Chapter 3

"Good morning LIN!" Ashley bowed shortly.

Alex patted her head as he walked by. The rest greeted him with less vigour, Andrew way less than the others.

"I suppose you are Squad 10, aren't you?" he looked at them.

"Yup! That's us all right!" Ethan affirmed, smiling widely.

Alex adjusted his glasses and smiled back at him. He turned to them all. "Okay then. Let's get down to business as I have somewhere else to be."

Suzanne moved a little closer to him.

Andrew rested his chin on his palm.

Alex looked very serious now.

"Squad 10, you have been assigned a class C-mission file!" He brought forth the file he was holding.

Ashleys' eyes glowed with pride. She and Ethan exchanged excited looks.

"All five members are needed for the total completion of this mission. A report on the mission must be made by dusk today," Alex went on.

Suzanne's eyes widened.

This was it; their first mission.

Andrew wished the man would hurry it up. He glanced at his wristwatch and sighed. Ryan was also paying close attention. It seemed he was the only one bothered.

Andrew shook his head. I really shouldn't bother about annoying subjects like this. He thought inwardly.

"What's a class C-mission file?" Ethan asked, a bit puzzled.

"Quiet Ethan! Let him finish!" Suzanne snapped at him.

Aiden shot both of them a nasty look and they both sat down and looked the other way.

Alex glanced through the open file. "Ah, yes, where was I?" he continued.

"A class C-mission file is a mission that earns money for the Hero League and since you're just entering E-rank, I picked out a simple one for you."

"Make money for Hero League?" Suzanne questioned, a confused look on her face.

"Ah yes, like err....," Alex turned to look at Aiden for help.

Aiden rolled his eyes and addressed them, "It means you do casual things: Nothing too serious."

"Nothing too serious! That's not fair!" Ethan protested as he got up.

"Sit down now Ethan," Gwen told him calmly.

"Anyway, that aside. Your first ever mission is to--" Alex flipped over the full page he was holding.

Ashley looked on with googly eyes. It can't be that simple now, can it? She thought with glee.

"It is to find Mrs Paulina's dog, Patches." Alex said simply.

"That's it? To find a missing puppy?!" Ethan exploded.

"No way," Ryan looked at Alex unbelievably.

"We need more information on the looks of the dog and the last place it was seen," Andrew stated in a cool, bored tone.

"You're just gonna roll with it?!" Ethan asked sharply, turning to Andrew to give him an incredulous look.

Andrew flickered him a bored look before returning his eyes to Alex.

"But we trained so hard to get to E-rank! You can't just push us aside like we don't matter!" Suzanne protested vehemently as she also stood up to face Alex. She was embittered.

"Who names a dog Patches anyway?" Ashley wondered.

"Listen up, Squad," Aiden said and they all turned to him.

He stood up and walked to where they were.

"I know you feel cheated right now, but according to protocol, all E-rank must first go through the casual missions before beginning the real deal. Hero League must first confirm that you're ready to face the outside world," he told them as he crossed his arms on his chest.

"But this is just too simple!" Suzanne said crossly.

"Maybe, but you all need this as a stepping stone to move up to the next level if not--" Aiden turned his back at them and started walking towards the door.

He paused as he opened the door.

"--you might as well quit being a hero now."

He then left.

"Quit?!" Ethan gasped.

"What does he mean, Coach?" Ashley asked, turning to face Gwen.

Gwen sighed as she stood up. Aiden is way too blunt. She thought inwardly.

She smiled at them.

"No worries! It's just that Hero League really doesn't force anyone to be a hero so they can um...er....pull out if they feel everything's too much for them to handle. It's okay," she told them, trying to assure them.

"What happens when they leave? What'll happen to their team?" Ryan questioned coldly.

"Well it's no biggie. They get replaced that's all." Gwen laughed again, more out of awkward tension than humor.

"But you don't need to worry about it, cos you're all staying together." She also headed towards the door.

"Um....actually, now that I know, I --" Suzanne started after a nervous laughter but she swallowed down the rest of her statement after receiving evil glares from Ryan and Ethan.

Andrew just gave her a blank look.

"What was that, Suzanne?" Alex asked looking up from the file he was holding.

"He-he...nothing," she awkwardly plopped down on her seat.

"Bye guys! We'll see later!" Gwen waved from the doorway and made her exit.

They all turned to Alex.

"Okay, here is the documentation of the necessary information you need to know about the dog. Good day." Alex handed it over to Andrew who gave him a curt nod.

Alex also exited the room.

"What now?" Ashley asked as she faced Andrew expectantly.

Andrew's gaze flickered to her for a moment before returning to reading from the document.

"Hey! Andrew! She's talking to you!" Ethan yelled.

"Stop shouting, Ethan," Suzanne told him.

"I'm aware," Andrew replied nonchalantly, not looking up from the file. Ethan frowned deeply at that response but before he could react, Ashley walked up to Andrew's desk.

"Hey," she hit the table mildly.

"What is it?" he asked, looking up at her with a bored expression.

"It's not polite to ignore people," she told him.

"Well I don't care," Andrew replied flippantly and stood up.

"Let's go," he said to his Squad members and turned.

Ryan followed him. "Where are we going?" he asked coolly as they both exited the room.

"Hey! Ryan! Wait up!" Suzanne hurried after them.

"There she goes again," Ethan rolled his eyes as he and Ashley walked out after them.