Fissure vs. Lockjaw
The ground under Celine's feet exploded, sending her flying to her left. Drooling razor-sharp jaws snapped shut around the exact spot she'd been standing on mere seconds ago. "Twins, hang back to protect Crescendo! Gungnir and Quasar, blind and zone off the one to the south!" Celine's commands fell on deaf ears. Lyra was nowhere to be seen - certainly invisible - while Lukas was fumbling around with his fibres, doing nothing useful. Lynn threw the southernmost of the two quadrupedal dinosaur-esque creatures up into the air, after which Storm gave it a punch that sent it flying into a nearby tree. "PSY-FIVE!", yelled the twins in unison, jumping up to give one another a double-hand high-five.
Launched by a gust of wind, Michelangelo flew past, scooping up Iris moments before the other creature's jaws would've bifurcated her. "Got her, sis!" Celine sighed in relief, kicking up a boulder from the ground and punching it. It broke apart into large, sharp chunks that flew at the monster, knocking it off-balance for a moment. A burst of iridescent light washed over it, dazing the dinosaur-thing - and Michelangelo. Vines constricted its four legs, and when it came to again, it tangled itself up while trying to swipe at Pea, who was dashing around and in between its legs.
"Nexus, Maelstrom, focus!" Whether Celine's command was too late or they were just not listening to her was uncertain, but the final remaining creature swept them both aside using its tail. Celine rushed into action, knocking it back with a boulder before skidding to a halt in front of it. The beast dashed towards her and raised its head up into the air, preparing to slam it down. "Celine, watch out!" She didn't respond. The split second before she would've been crushed, she dashed to the left, and the monster's head slammed into the ground, leaving an indent in the stone underfoot and kicking up big chunks of rock. Suddenly, these chunks reversed in mid-air and flew back to the creature's head. Then, they merged together, trapping the creature's head against the ground in a large stone cylinder.
"See? No need to worry. I'm 1B's number one for a reason, ya know?" Celine joked, hiding her very upset expression from her classmates as the two creatures went limp with a whirring noise. Pea spoke up to break the stunned silence. "WOO! Well done, team! I told you guys we'd ace this!" Just as the class'd finished cheering for their victory, Roboutique walked towards them, expression unreadable as usual. "Miss Roboutique! Impressive, right, right?! What's our grade?" Pea asked, bouncing up and down in an attempt to enter her line of vision.
"As your mentor, I'm proud of you all. You've all made great progress since you started here. Frankly, I'd never guess that was only three months ago." Marie paused for a moment, and then continued. "However, as your teacher, I give you all a three out of ten. Your coordination was lacklustre, and you were all far too reckless. Your attacks were poorly thought through at best." With that complete mood-killer, she turned around and walked away.
Eight hours later, Celine Moriello stared at the flickering campfire, alone. Not counting Asil, Lukas and Lyra, who hadn't even come here for as far as Celine knew, Michelangelo had been the first to depart to the cabins - he was just tired, she reckoned. Next were Lynn and Storm, which she'd barely noticed, since they barely spoke to the class. Pea and Coren had argued over something completely nonsensical and stormed off in different directions. The boys' cabin was in neither of those directions. Iris and Ayan had stuck around for a little longer. The three of them talked about their experiences in high school. She felt like she understood them a whole lot better, but it did nothing to fix her mood. At least she didn't have to force that smile now that everyone was gone.
The crack of a tree branch jolted Celine out of her half-dozing, half-dreaming daze. For the first minute after Roboutique sat down across from her, neither of them said anything. "H-" "Bat-Erdene's doing well. It's a shame he couldn't make it to training camp, but his leg will have recovered by the end of the week." They'd both begun speaking at the same time, but Marie had happened to answer the exact question Celine was going to ask anyway. "Good." Two more minutes of silence. Celine was too exhausted to hide her frown at this point. "Still thinking about today's training session?" In lieu of words, she simply nodded.
Marie moved to sit down next to Celine, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Knowing the right course of action is one thing, miss Moriello. Getting through to your teammates is something else entirely. Just give it some time." "Can I? I mean, last mission was a disaster, miss Durand. Bat-Erdene broke his leg because of me. If I was a better leader - if I could do something to just convince them to listen, no one would've gotten hurt." Celine's voice got stuck in her throat for a moment, and she stopped speaking to get her breathing under control.
"You're still a very new class. No one's going to be able to fully depend on everyone else instantly. At most, they'll lean on who they already know. Like Lynn and Storm for example, or you and Michelangelo. As a leader, it's up to you to take that first step. Put your full trust in your teammates in battle - even if it works out poorly every so often - and try to connect with them outside of it." Then, Marie put her hands on her knees and stood up. "And go to sleep. You were supposed to be in bed half an hour ago, if I recall. That goes for you as well, miss Arcturus."