A/N: Important note: due to this chapter having some important stuff, I actually see it as 'chapter 12.5' rather than an extra chapter lol. Also it's the longest 'extra chapter' so far... enjoy. :0

As soon as he saw Zombieman's corpse, Child Emperor immediately suspected Ayano 'Yan-chan' Aishi as the killer.

Sure, on the outside, she looked like an ordinary teenage girl. And Child Emperor was willing to believe that at first. There was plenty of evidence to suggest why she was not behind the case, too. First of all, Zombieman was not only a Class S hero, but he was immortal. Yan-chan, until recently, had been a Class B hero. There was no way she'd be strong enough to kill him.

But after what he'd seen last night… he wasn't so sure about that.

He glanced at his fellow Class S heroes as they stared at Zombieman's corpse. A katana was sticking through the hero's chest. The child frowned. From what he'd heard, Yan-chan was a multi-talented weaponist, like Goddess…

At the same time, though, the killer could be any Class S hero. He scowled.

"The killer has to be one of us!" he declared.

The story started on the previous day. The S Class heroes (and a few others) were recognised as people of distinguished service for preventing an alien invasion, so were invited to a luxury resort that was owned by Saikou Corp. In other words, it was owned by Goddess. Ironically enough, Goddess herself wasn't even there, and yet the heroes were coming to her resort.

Child Emperor was stuck in the hot springs with all the other male Class S heroes, who unfortunately, had a tendency to start trouble. He was glad Tornado was female because if she were in there, she'd blow up the whole resort.

Just as predicted, five minutes in and Metal Bat was already yelling at Flashy Flash, something or other about laziness. While Flashy Flash had left the scene of the invasion early, he had been taking care of monsters in his own city, so he was accredited. Still, Child Emperor groaned, covering his forehead. He was not in the mood for this.

"Can we please try to get along?" he asked.

"Hey, why are you wearing a swimsuit?" some bald guy who was a Class B hero asked him. "That's now how these things work."

Child Emperor looked away, scowling. "Hey, why do you care?"

Meanwhile, Ayano could hear the boys yelling from her spot in the springs. She gazed at the sky, smoke curling around her. She didn't feel anything, naturally. She knew she was meant to be relaxed, but she just felt… nothing. Aside from physical heat, of course.

"Idiots," Tornado cursed, glaring down at the springs with all the males. "I could've done it all by myself!"

That made Ayano remember something. She turned her gaze towards a woman sitting next to her. She was an employee of the Association.

"Excuse me," Ayano asked, politely, "but how come Black Turtle isn't here?"

The employee gazed at her. "Oh! Black Turtle claimed to be busy with work, and couldn't make it."

"Ugh, Goddess' groupies are always busy," Tornado scoffed. "They act like they're too good for us!"

That seemed hypocritical coming from her, but Ayano kept her mouth shut.

Later on, the heroes gathered in the banquet hall and were served drinks, all wearing spa robes. Sitch raised his drink in the air, and spoke into his microphone.

"Despite the events that have already taken place, I doubt that the danger Madame Shibabawa prophesied has passed," he said. "I've asked all of you to attend here today to discuss this matter under the pretext of more detail. But let's put that topic aside for the time being. I am deeply grateful for your heroic acts for the events that have already occurred. The Hero Association and I would like you to let loose and enjoy yourselves tonight. Good job. Drink up!"

A man in a suit walked over to him and whispered something in his ear. He gasped.

"Oh yes!" he said. "And a big thank-you to Saikou Corp for so kindly letting us stay at their resort!"

"Why does Saikou Corp own this place again?" Zombieman muttered, gazing at Child Emperor who was sitting next to him. "Aren't they an electronics company?"

"And not to mention Goddess isn't here, either," Child Emperor agreed. "Kind of awkward."

"Cheers!" everyone yelled.

Unfortunately, some of the heroes began enjoying themselves too much, and drank themselves silly. Puri-Puri Prisoner, Superalloy Darkshine, and Tank Top Master began having a flexing contest. Bang and Atomic Samurai drank way too much sake, and couldn't stop laughing. Child Emperor sighed, gazing at his chopsticks.

What is it with these guys? he thought. Are they ever not putting on a muscle show?

"Having fun, Child Emperor?" Zombieman asked, catching him out of his thoughts.

"I guess…" Child Emperor shrugged.

"That's good," the older hero replied, drinking some sake.

Child Emperor frowned. He wasn't so sure if he wanted to stay in this room anymore, not with all these drunk heroes running around. Plus, this was a resort owned by Saikou Corp. He'd heard a rumour that Goddess had a secret office in this building.

"Hey, I'm going out for a bit," he told Zombieman.

"Sure," the hero shrugged. "See you."

Child Emperor got up, and left the room. He began patrolling the halls, looking for this supposed secret office.

"Let's start with the weapon used," Child Emperor said. "Atomic Samurai?"

"Yeah, that's mine, alright," Atomic Samurai said, frowning. "I left my sword in the banquet hall unattended. Someone must've taken it when I wasn't looking."

"Hmm…" Child Emperor frowned.

"You think we're all conspiring together?" Atomic Samurai asked. "We were all drinking just a moment ago."

"Atomic Samurai is innocent," Tank Top Master spoke up. "We saw him. Sitch and I were there too. You can ask him. He'll verify."

"In that case, his testimony is credible," Child Emperor said. "But… still." He glanced at Ayano, who was nearby that bald guy Saitama and Genos. "Hey, you. Yan-chan. I've heard a rumour that you're a multi-talented weaponist."

Ayano didn't respond.

"I take it your silence is a yes?" Child Emperor asked.

"Excuse me," Genos said, putting his hands on his hips, "are you insinuating that my fellow disciple is a suspect?"

"We don't know much about her," Child Emperor reasoned. "There is a chance she could be a spy from an enemy organisation. And plus… I saw her out in the halls, around when the murder took place."

Everyone gasped.

"Yan-chan?" Saitama asked.

"She's innocent," Metal Bat spoke up. "She was with me."

Everyone gasped again.

"She was?" Child Emperor asked, raising a brow. "And what were you two doing together?"

"Hangin' out," Metal Bat said.

Everyone stared at him.

He scowled. "What, you think we were makin' out or some shit? You really think I'm gonna make out with a girl I just met?!"

"Alright, calm down," Child Emperor said, waving his hands. He scowled, and turned back to Ayano. "I want to hear it from your perspective. Tell me what happened."

"Why are you so insistent on questioning her?" Genos asked.

"She was around when the murder happened," the youngest hero said. "She might know something."

Ayano blinked, before she recited the tale.

Ayano was seated between Saitama and Genos. The party had barely begun and Saitama was already drunk. He giggled as he drank some sake.

"So, Yan-chan," he giggled, "how's school? You know, I never ask about your life, ha ha ha."

"School is fine," Ayano answered.

"That's great," Saitama said, way too happily. "You don't get up to trouble, do you? Nah, you're a good student. You're not some delinquent, ahahaha." He snorted. "You know, I've never seen you with your hair down. Do you have it up all the time, even when you sleep?"

"I see no point in changing my hairstyle." Ayano responded.

Saitama laughed and slapped his tray of food, shattering it. "Ahaha, Yan-chan, you're a real classic!"

Ayano didn't respond to that. She decided it was time to get friendly with some Class S heroes. However, the majority of them seemed to be rather drunk, or busy talking to others. She was about to approach Child Emperor, but for some reason, the boy got up and left the room. However, not all hope was lost. There was one hero she could 'connect' with.

Metal Bat was sitting by himself and drinking lemonade, gazing at the other heroes running around and being stupid. He scowled, running a hand through his messy pompadour. Ayano approached him.

"Can I talk to you for a moment?" she asked him politely.

"Huh?" he turned around and stared at her. "Yeah, go ahead."

"I just wanted to introduce myself," she said, smiling sweetly. "I'm the Class A hero Yan-chan. It's very nice to meet you."

"Yeah, sure," Metal Bat agreed, as they shook hands.

"I'm a minor too, so I'm not drinking anything either," Ayano said, staring at his lemonade. "Unfortunately, my sensei has become very drunk, and my fellow disciple Genos is keeping an eye on him, so I'm a bit isolated tonight."

"Tch," her fellow teen scoffed. "Everyone's gettin' drunk."

Ayano gave him a small smile. "Would you like to come for a walk with me outside? It is getting crowded in here."

Metal Bat grunted. "Y'know what, why not? Nothin' better to do."

The two then left the room, and walked around the resort. They didn't say anything for a bit, instead, just casually walking. The silence was slightly awkward, but in a way, peaceful.

The two reached a balcony, which overlooked the hot springs. In the distance was a mountain covered in greenery. It was beautiful. Serene. Ayano wondered what it was like to appreciate beauty.

"Nice view," Metal Bat said, leaning on the rail surrounding the balcony.

"Yes," Ayano agreed.

There was another silence.

"Heard you go to the same school as Goddess," Metal Bat said. "She hasn't been around much these days."

"She has been absent from school, too," Ayano said. "No one knows why." She paused, a shadow passing over her face. "I heard a rumour about her. Apparently, she dislikes men."

"Probably," Metal Bat shrugged. "Doesn't spend much time around us Class S heroes. Spends more time with her team. And she hates me."

"Why is that?" Ayano asked.

Metal Bat scowled. "Dunno, thinks I'm dodgy or some shit. What's her problem, huh? Just because I don't go to her damn school!"

Ayano smirked. She was getting somewhere now.

"I heard that she hates all Class S heroes," she said, "and that she wants to be Class S rank 1."

"Tch," Metal Bat scoffed. "Yeah, 'course she does."

"Who knows what she's planning," Ayano commented, smiling darkly. "Perhaps she's not as good as we all think."

Before the conversation could continue, Ayano's phone buzzed. She checked it, and furrowed her brow.

"Please excuse me for a moment," she told Metal Bat. She went back inside to read the text from Info-chan.

...

Info-chan:

Heard you're at the Saikou Resort.

Ayano:

How did you learn that information?

Info-chan:

None of your concern. I have a favour for you.

Ayano:

What is it?

Info-chan:

There is someone I want you to eliminate.

"After I finished texting my friend, I joined Metal Bat back outside, and then around an hour later I went to bed," Ayano concluded. "But before that, I saw Child Emperor in the hallway."

"Hmm," Darkshine frowned, staring at Class S hero in question. "What were you doing in the hallway, Child Emperor?"

"You think I'm a suspect?" the young hero asked, frowning.

"There is a slight chance, when you think about it," Bang lamented.

"Yeah," Atomic Samurai agreed. "Out of all of us, you're the most likely to be scheming something."

Child Emperor scowled. "Seriously? What reason would I have to kill Zombieman?"

"You said we're all suspects," Ayano pointed out.

Child Emperor glared at her, then turned his gaze to the floor. He briefly glanced back at the other heroes. Flashy Flash and King had gone silent. Pig God was eating breakfast, and Watchdogman was still sleeping. Child Emperor wasn't sure where Tornado was, and the waitress and attendees had gone quiet as well.

"I was looking for something," he said, after a while. "I heard a rumour Goddess has a secret office here, and I went looking for it."

"Did you find it?" Darkshine asked.

Child Emperor's frown deepened. "Well…"

Child Emperor, holding out a scanner, looked left and right, but he couldn't see any sign of a hidden office. He scowled to himself. Well, it was a rumour after all. A rumour didn't necessarily mean something was true. And plus, even if Goddess did have a secret office, why would she have it at a resort? It didn't make sense.

Then, to his surprise, his scanner beeped as he passed a corner. He frowned, took a step back, and scanned the wall again.

Beep. Beep.

There was something there.

Child Emperor felt the wall with his hand, and frowned. Normal. He waved his scanner over it, letting it beep some more.

There has to be a code here, or something, he thought. He pressed a few buttons on his scanner, changing the settings. He scanned the wall once more, finding a digital lock. He grinned in satisfaction.

Using his tools, he managed to break through the lock. He had to admit, it did take a while, but he actually did it. Once he did, the wall beeped once more, and then opened up, leading into a dark corridor.

Child Emperor stepped inside the corridor, holding out a built-in torch on his tablet. Unlike the rest of the resort, this place was dark, cold, and kind of musty, like it hadn't been visited in a while. It reminded him of an attic.

The hero found a desk right at the end of the corridor. There was a leather chair seated at it, covered in a layer of dust. The white desk in front of it had piles of paper stacked on top of each other, and a half-broken pen with dried ink spilled out on the desk. Sitting on the stack of paper, oddly enough, was a small, plush panda. On the walls were pin-boards, or something of the like, draped in black curtains. A single bedside lamp was hunched over the desk.

What is this place… Child Emperor thought, frowning. What's with all this stuff?

He walked over to the desk, and looked at the paper. It looked like… schoolwork, from a few months ago, judging by the dates. He stared at the curtains on the walls, and curiously began to prick at him. He pulled the curtains down, revealing something shocking.

They were pin-boards, full to the brim of images. In the centre of the very first pinboard was a picture of the A Class hero Yan-chan - the black-haired girl here at this resort. The picture of her had red strings pinned to other pictures: a picture of a pool of blood near an incinerator, another picture of Yan-chan stalking a male green-haired student running, a newspaper article about the poisoning of Asu Rito a few weeks back, and another news article from 30 years ago about a supposed murder case involving a woman named Ryoba Aishi.

Child Emperor looked at the other pinboards. There was a picture of a male student with dark hair, a diluted image of Blast with question marks all over it, and a picture of who Child Emperor believed was Traveller with crosses in the right corner. If that wasn't weird enough, there were pictures of various heroes as well, from all classes. Some had question marks near them. Others had crosses. Some had red lines connecting to the picture of Yan-chan, namely, the picture of that bald guy Saitama, Genos, and the recently deceased Sneck.

In the other corner was a piece of paper with writing over it, and it was covered in question marks. A red line connected it to the picture of Yan-chan.

Child Emperor took a step back.

Goddess is investigating something, he realised. But what does that Yan-chan girl have to do with any of this?

He glanced at the newspaper article about the poisoning, the picture of Sneck, the picture of the green-haired student, and gasped.

Goddess thinks… Yan-chan is responsible for these incidents, he thought. But why is Goddess suspicious of her?

He almost felt… hurt that Goddess was keeping all of this away from everyone else. Of course, she spent more time with her hero group than with her fellow Class S heroes, but out of everyone in Class S, excluding Metal Knight, Goddess was the one Child Emperor got on with the best. She was a child prodigy, just like him, and he could always discuss a new invention with her. He almost… missed her presence. Being in here made him miss her more.

He was about to look at more stuff, but then a voice said, "You should not be in here."

It belonged to a man wearing a Saikou Corp uniform. He was staring down at the young hero.

Child Emperor jumped. "I… I…"

"Leave at once," the man demanded. "And tell no one of this room."

"Are you really going to threaten me?" Child Emperor asked, furrowing his brow.

"You may be a Class S hero, but you have no authority being here," the man said. "Don't forget, Miss Goddess is affiliated with the Association. She can have you demoted very easily."

Child Emperor glowered at him. "Fine. I'm leaving."

He walked out, feeling… uncomfortable. Who exactly was that Yan-chan girl?

"... no," Child Emperor said. "I didn't find anything. It's just a myth."

He frowned. They hadn't gotten much closer to figuring out the true culprit.

"Moving on," he said. "King, did you-"

"Geez, you're still playing detective in here? I'm tired of this!"

Tornado arrived, floating in the air, hands on hips.

"Since you're all under suspicion, I'll temporarily restrain every single one of you!" she yelled, raising her hands.

The whole room began to tremble.

"Whoa, hang on a sec, Tornado!" Bang yelled.

Zombieman began to stir and groan. "Ugh, why can't I get up?"

Everyone stared at him in surprise.

"Can someone pull that out of my back please?" he asked, staring at the katana in his back.

"So what happened?" Child Emperor asked, once the weapon had been removed. "Who attacked you, Zombieman?"

"Well, I drank quite a bit last night so I honestly don't remember," Zombieman admitted. "But if I'm not mistaken," he pointed to Atomic Samurai's katana, which was being cleaned by its owner, "that sword came flying through the air out of nowhere and impaled me. Then because I was so drunk I must've fallen asleep trying to get it out."

"So you're saying my sword was floating around in the air?" Atomic Samurai asked.

"Yeah," Zombieman agreed. "And it was surrounded by a green light, just like that one over there." He pointed to Tornado.

Tornado gasped as everyone stared at her. "What? What's your problem?"

"So Tornado, what were you doing after dinner last night?" Child Emperor asked, staring at her.

"I don't remember, okay?" Tornado snapped.

"Is that because you were drinking, perhaps?" Child Emperor asked.

"Come on!" Tornado yelled. "Are you deaf or something? I already told you, I don't remember!"

"Get real," Metal Bat scoffed. "You think yer gonna get away with a lame excuse like that?"

"What?" Tornado yelled. "I know Zombieman doesn't die when he gets killed, so why are we even having this conversation?! If I wanted him dead, I wouldn't do something this half-assed to begin with!"

"Well, let's just forget about it," Bang said. "Zombieman is fine, as we can all see."

"Yeah," Zombieman agreed. "It honestly doesn't bother me. This stuff happens all the time when you drink."

"No," Saitama said. "Not at all."

"Break it up, guys," Atomic Samurai sighed. "Let's hit the brasserie."

"Oh, right!" Iaian chirped.

Everyone left the room. Child Emperor frowned, staying behind.

"Child Emperor, do you have a minute?" Sitch asked, getting his attention. "There's something you need to see."

Child Emperor gasped, looking at the monitor in front of him. It clearly showed Tornado shoving Atomic Samurai's katana into Zombieman's back.

"I knew it," he declared. "I knew Tornado did it!"

Tornado looked extremely drunk as she laughed at Zombieman lying on the floor in his own blood. She then proceeded to stomp all over his body. She appeared to be having fun.

So that Yan-chan girl was innocent after all, Child Emperor thought. Still…

"I wonder what made her drink to that point…" he muttered.

Sitch shrugged.

That's when something odd caught the young hero's attention. It was another monitor in the bottom left corner of the wall. It showed a video of someone walking around the resort in the middle of the night. Child Emperor blinked, and stared at it.

It's Yan-chan, he realised, recognising the girl. But... why was she walking around during the middle of the night? Didn't she say she went to bed?

Yan-chan was holding a bag large enough to carry a body over her shoulder. She was carrying it as easily as if were made of feathers. She went to the outside of the resort and threw the bag out the window. It plummeted down to the ground.

What the Hell… Child Emperor thought. He tried to watch the clip again, but it suddenly cut out, leaving static behind.

"That reminds me," Sitch mused. "One of the members of the Association staff randomly left last night. She just left during the middle of the night with no explanation."

Child Emperor almost choked on his own saliva. "I…"

"Child Emperor?" Sitch asked. "Is there something wrong?"

"I have to go," the hero decided, getting up. So that girl was suspicious after all. He was going to find out exactly what she was up to, before it was too late.

Scratch… scratch…

Ayano smirked, crossing out another hero's picture. She looked at her pin board full of pictures of her enemies.

No one would survive.

A/N: Hello lads, so that was a bit of a dark ending... here's some extra fun stuff for you. XD

Did you know, Metal Bat is canonically only 3cm taller than Ayano, and Ayano definitely isn't the tallest person in the series. XD I can imagine Taro being taller than both of them, which is one of the funnier parts of this story. m̵͈̞̤͖̑̈́͌̅a̴̡̅̆ķ̴̧̛͉̲̐e̵͈̱̣̿͗s̵̳͈̙͖̈́́̇͆ ̷͈͇̖̠̎ÿ̴̢̨́̎̑o̵̢̯̦̾̈́̅u̷̳̽͋ ̷͕̹̰̘̋̀̈̎f̸̬̱͌ͅo̷̩̦̞̎̕r̵̩̐̊̓͛g̴͖̭̪̀̋ę̸̩̼͈̈̑̊t̵͙͈̪̏͐ ̵̡̮͕̂̉͊̾a̸̳̾͘b̴̪̏̌̊̒o̵͔̥̾̄ǘ̷̢̨̊t̷̻̿ͅ ̷̜̤͈̱͂̐͝t̶̤̮͒̀h̸̳͋e̷̢̱͓̓ ̶̙̹͐̇̎ḏ̵̼̽̽̒͘ͅ ̴̮͚̲̗͊͛̀̍ȩ̶̢̔́̌͂ ̷̢̨̱̱̇͒ă̴̧̛̟͇͌̉ ̴̘̘̩͂͋̃t̶̹̭̍͜ ̸̝̥̝̐ḩ̸̺͖̆̉̿̐ ̸͇̼͐̚͠

Y'all probably gonna be shipping MB and Ayano now aren't you... ahahaha. We aren't done with the boys yet. In Season 2 there will be even more. Girls too.

Coming next week... see you then. And once again, thank you for reading.