful in the future, but Su Modie wasn't so utilitarian that she would use her own Villainess's bestie as a consumable.
The bond between her Villainesses was far more important than a high-level worker.
After all, Su Modie knew exactly what kind of personality Makima had.
Annie's concerns were indeed valid.
Makima was notoriously cold-blooded in her work. Coupled with Annie's current raw strength—unlike Unohana Retsu or Reze, who could at least pose a threat to Makima—if something actually happened to Camilla in the Thunderbolts...
Annie wouldn't even have a place to seek justice.
In her original World, Annie had already lost a bestie.
Now in a different World, Su Modie still hoped she could enjoy the life of a normal girl. Besides, even if she coveted Camilla's combat power, there was no need to have Makima step in. Wouldn't it be a better solution to let Annie win her over herself?
Having figured this out, Su Modie teased: "Annie, I'll talk to Makima. As for you... don't be so stiff."
"This girl clearly has feelings for you. If you give her a little sweetness and coax her over to your side, you can rightfully reject Old Makima's proposal."
Just like how Lux treated Ghost Rider back then, sometimes it wasn't necessary to rely entirely on Makima's Control to win someone over.
These words actually made Annie feel a bit embarrassed.
What did she mean by 'clearly has feelings for her'...
What kind of feelings... in what way...
How come she hadn't noticed that Camilla had feelings for her?
Furthermore, she had no intention of dating at all, let alone with an idiot like Camilla...
Even though she heard the other Villainesses making merry every night and had learned a lot by osmosis...
She wasn't mentally prepared for this kind of thing yet.
After all, this body was only sixteen years old, even a few months younger than Jinx—a pure minor.
While Annie was hesitating, Makima on the other end was very well-behaved, stating she would absolutely follow Su Modie's decision.
However, she still left a light remark:
"Of course, we can also look at Miss Camilla's own wishes, can't we?"
...
The assessment came to an end.
An absent-minded Annie and Avril went to the hall together and printed out this month's report card from the self-service terminal.
The overall grade was assessed across six subjects—
Melee Combat, Espionage and Infiltration, Physical Challenge, Weapon Specialization, Vehicle Piloting, and Interpersonal and Psychological Evaluation.
Annie glanced at the printout and her eyebrows twitched.
These grades were incredibly lopsided.
The first three—Combat, Espionage, and Physical—were all perfect scores without suspense. But when it came to the fourth and fifth, Weapon Specialization and Vehicle Piloting, the scores plummeted, barely scraping the passing line.
Weapon Specialization didn't just test the use of cold weapons; it also tested the disassembly, assembly, and calibration of various modern firearms.
Annie was indeed a Master at throwing blades, but she knew absolutely nothing about those modern firearms.
As for vehicles, it was even worse... she didn't even have a driver's license.
Annie's former World was still one of riding horses and swinging blades, so she had never driven a car or held a gun; she hadn't even touched them.
Naturally, she couldn't compare to those classmates who came from special forces and practiced with guns and drove cars every day.
As for the last subject, Interpersonal and Psychological Evaluation...
Annie looked at the single-digit score and could only scoff in her heart.
If it weren't for her outstanding looks and solid performance, Annie would definitely be a total outcast at the S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy.
She couldn't be bothered to socialize and didn't even try to fake it. Moreover, because she often injured other students during assessments and had a terrible attitude toward the instructors, her grade in this course had almost dropped to the freezing point.
This actually wasn't Annie's fault.
She had been raised as a suicidal humanoid weapon since childhood; was it realistic to expect her to have a healthy social psychology?
That was simply unrealistic.
To even get these few points, Annie had to thank Avril. If she hadn't benefited from Avril's presence, Annie probably wouldn't have even gotten those.
However, based on the absolute dominance of her raw strength in the first three subjects,
even with one failing grade, Annie'S-Rank on the overall leaderboard remained steadily at fourth place. And the person ranked fifth behind her was...
"Holy crap, how am I only fifth?!"
A burst of hurried footsteps approached.
Camilla rushed into the hall, looking at the rankings on the large electronic screen with a face full of frustration.
Camilla (Continuing to use VIPER's image as a substitute, since there's basically no difference in appearance anyway)
How did she end up stuck beneath that brat Annie again... how many times has it been now?
Camilla grumbled internally, though her dissatisfaction hid a spark of joy she hadn't even noticed herself—as if this were a kind of indirect bond.
Over the past six months or so, the Academy had held six or seven assessments of various sizes.
Annie's grades fluctuated wildly.
When the Combat subject carried a high weight, she could take first place. When Weapons, Driving, and Psychology were tested more, she would drop out of the top ten. But the strange thing was, no matter what rank Annie achieved, Camilla was always like a piece of sticky tape, right on Annie's tail.
Camilla was starting to suspect there was some kind of inside job in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s scoring system.
But this 'inside job'... she actually quite liked it. If it could just put Annie behind her, she'd like it even more~
Of course, it was normal for Camilla and Annie's scores to be close.
The things they were good at and the things they were bad at were almost identical.
As for Avril's grades... unlike these two little monsters, one gold and one green,
Avril's grades were quite mediocre, ranking past a hundred. Only her Interpersonal and Psychological Evaluation was slightly higher. She was the exact opposite of Annie and the other; a typical 'Normie' with low grades but high popularity in the Academy, serving as a perfect complement to Annie and Camilla.
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