Stanley sat next to Sheila in the car with a mask on his face while they flew toward Freenox city. It felt weird flying there once again in such few days, but what was weirder was that he was doing so with Sheila.

"Did the director set this up?" he asked Sheila. "I didn’t think we would be working together so early."

"Probably," Sheila said. "He must’ve thought that you would work better with me, considering that the only other person you’re used to is Reena, and she won’t leave Gray’s side."

"Is there a reason why she is always by Gray’s side?" Stanley asked.

"Just because he saved her a long time ago," Sheila said. "And her powers are way too strong as a scout, so he doesn’t have to do much."

"Do fighters have to do much?" Stanley asked. "Don’t we just fight?"

"I meant in terms of the information you have before going in," Sheila said. "The less you know about your opponent, the more you have to work hard as a fighter."

"Ah! You meant it in that way," Stanley said. "That makes sense, but do scouts not have all the information before the fighters go in?"

"Not all the time," Sheila said. "Strictly speaking, it is hard to find scouts who can do their job well, just based on powers alone, so the association has to compromise with who they can use."

"Not everyone has powers like me or sister Reena, so they have to find different ways to get the information for that mission," Sheila said. "Some have to go into dangerous territory to get that information, and as such they can’t get as much as they would want to."

"In the end, the Fighters have to deal with the lack of information themselves, and... it never really goes as well as one could hope for," Sheila said. "That is one of the reasons why so many fighters die all the time."

"I see," Stanley said. "If you ask me, Gray should get rid of Reena. There is so much he can do with whatever power he has that it feels like she is a waste on him."

"Everyone feels the same," Sheila said. "But, Gray won’t have it be otherwise. He won’t let anyone else scout for him except Reena. He won’t even let me do it for him given that..."

"Given what?" Stanley asked, waiting for her to continue.

"Nothing," Sheila said. "I’ll tell you some other time."

Stanley gave a weird look. "Okay," he said.

The two of them were alone in the car, and they continued flying for a long while, talking to each other about various things.

"You don’t get to visit the cities in Barson too?" Sheila asked.

"Yeah," Stanley said. "I’m curious what they have in plan for me, given they want me to do such a thing."

"I am curious too now," she said. "But if the director thinks this is the right choice, then this is the right choice."

The car arrived at Freenox City, flying through the somewhat familiar street that Stanley was used to by now, appearing at the dead end that was in fact the real entrance to the Barson branch of AAA.

He got out of the car and walked into the building with Sheila.

The guard looked at him and smiled. "You’re back quite fast," he said. "I hope you have a license for that this time around."

"I do," Stanley said with a bit of a chuckle and took off the sword from his back. He held it for the man to check, who quickly scanned it.

"You’re good to go."

Stanley thanked the guard and walked in. He checked in with the branch and was quickly notified that their mission briefing would happen tomorrow. Until then, they were free to do whatever they wanted.

"You can’t go to the city to pass the time, right?" Sheila asked.

"I’m afraid not," Stanley said. "I would have loved to do that."

"I suppose you can spend your time here then," she said. "I’m gonna go rest for a bit. I’ll see you later then."

Stanley nodded and went to his own room. He undressed to get into more comfortable clothes and looked at the clothes he just took off.

This was one of the 3 uniforms he got, and the only one that wasn’t worn out completely.

The one he wore during his first mission ended up having some parts that weren’t easily fixed. And he had used another one exclusively to train underground.

As a result, this one was the only one that was still fine.

He needed some better clothes to go with his powers, which he had asked the engineering department to help him with.

However, he hadn’t given them enough time, so they weren’t able to make it before he left for this mission. However, they had promised him that they would make it before his next mission.

Stanley jumped onto the bed and forgot about the mission and all his worries, as he slowly went to sleep.

Once he woke up, he freshened up and went to the cafeteria with Sheila to get some food. They were both hungry after their long sleep, so they were more than happy to find the cafeteria relatively lacking in people, considering how many were coming here in the last 2 days.

"What do you want?" Sheila asked. "Are you craving anything?"

"Not really," Stanley said, thinking for a bit as to what he wanted to eat. "Order what you think I’ll like. Something new that I haven’t tried yet."

"Sure," Sheila said and ordered something that Stanley hadn’t even heard of. "It’s a bunch of meat and beans with sauce wrapped in a fluffy flatbread. You’ll love it."

"That sounds awesome," someone spoke up. "Why don’t you order me that too?"

Sheila quickly turned around with a bit of a surprised look. "Brother Hank!" she said in an unusual tone.

"I thought I told you to just call me Hank," the young man said.

He was a blue-haired man in his mid-20s, younger than Gray. He was tall, nearly a head taller than Stanley and his piercing blue eyes made him look quite handsome.

His body was lean but well-defined, and his facial features were enough to make any girl fall for her. His charming smile on top of all that made him look like a model altogether.

"How are you doing? I haven’t seen you in nearly a year," Hank said. "I’m glad you returned."

"I’m glad too," Sheila said. "You are on this mission too, bro— Hank."

Hank smiled. "I believe everyone is," he said and finally turned toward Stanley and looked at him with a weird look on his face.

"A fighter? I don’t think I’ve seen you before," he said.

"Hi, I’m Stanley," Stanley went in for a handshake.

"I’m Hank," Hank shook his hand. "Are you a newcomer?"

"Yes, I joined less than 2 months ago," Stanley said.

"Ah, I see," Hank said. "Is this your first mission?"

"No, I’ve been on one before this," Stanley said.

"Was it a success?" Hank asked.

"Relatively, yes," Stanley said.

"The ’Yes’ is all that matters," Hank said. "So this is your second mission?"

Stanley nodded.

"Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll do great," Hank said before pausing for a second. "Wait, is Sheila your Scout?"

"Uh, yes," Stanley said.

"Woah!" Hank said with a surprised expression. "You got Sheila as a scout on your very second mission? They must really care about you huh?"

"I suppose," Stanley said.

Hank nodded with a massive grin on his face before turning to Sheila. "Why are you staring at us?" he asked. "Won’t you order our food?"

"Ah, sorry!"

Sheila ordered their food and went away. Hank went onto a different seat, away from the two, leaving them alone. It seemed he had been here with a group of his own as well.

"How is he?" Sheila asked. "Did you like him?"

"He’s a cool guy I guess," Stanley said.

Sheila’s eyes narrowed. "Do you not know who he is?" she asked.

"Him? Who is—" Stanley paused for a moment. "Wait... Hank? Like Hank from The 5?"

Sheila sighed. "You need to catch onto things a little faster. How did your first meeting with one of The 5 go this way?"

"Oh, this wasn’t my first meeting," Stanley said. "I already met Mona."

"Sister Mona? Where?" Sheila asked.

"Back in HQ," Stanley said.

"She was there, huh?" Sheila said. "I haven’t met her in a while."

Their food arrived and they slowly ate it, taking their time to enjoy it. After they were done, Stanley went to his room to waste some more time doing nothing.

Then after 2 days, he was called by the director of the Barson branch.

"I can’t believe I had 2 Novas in my branch at once and I wasn’t made aware of it," Nona, the red-haired director said. "I am quite angry about this."

She said so, but she didn’t seem angry at all. "My apologies if my treatment got you offended last time," she said.

"There is no need for that, director," Stanley said. "You did not offend me."

"Thank you," she said and chuckled a bit. "Alright, I’ve been specifically told to give you a solo mission, and a hard one at that too. So, I’ll be letting you deal with the Hunters in Triglow City. Will you be alright with that?"

"Triglow city?" Sheila thought for a moment. "It’s a populated city but small in area. I believe it is perfect."