Бесплатный фрагмент - Organization of Heroes – 1

Appeal from the author

Hello, my dear reader, I am Evgenia Kalko, but I think you guessed it yourself from the cover of the book. In my address, I wanted to tell the story of the creation of this book. More precisely, what inspired me to write it.

In 2011, Lego released an animated series and a line of designers based on it called “Hero Factory”. I watched the series and I liked it. I especially liked the first four episodes. But you know, I would like the creators to stretch the story for more than four episodes, develop some characters better and preserve this development for the remaining seven episodes of the series. But this can’t be changed, so I just accepted it and just moved on, then I got acquainted with the anime and manga “My Hero Academy”. Well, it would seem that what connects these two projects besides the word “heroes”? And the fact that I was inspired by these projects and finally decided to write my own story related to the heroes of their training and so on.

It’s up to you, my dear reader, whether I managed to write a good story with my own canon, rules and laws. Because you know better from the outside, as a rule.

Naturally, I made up the main canon for several years, there were various ideas that were not included in the book. For example, I wanted to devote the first half of the book to teaching Zeus, Felix and Flora at the Academy of Heroes, but then I changed my mind. So I got at least three main branches of characters, which I naturally tried to develop.

Before this story, I had not practiced in other genres except horror and thriller. If you are interested, then the collections “Nightmares”, “Tales by the campfire” and “Forest gatherings” will help you.

I didn’t put any special meaning into the story, as well as morality, but if it so happened, and you found some kind of morality here, some special life lessons, then congratulations, you still need to be able to do it. I just decided to write this story and contribute to the development of the genre based on the characters. Moreover, as a genre of literature, cinema, games and other things. Again, genres are not always limited to literature, cinema, or games.

The story was written easily, again due to the fact that the basic canon was thought out for more than one day and possibly several years. Again, you, as a reader and the target audience of this work, are more interested in whether the story is well told or not.

I also want to tell some particularly smart people who think that writing this is very easy. Some small stories and fairy tales, perhaps yes, but not similar stories like this. You need to follow the following points to write a good story:

• it is good to reveal the characters through memories, conversations, some details in clothes, manner of speaking, appearance, and so on;

• come up with a good story that will not leave the reader indifferent;

• come up with a clear motivation for the villain, the reason for his actions, his story and character, competently introduce him into history;

• develop heroes (if the hero is not one-character) and do not forget about this development if the story continues;

• be original. Since the story itself, as well as its characters, should not be plagiarism of another more famous story and the same famous characters, this is not only an indicator that you do not know how to write your own story and prescribe your heroes, so you can also get into a large amount of money because of this. However, if you really want to stuff a Sleeping Beauty into the history of Little Red Riding hood, then such a thing as “writing fan fiction on special sites” is absolutely legal, if you don’t profit financially from it;

• pay attention to some details that will play a role in the development of the story and the characters, they should be clear and easy to remember, so that at the end of the hero’s arch or the campaign of the development of the story, thoughts like “oh, so that’s what this detail said” arise;

• if there is some kind of backstory, then it must either be supplemented by something, or have its final version used throughout the story;

• a villain should be like a story, complement it and have a reason for becoming a villain if he was a positive hero at first;

• the world should be spelled out very well, its rules and laws should be observed by heroes and villains, but at the same time we should not forget about the simple laws of physics and logic, the latter can be excluded from the actions of the character if the hero or villain is extremely illogical in nature;

• the story should have a logical chain of events leading to the disclosure of the characters and the story itself.

Now in an era when everyone demands a logical story, revealed characters, when there is a fashion for ambiguous villains, it is very difficult to just sit down and write a story. In general, it is very difficult to write a large book with characters with whom readers may have associations.

Experience is needed here, and there should be quite a lot of it. The story should be addictive and interesting to the target audience, and not only. It is necessary to add life lessons to different parts of history, some wise phrases that will generally be useful for all ages.

In addition, many people believe that if they can sit down and write a book, then it should be saleable. According to the logic of such people, no experience, no talent, no good ideas and characters are needed, all you need is a computer or paper with a pen and money to print a book. And as soon as the book goes on sale, everyone just does what they say about this book, they buy it. The author receives an offer to film the book and so on. But no, writing is Russian roulette. Even many well-known authors can write a work that will not be interesting to their current audience, but will be interesting to another. Or no one will be interested at all.

This is the whole problem of the authors. They can kill years on the work, but it will not bring the desired income. Therefore, now many people need to get an education for a stable job and the same stable income. In case the book is not interesting to anyone at all, and will not be sold. Now writing is a Russian roulette with one cartridge, which is almost constantly pulled out, and the drum is turned for 15 minutes, and only then they shoot. That is, as a profession, writing is not an option at all.

Before moving on to the story itself, I will give some advice to young authors who want to pump their skin in this craft:

• follow the steps described earlier;

• think over the world before you start writing, come up with some significant dates, historical events and come up with their reflection in your history, so the world will be more thoughtful and interesting;

• come up with the growth of the characters, some turning points for them that will reveal them better or help them advance in personal growth;

• come up with some interesting conflicts in your opinion and reveal them in the course of the plot;

• come up with interesting characters and identify their characters, life principles, views, habits in history at various points;

• come up with plot twists that will be associated with characters who, for example, do not get along very well;

• be patient, because your story will take a long time to write;

• do not be afraid of experiments, because if they are not accepted now, they will be accepted in the future.

I also want to say that if there is no explanation through dialogues, some things can be found in the footnotes, there it is explained quite clearly and well.

Thank you for buying this book and sincerely hope that those who bought it will like it, and they will tell about this book, and they will also be interested. I sincerely hope that my first experience in this genre will be appreciated and will help me develop, as well as that it will attract new readers to my works.

I also want to warn you in advance that this work is of an exclusively entertaining nature, and has no purpose to offend someone’s feelings, views on life and the world, someone’s lifestyle and all that.

Chapter 1 “The eve of exams”

The morning began with a report on the third channel on TV. Against the background of teenagers training in melee and ranged combat, passing an obstacle course in white sports clothes, there was a brown-haired man in a strict gray suit and a blue tie. After the opening music, he began:

— The Academy of Heroes at the OG, or organization of Heroes, is famous for its graduates over the past one hundred and fifty years. Alexander Norst, — a photo of a tall gray-haired man in white clothes and with a cane in his hands appeared on the screen, — the owner of this academy, who received the largest rescue company in his 20s, was personally present at every final exam from this academy and personally conducted some lessons. It would seem that the Norst family owns most of the businesses in our galaxy: restaurants, private schools, universities, workshops, hardware stores, which are created by various scientists of the OG. What can I say about the scientific contribution of OG to the development of the galaxy. The final exam for all students at all three stages and transitional exams and appointment ceremonies are approaching — educational corridors with students, empty classrooms and several groups of students taking a break from lessons in the dormitory, in the city and at academic buildings appeared on the screen. — The week for young people studying here will be stressful.

At this minute of the report, one of the teachers at the Academy of Heroes turned off the TV built into the wall above the blackboard.

“You all have to do your best this week,” she told the class. — You are moving on to the third stage of training, the shortest of all, but at the same time the most important in your heroic career. Let me remind you that you are forbidden to interfere with the graduates of the first stage in their preparation for final exams. The guys have been preparing for it for 3 years. You know that as well as I do.

One brown-haired man raised his hand.

— Madame Bustier, we already know all this, why are you telling us this?

— Because I am your homeroom teacher, and before we say goodbye to most of you, I have to remind you about the rules of the Academy during graduation and award week.

A blonde woman in a strict blue suit with a pencil skirt sat down at her desk and began to read out the rules:

— Students are prohibited from interfering with other students moving to the next stage in preparation for the transition to the next stages of education. Students are forbidden to be distracted by extraneous things other than studying…

Half of the class was listening to her, while Flora Volkova, a girl with wavy brown hair braided into a high ponytail, with a scattering of freckles on her slightly tanned skin and green eyes, was sitting and drawing beautiful flowers in her notebook with a blue pen. Her blonde-haired and blue-eyed friend Rose turned to her:

— Let’s fail the exams for the third stage, we’ll win another six months for entertainment.

— Are you kidding? Volkova asked her, trying to figure out if her friend was joking about not passing the exam or not. — Then we will be loaded harder than the last four years combined. Plus, it will ruin not only our academic performance, but also the reputation of our heroes.

“Come on, you’re not planning on becoming a hero in the future,” the blonde rolled her eyes.

— What makes you think that? — the brown-haired woman was surprised.

“Your mom said,” came the reply.

Volkova lowered her gaze.

— My mom says a lot of things about my future. I’m going to be a hero, and she has nothing to do with it.

With that, the girls closed the topic. During the conversation, Zeus, a blue-eyed blonde, looked at Flora with a loving gaze. He was distracted by his thoughts by his best friend with red hair, pale skin and blue eyes, whose name is Felix.

— Friend, you’re drooling, — Zeus immediately looked away.

— Is it my fault that she’s so beautiful?

Felix just sighed.

— You don’t change. How many times has she turned you down? Five? Six?

“Eight,” Zeus admitted bitterly.

— Really? I lost count on the fifth. Will you give up trying?

— no. In our family, my father also received refusals from my mother more than once. Lucky for the tenth time. True, they divorced nine years ago, but still.

— At least you have both parents. You already know about my situation.

Zeus put his hand on his friend’s shoulder.

— Don’t worry about it. The main thing is that you have someone who will support you.

“That’s different, Zeus,” he sighed. — It’s just that sometimes I miss them so much.

After the class hour, the class was released to the dormitory to prepare for the exam at the end of the year. Flora continued to talk to Rosa about the exams this week. Volkova, having put an end to their dispute, ran into someone in the corridor, after which she dropped her notebook. A stranger in the military uniform of the Organization of Heroes picked up her notebook and handed it to the girl. It turned out to be Kai — one of the most famous heroes in OG, who is distinguished by his physical strength and cheerful character.

— I’m sorry, it happened by accident, — the girl began to apologize.

— Nothing, it happens to everyone.

The brown – haired man gave her the notebook and continued the conversation with his teammate — blue-eyed brunette Stella, with tanned skin. They went further down the corridor and disappeared around a bend.

— Do you think they’re dating? Rosa whispered her suggestion to her friend.

— Who knows, maybe yes, maybe no. In any case, it’s none of our business.

Flora went to her room, which she shared with two other girls from the second stage. On the way to her room, she came across a school trip. One of the scientists explained the system of education at the Academy.

— All heroes go through three stages of training: the first in the period from seven to ten years is to acquire theoretical knowledge and gradually prepare for physical training. The second stage, in the period from ten to fourteen years, consists in repeating the theory passed and improving the physical form of students. The third stage is the shortest, it lasts only one year, but it is no less important. Students are divided into a group of three people, and are assigned to a team of professional heroes by someone in an apprentice. In a year, a professional hero must teach all his skills and knowledge, teach how to detain criminals, provide first aid, and complete even the most difficult missions, often in a team or in a pair. At the end of the training, students either form independent teams or join the team of their teachers, but the latter has been only a couple of times in the last hundred and fifty years.

They went into the next room, and Flora continued on her way. Everyone at the Academy knew how this whole story with the heroes began. Two hundred years ago, the most dangerous villains began to appear in the city, who staged real brawls on the once peaceful streets. Peaceful passers-by and innocent people of all ages died in them. Then one of Alexander Norst’s ancestors first founded a team with fifteen trained fighters who fought against these disorders, and then they founded the OG and began to teach new members everything they knew themselves. Then scientists reached out to them, who helped in terms of equipment. In less than a year, the OG became one of the largest organizations in the city, which participated in the scientific activities of the city on an equal basis with everyone.

The organization was passed, as a rule, to the son, but the daughters who were at the head of the company were also known. And everyone knew perfectly well who would be the next director of the organization.

Zeus and Felix were on their way to the library when they accidentally bumped into Snow Norst. He was a tall man with pale skin, cold and blue eyes and prematurely graying hair, despite the fact that he is only 34 years old. Felix fell to the ground in surprise. The gray-haired man gave him a hand to help him get up, but Felix got up himself, not accepting Norst’s hand.

“I can do it without your help,” Felix Snow said rudely. The man just snorted and just went about his business further.

— Why do you dislike him so much? Zeus asked when Snow had moved a sufficient distance away.

“I don’t love him?” He hasn’t liked me since I was born. If you only knew how much he was against my admission to the Academy of Heroes. I still feel bad about it, even though seven years have passed since then.

— Yeah, dude, you’re out of luck. Snow is one of the greatest…

Felix stopped abruptly and turned to face his friend and said in an irritated voice:

— I know who he is. Let me remind you that I grew up in an Organization of Heroes.

— Yes, I’m sorry, I always forget that Alexander promised your parents to take care of you.

They returned to the room, changed into their sports uniforms and headed to the Academy gym to prepare for exams.

***

The prison of the Heroes Organization was at the lowest level of the company. It is impossible to escape from it, it is impossible to sink into it. Escape is impossible. One of the professional heroes went to the most secure camera and opened it. It contained one of the most dangerous criminals in the known universe.

— You will be released soon, — said the hero and the villain smiled.

Chapter 2 “The first task”

At the end of the week, all students who completed the first two stages of training were taken to the award hall. It was a huge and bright room with portraits of all the heroes who died during the execution. Several professional heroes and Alexander Norst were standing in front of the exit. On the table behind the director of the organization lay a black military uniform — supertechnological crowns, which at the touch of a button became a helmet, black military boots, trousers and bulletproof vests with the OG emblem — a shield with two crossed swords. When the students were built in three lines, Alexander began:

— You have passed the first two stages of training at the Academy of Heroes and now, after successfully passing all the exams, you will be divided into teams, and each of you will receive a mentor who will guide you and give you all their skills and abilities. I hope that each of you will use the acquired knowledge and skills exclusively for the purpose of rescuing, detaining criminals and helping civilians.

And he took the first set of clothes, and wanted to tell the name of the certified student, and when he came up to him to tell the name of his mentor, when a huge wolf burst into the room, moving on two hind legs and with tubes going from the back to the hands-guns.

Professional heroes immediately opened fire on him, while some students hid behind overturned tables. The others also started shooting at the villain. However, the villain did not care about anything. Zeus shouted to a classmate that he needed a rope. The guy immediately threw it to the blonde, who gave Felix one end, and they both ran around the villain in a circle and tied him up. Realizing the guys’ plan, Kai ran up to one wall and punched it with his fist, a jet of water immediately shot straight into the villain from the broken pipe, then the brown-haired man jumped back and Snow shot the villain with a cold projectile, which led to the freezing of the soaked villain. As a result, he turned into an ice statue, which was moved back to the cell.

All the hidden students were instantly excluded, and those participating in the so-called battle were transferred to the third and final stage.

“Felix,” Alexander said when it was Ginger’s turn, “Snow will be your mentor.

The guy wanted to object, but decided to keep silent, as did Snow. The guy just accepted a set of clothes, and then, returning to the room, the guy fell face down into the pillow.

“Why Snow?” “What is it?” he asked without raising his face. – Why him?

— I don’t know, dude, I don’t know, — Zeus answered him. — But think about the pros, we’re on the same team.

A guy named Al joined their conversation.

— What are you complaining about? I’m afraid of owls, and my mentor is a huge owl.

Felix lifted his face from the pillow.

— At least your mentors do not find fault with your every step and do not say that you are breathing incorrectly and because of this you will not become heroes. And I got this damn snow prince.

Out of anger, the guy threw a pillow into the wall.

— As if Alexander doesn’t know about my relationship with his son.

— I’m sure he didn’t make this decision out of nothing.

***

Snow walked into his father’s office with an angry face.

— Why should I be Felix’s mentor?

Alexander was sitting at his desk and making some notes in his journal.

“We both know why. You’ll look after him until he’s 15, and then we’ll see. And why are you against a guy being your student? I would be glad of such a chance.

— We both know why I’m against it! Snow began to get indignant. — I promised his mother to protect the guy, but if he is with me all the time, it will put him in even greater danger! Well, I can’t break my word to her.

— We all still remember her, love and miss her. She was dear to all of us, not just to you, son. But I am more than confident that if he is under your wing, he will be safe. And we both know that you won’t be around forever. That’s why I let him study at the Hero Academy. Even against your will.

— On the next task, it’s not me, but he can get hit.

— Snow, — Alexander slammed both palms on the table and got up from his chair, — the guy is your student and this is the final decision! If you want Felix to successfully live to an advanced age, teach him everything you know yourself and protect him for the next year!

— Well, yes, you know well how to do it, because you were not my mentor. Just like Crash, I didn’t learn from you. And you won’t understand my feelings!

Snow just walked out of the office, slamming the door, even more angry than when he entered this office. He went down to the command center by elevator, where Kai and Stella were already standing with their students — Zeus and Flora. Felix was standing a little way off, in uniform with his arms crossed and looking at the floor. Snow didn’t have to approach the guy. The teams of heroes gathered at the command post and distributed tasks to everyone.

“Team 4,” one of the scientists announced, looking at the tablet, “you are going to transport a particularly dangerous chemical substance from the planet Yu-32 to the neighboring galaxy to the planet T-17. Team 10, you are transporting particularly dangerous criminals from the city of Triss to the city of Dwarks on the planet Riss. Teams 6 and 3, you have peace talks between the Madam President and the Minister of Foreign Affairs from the planet Plava. Team 1, a royal family parade is planned on the planet Unique and there are suspicions that during the parade some of them will be shot by the rebels. This is the end of today’s tasks, all those who did not receive the task go on patrol to their sectors.

Snow, Kai, Stella, Zeus, Flora and Felix first went to get new weapons for beginners. It was a conventional blaster, but they could be switched from one type of charge to another at will. Cold, fiery, energetic or sound to choose from. Only after that they went to the hangar, where they found their ship. It was a huge gray flying ship designed to carry several passengers for several hours, for longer flights there were ships much larger than this.

Snow got behind the steering wheel, Kai was placed behind him, and everyone else was placed in the passenger part of the ship. While everyone was buckling in, Snow began to turn on the ship’s systems and grow permission to take off:

— Command Center, I am the commander of team 1 and the captain of the Alpha-3 ship, requesting permission to take off.

— Captain of the Alpha-3 ship, I give permission to take off, have a good job, — a young female voice answered him.

“All systems are ready for takeoff,” Kai Snow said. Automatic hangar doors opened, and a young male voice was heard:

— The tanks are full. The ship “Beta-6” to the take-off pad, — the ship left the hangar, the voice continued: — The ship “Alpha-3” to the take-off site.

Snow left with the crew on the ship from the hangar to the take-off pad, where he had already lifted it into the air and they went on a mission. After about two minutes, Kai said on the speakerphone:

— We are going out into the upper atmosphere of the planet, we ask you to stay in your seats with your seat belts fastened. There are vomit bags under the chairs, and oxygen masks above you, if you get sick, use them.

They overcame the upper layers of the atmosphere, after which Kai turned on the artificial gravity of the ship while talking on the speakerphone:

— You have gone into outer space, in less than two hours we will be on the planet Unique, if you want to eat, eat now, not before landing or you will vomit.

After that, he turned off the speakerphone and Snow switched to interplanetary speed, which would help them reach the planet in two hours maximum. At this time, the newcomers were discussing the mission.

— I can’t believe it, the first mission after that incident in the award hall! — Zeus was saying happily. — It’s so cool.

— If I were you, I would prepare for a meeting with the people of the planet Unique, — said Volkova, taking out a tablet with the necessary information.

— What’s wrong? the blond man asked.

— Attempts to kill members of the royal family have become more frequent on the planet today, — Volkova began her answer. — The King not so long ago involved the planet in a war with the planet Mirka, becoming an ally of the planet Rax. Not so long ago, the planet Rax won with its allies in this war, but this led to a complete collapse of the economy of both planets. The royal family restored economic relations with other worlds by selling useful resources such as gold, silver, coal. And also by a political marriage with the planet Isc. Now life is gradually getting back on track, but the rebels are trying to overthrow the royal family.

— So they are dissatisfied with the fact that they had a decline in the economy? Felix asked.

— It’s not that simple, — Stella got into the conversation of the young people. — The planet needs at least two more years to fully recover, the rebels do not understand this and are trying to “lift the planet from its knees” by overthrowing the current rulers and putting their man at the head of the state. Wake up as heroes for a year or two, and you will not face this. Just stick with the three of us and follow Snow’s orders as the leader of the group, and squeeze out, and the mission will be successful. Now let’s eat, then we won’t be able to do it because of the mission.

She unbuckled herself, went to a small locker and took out several tubes and gave one to each of the newcomers, and then went into the cockpit and gave one to her comrades.

“Thank you, Stella,” Snow and Kai said at the same time. Snow, without distracting himself from the road, opened the tube and began to “eat” all the contents. Kai, as soon as he sucked the contents for the first time, immediately grimaced.

— Is that bell pepper with tuna? — he asked, looking at the tube.

— I took the first ones that came along. Don’t quibble. They don’t say what it is.

Kai reluctantly continued, eating the hateful mixture. Food in tubes existed specifically for such flights and even with artificial gravity was used only in this way. At the factory, their contents were created taking into account the daily norm of nutrients. Moreover, there were simpler mixtures of combinations of two products from vegetables, berries, fruits, meat and fish. For example, tuna and rabbit, carrots and beef, raspberries and mackerel.

Chapter 3 “The Parade”

Flora continued to study the data about the planet Unique to be ready for anything. She began to briefly study the history of this planet, its culture and customs. At this time, Zeus is trying to attract the girl’s attention by hand-to-hand combat with Felix, which he loses after a couple of seconds. Felix knocked his friend to the floor and twisted him.

“I give up, I give up,” Zeus said several times in a strangled voice.

A red-haired friend of Zeus helped the blonde to get up, after which they competed in arm wrestling. Where the blond one has already won. Half an hour before landing, Kai turned on the speakerphone again:

— Attention, crew, we are approaching the planet Unique, we ask you to take your seats and buckle up. I remind you that the vomit bags are under the seats, and the oxygen masks are above you. In a few minutes we enter the upper atmosphere.

Zeus and Felix immediately stopped doing bullshit and sat down in their seats, strapped in. Stella performed diagnostics of the engine and fuel level. She reported that the tank was half empty and the engines were normal, after which she sat down in her seat and strapped herself in, braiding her long black hair into a low bun.

“I advise you to braid your hair like that,” Stella said to Flora. — It will be more convenient with a bundle.

Flora put down the tablet with the history of the planet they had almost arrived on and braided her hair into a low bun. A few minutes later they were in the atmosphere of the planet and flying to a major city.

— Dispatcher, I am the captain of the Alpha-3 ship, requesting permission to land.

— Alfa-3, what purpose did you arrive for? a man’s hoarse voice asked.

“I’m with Team 1 here on a mission from the Organization of Heroes to accompany the royal family during the parade,” the gray-haired man replied.

— Got it. I give permission to land. Land on pad 5.

And they landed. After that, the whole crew got off the ship.

“Okay, brief briefing,” Snow began, “follow my orders and don’t get all worked up. We’ll do the talking. We didn’t have enough problems with the royal family.

They were met by a young butler in a blue uniform and escorted to the throne room. There they met the queen and the king. The king was a short and plump man with half-gray hair, button eyes and a round face. The Queen was a tall, moderately thin woman with long blond hair and a slightly elongated face.

“I’m glad they sent you to help us,” the king said. — Welcome to the planet Unique.

“We are honored to be here, Your Majesty,” Stella said. — You don’t have to explain your problem to us, we already know everything we need about your situation.

— It’s nice to know that professionals are working, — only after this phrase did he pay attention to three newcomers looking around the throne room with surprised faces, somewhere behind Kai, Stella and Snow. — Do you have newbies? “What is it?” he asked anxiously.

“They graduated from the second stage of training not so long ago,” Snow told him. — They will not interfere, let this be their first task, everything will be successful.

— I hope so. I wouldn’t want them to interfere with the work of professionals like the three of you. I will order you to have rooms for rest.

— This is not required, we will only be present at today’s parade, — Snow refused.

— Of course, but maybe you’ll rest from the flight? The parade will be in a couple of hours, and you will eat at the same time.

— It sounds tempting, but we ate during the flight, — Kai already refused. “We’ll wait until the parade starts at the castle, somewhere nearby, in case the rebels decide to attack you here.

The king nodded, and the guys divided into three groups: Snow and Felix guarded the king, Stella and Flora guarded the queen, and Kai and Zeus the young prince.

The king immediately noticed some tension between his temporary bodyguards.

— Do you have some kind of conflict? He asked Snow, who was checking his weapon.

— Yes, there is a little. Neither of us is happy that I was appointed his mentor,” Snow replied. — It’s better for you not to know the reasons.

At that moment, a young prince burst into the room, chased by Kai and Zeus with his legs tied. At that moment, a shot was heard. If Kai had not reacted in time and jumped on the prince, saving him from a stray bullet, Felix and Snow immediately covered the king, and Zeus did not untie his legs in time and did not prepare to shoot, someone would have been hurt. No one on the horizon could be seen through the scope. After about half an hour, it was decided to start the parade. Snow and Felix were walking alongside the cab of a black limousine without a roof. Kai and Zeus walked at the very end, while Stella and Flora walked at the very beginning. So far, everything was going calmly, until the previously heard shot thundered again.

Snow ordered the royal family to duck and shot at the rebel who revealed himself. He dodged a couple of times and wanted to run away when Kai shot at his legs with an icy volley. The rebel could not escape, Snow gestured to Zeus to bring him, which the guy did. Several more shots followed. Flora, Stella and Felix successfully shot at some of the rebels, the rest managed to escape. Those caught were arrested, and after the parade they were tried as enemies of the people. They were sentenced to death by beheading. During the execution, Flora, Zeus and Felix could not help but watch without disgust. Volkov even felt sick from this sight.

— Justice will prevail! The monarchy will end in the next few weeks, after which we will be free from tyranny! — shouted the loudest of all those caught. His loud speeches were interrupted by the blade of the guillotine. One of the rebels broke free and was about to attack the prince with a knife when Snow shot him. His dead body fell to the ground.

After the execution was over, team 1 returned to the ship with a refueled tank and prepared to depart. The recruits were not happy about the end of the task, and the old people seemed to care what happened there.

— And you react so calmly to this? — Felix asked. — several people were killed there, and you are so calm!

Snow answered him:

— Boy, these people are state criminals. Their execution is in the order of things. We have no choice but to accept it. Work as heroes with us and get used to this.

— Yes, what kind of hero will kill with his own hands? Felix asked.

— The one who brings the matter to an end! — the gray-haired man turned to the guy. “Our mission was to protect the royal family from the rebels, and one of them wanted to kill the heir to the throne! You should learn to follow the duty of a hero, or you won’t graduate from me.

And they parted. The guys sat down in their seats and strapped themselves in. Snow, sitting in his former seat, began to request permission to take off.

— Dispatcher, I am the captain of the Alpha-3 ship, requesting permission to take off from pad 5.

— Alpha-3, I give permission to take off, — a hoarse male voice answered him.

“All systems are ready for takeoff,” Kai said.

— The tank is full, the team is ready to take off, — Stella said on the radio and strapped herself in. They took off and headed back to the planet Kolos, where the Organization of Heroes was located.

— Attention team, we are going out into the upper atmosphere, I think you don’t need to tell for the third time where the vomit bags are and where the oxygen masks are. The return trip will take the same time as the road to the planet Unique.

Chapter 4 “Encounter with the villain”

The guys spent the next two hours trying to digest everything they saw.

— This is not how I imagined my first task, — admitted Volkova.

“You’ll get used to it, it happens a lot,” Stella said.

— We understand, but we didn’t think that immediately after the transition to the third stage we would face this, — admitted Zeus.

At this time, Kai was checking the systems, and then…

“Snow, you know how I feel about you, but…” he hesitated, “be gentle with the newcomers. This is their first assignment and it is not surprising that they are shocked by what happened today.

— Let them get used to the first tasks, so that they don’t have to bother with them later, — snapped Snow coldly.

— They just moved to a new stage of training this morning. No one would be ready to chop off heads and shoot a living person through. Admit it, no one could stand it if he wasn’t prepared.

At this point, their conversation was interrupted by a collision with something. Kai launched the ship’s analytics, which showed that their right wing had punched something. Kai informed the crew about this, after which Snow went to the back of the ship and put on a spacesuit.

“I’ll come with you,” Stella said, taking the tools. She also put on a spacesuit, and they went out through a small corridor into outer space. The wing was pierced through by something huge and flying at great speed.

“It’s definitely not an asteroid,” Snow said. “It’s more than that.

— You think? Stella asked.

“In any case, you guys better hurry up,” Kai told them over the radio. — If you believe the data, then soon two huge asteroids will collide soon, and we will be crushed by them.

“How much time do we have, Kai?” Snow asked him, already getting to work.

— About half an hour, maximum. So you’d better hurry up.

Stella immediately began to help Snow with the wing. They had almost finished when the two asteroids were already close to the ship and about to collide. Suddenly, Snow was attacked by some small parasite, similar to a mixture of a spider and a snake with the head of a seagull, which had shark fangs inserted into its beak. From the push, Snow flew to the cockpit, where Kai noticed him trying to detach this parasite from himself.

“It’s a Tornado,” he shouted. The newcomers heard it over the speakerphone and immediately rushed into the cockpit.

— What kind of Tornado? Zeus asked.

— This is Klaun’s pet. It’s the second year we’ve been trying to catch him, but he keeps walking away from us with that creepy laugh of his.

At that moment, Stella collided with the Clan itself in a black spacesuit. It was a villain with someone else’s face, which he cut off, and then sewed in place of his own, with the help of stitches pulled a smile on this face, his eyes were always open again due to the same stitches. The long-dead face was laughing, trying to at least injure Stella, but she successfully fought back. This creepy clown was smiling and saying something, but for obvious reasons he could not be heard.

Snow twisted the neck of the Tornado, and so that this ugly creature died. It was clear from Klaun’s face that he was not happy about this. With hatred, he rushed at Snow, who dodged the knife strike of this lunatic in time. Snow ordered Stella to return to the ship, which she did. At this time, Snow took the handcuffs, and was about to quickly put them on Klaun’s hands, when something hit his helmet and broke through the glass. At that time, Klaun cut off the tube through which oxygen was supplied to Snow’s suit and left, taking everything that was left of his pet.

Snow held his breath and tried to return to the ship, but his strength left him before he had time to understand something. Felix put on a spacesuit and flew out to get his mentor.

***

Snow woke up in the hospital wing surrounded by doctors and medical devices. He asked what happened, to which he was answered by the nurse monitoring the devices:

— Your tube was cut and the glass of your spacesuit was broken. You would have died if it wasn’t for Felix. He helped you get back on the ship and saved your life. You’ll be discharged in a couple of days while your team is suspended from assignments. Do you remember the last time you left someone in your place?

Norst remembered that day perfectly. Then he appointed some newcomer to temporarily lead the team. I decided that the guy was responsible enough for this, but as a result, Kai and Stella with three newcomers almost died on the next task. He nodded, as a sign that he remembered everything.

***

Klaun with the corpse of a pet in his hands entered the old chemical plant, where he was hiding with several other villains who were hiding from the Organization of Heroes.

“You called the assignment into question,” Toxin said.

— It’s not my fault that this snow prince killed the poor Tornado.

— If I hadn’t rushed at him, Dark would have successfully captured him. When the Count finds out about the failure of the mission, he will tear off all our heads,” a tall man in a long black cloak appeared near the Toxin, the hood of which hid his face completely, and all that was visible from under it were two red eyes. Klawn only turned away from the green-haired man, offended. Then he put the dead pet in a shoe box and said in an offended voice:

— In any case, you should help me organize the funeral of my Tornado. Since he died doing your job.

“We don’t need to think about that right now,” Dark said, when a round green screen appeared behind all the villains, from which a shadow was looking at them.

— Well, how did it go? The shadow asked in a man’s voice that echoed through the room.

“Um, Count, we… um, well, how to say it,” Toxin hesitated.

— Did you fail the mission? shadow asked.

“I’m afraid so.

The Shadow sighed.

— Should I remind you that I didn’t pull each of you out of the hands of the organization of heroes so that you would disappoint me? Dark would have already been destroyed with the help of light, Klaun would have already been placed in a psychiatric hospital, and you would have already been killed by the Toxin in attempts to “cure”. I promised you to fulfill your every wish when the purest heart is in my hands. It is then that I will receive unlimited power and will be able to take revenge on all my abusers, and my strength will be enough to fulfill your innermost desires. All I asked in return was to deliver Snow Norst to me, alive!

— Why can’t you get Snow Norst yourself? Remind me, would you be so kind?” asked Klawn.

— Klaun, oh you, — Toxin, who wanted to, was already hitting the madman in his sewn face.