"The Hero Association has been greatly weakened, and our greatest weapons are yet to be released. They were fools not to ask Goddess for help. The Monster Association is poised for an overwhelming victory, O Monster King Orochi! The only question now is, now that they are off-balance… how will the Hero Association respond?"

"Huh? You're right, there is the Hero Hunter… and another one, too. Another being hunting heroes…"

"Are they a monster?"

"No, they are… she is… something else."

The A Class hero Death Gatling slid down a rock, holding up his gun. In his other hand was a phone. Towering above him was a ginormous, octopus-like beast covered in eyes.

"Hold it!" he yelled into the phone. "I've been waiting for reinforcements!"

He glanced at the other A Class heroes before him. "We can handle this!"

"No," a new voice said. "You'll do no good."

The S Class hero Flashy Flash appeared before them, a serious look on his face.

"To fight a foe with inadequate force only heightens the damage to one's self," he said.

"You're saying we're inadequate?" Death Gatling demanded.

"Shut up and watch," Flashy Flash responded. Just like his name, he was quick as a flash, and easily sliced up the octopus creature. Its entire body bled green goop. Despite that, the creature seemed to become even more powerful, destroying everything in its path.

Death Gatling fired his guns at the monster, but it didn't do much good.

This may call for my ultimate technique, Flashy Flash thought. However, just as he was about to use said technique, the octopus suddenly went flying into the air, surrounded by a green light.

"Tornado of Terror…" the A Class heroes gaped.

Tatsumaki easily crushed the giant monster into a ball, causing it to explode. She glowered down at the other heroes.

"What're you all doing screwing around?" she demanded. "Get out there and deal with more monsters!"

She flew away, but not before Flashy Flash murmured a curse about her. Death Gatling scowled. Another victory stolen by the S Class heroes. He was glad that one of his accomplices, Black Turtle, wasn't here. She would've been infuriated. He knew better than anyone how she loathed being in the shadows of the S Class heroes, which was ironic, since she was in a group led by an S Class hero.

As he walked away, preparing to go to another town to try and redeem himself, a suspicious masked figure appeared before him.

"Who are you?" he demanded.

The figure charged towards him, and they suddenly engaged in combat. He shot it with his guns, causing blood to spill everywhere. It fell to his knees.

"A monster?" Death Gatling asked.

To his surprise, it got up again, wielding a large blade. He saw a flash of red, and then everything went black.

Ayano crossed off the picture of Death Gatling on her board, feeling that addictive satisfaction. She turned her focus to the picture of Sweet Mask.

That hero is usually surrounded by his fans, or his manager, she thought. And even if he was alone, would I be strong enough to beat him?

That's when she got an idea.

How about instead of killing him, I kill his reputation? She thought. Everyone sees him as this great and heroic guy… I wonder how they would feel if he wounded up in jail.

Her grin grew. He doesn't have to be the only hero in jail… I'll put a few in there, and I'll kill them all at once. Info-chan will know where to get explosives… this will be perfect!

She cackled darkly, setting down to work on her plan. She was interrupted by her phone ringing. She sighed and picked it up.

"Hello?" she asked, her tone flat once more.

"Yan-chan, dear!" her mother responded cheerfully. "How are you?"

"Fine," Ayano answered. She wasn't happy to hear her mother's voice. It was not because she resented her mother. She was neutral towards both of her parents. No, it was because she did not like being distracted from her plans.

"Ah, I'm glad to hear so," her mother said. "I've been a bit worried about you, dear. I've heard all the news about the recent monster attacks! You're not injured or anything, are you?"

"I'm fine," Ayano said.

"Good, good," her mother replied. "Luckily, where we are, there aren't any monsters around! Still, dear, if you're feeling worried, we can come back home."

"I'll be okay," Ayano assured her mother.

"Yes, I know you will, dear,"her mother replied. "You're very mature and responsible. Forgive your mother's prying, but do you have a... special someone?"

"No," Ayano replied.

Her mother sounded surprised. "Really? Not even a crush?"

"No," Ayano replied.

Her mother laughed. "Goodness, dear, you're friends with an S Class hero and you're not dating him?"

"If you are referring to Genos, he is my fellow student," Ayano said. "Mom, why are you so interested to know whether I'm seeing someone?"

Her mother's laughter had a nervous edge. "Well, dear… as I've always said, there is someone out there that will make you feel… alive. I want to know if you've found that person yet."

"I have, actually," Ayano responded.

"Really?" her mother asked. "But you said you don't have a special someone."

"He's not my boyfriend," Ayano said. "He's my sensei. And he gave me my purpose in life."

Her mother chuckled. "Well, if he makes you feel… alive, then that's all that really matters, isn't it, dear?"

"You're wrong," Ayano said. "It's not about emotions anymore. It's about fulfilling my purpose."

It was what she was made for, after all.

"Ayano, what are you talking about...?" her mother asked.

"I have to go now," Ayano said. "Goodbye, Mom."

She hung up on her mother, and went back to her plan. No, emotions didn't matter anymore. It wasn't about feeling. It was about being. It was about fulfilling her purpose.

Meanwhile, her mother frowned. Was her daughter truly becoming... the one?

Genos coughed, walking out of a pile of rubble. His face was cracked, and his entire body felt like mush.

I was defeated, he thought, meekly. I have never seen monsters so strong…

"Yan-chan," he muttered, looking up. "Raibaru-chan…"

But he couldn't see either of the girls anywhere. He hoped wherever they were, they were out of danger.

"Heroes… defeated… Class A hero found dead…"

Genos' head shot up at the news. He forced himself to stand as he faced a giant screen upon a building.

"The Class A hero Death Gatling was found dead, by the site of a monster attack," a newscaster explained. "It is unknown who exactly killed him, but it is believed to be the work of the 'Hero Hunter', or some kind of monster. A similar case was found for the Class A hero 'Lustful Tutor'."

Genos scowled. So now that Hero Hunter was killing people? This was not looking good at all. That, or there was someone else running around…

"Oh my God, Mr. Demon Cyborg!"

Genos perked over, seeing Raibaru running towards him. A look of horror covered her face.

"Raibaru-chan…" he coughed, as she helped him stand. "Where is… Ayano…?"

"She said she had to go and fight a monster in another city," Raibaru answered. "But what about you? What crazy monster did this to you?"

Genos grunted. "Get me… to Dr. Kuseno…"

He noticed she was staring at the newsboard. A scowl settled onto her features.

"No idea who Dr. Kuseno is, but sure thing," she told him. "And then I'm going after Garou."

Unsurprisingly, the presence of the Monster Association was not making Akademi's students very happy. With a Student Council member in hospital and a teacher (who was also a Class A hero) deceased, they were beginning to get nervous.

Fureddo Jonzu knew he was only a low B Class hero, and more often than not his group was… slack, compared to other heroes, but he still put himself forward to protect the students of his school. He knew there was something dangerous lurking around, and he was going to get to the bottom of it. Of course, he knew all about Garou, but he had a sneaking suspicion there was something else around as well. Another being hunting heroes.

The blonde boy tightened his pastel blue neckerchief and logged onto his computer. He went onto Akademi High's website, scowling. Maybe there was something useful on there? He read over the recent comments.

Omg! Yan-chan is my new favourite hero!

Poor Aoi and Rana-sensei :(

Yan-chan should join the Guardians lol

She should be in Class S!

Yan-chan, aka Ayano Aishi… Fureddo had definitely heard of her. She was certainly a very strong hero.

"They really seem to be sucking up to that Ayano Aishi," said Beruma Dinkuri, peering over his shoulder. "She may actually become more popular than Goddess herself."

"I doubt that," Fureddo replied. "Goddess is, well… practically a goddess."

Rojasu Norubiru walked up, holding up his phone. "I got a photo of something interesting while I was investigating!"

The entire club gathered around him. Rojasu showed them all a blurred photo of a masked person running from the scene of Death Gatling's demise.

"Who could that be?" Sukubi Dubidu asked, frowning. "A terrorist?"

"A lot of people think it's the Hero Hunter Garou," Dafuni Bureiku commented. "Though, doesn't Garou usually have that weird wolf hair? I mean, that's a blurry image, but… his hair sticks out."

"Not to mention he has never been anonymous when attacking," Beruma agreed, adjusting her glasses.

"That means there's someone else attacking heroes," Fureddo concluded. He put his hands together. "I think this person has been going after heroes longer than Garou. And I think they're not just going after heroes, they're targeting others as well."

"A serial killer is running around?" Rojasu asked.

Fureddo nodded. "Blood was spotted near the incinerator, so the serial killer…"

"... is someone from this school," Beruma realised.

They all stared at each other, eyes wide.

"Wait a second…" Fureddo said. "That means the killer could be-"

"Excuse me, am I interrupting something?"

The group stopped and stared at a girl standing by the edge of the club room.

"Yan-chan?" Fureddo asked.

"My apologies," Ayano bowed. "I did not mean to be rude."

"It's fine," Fureddo replied, slightly nervous. "It's just… what are you doing here?"

"You are the B Class hero team known as the Mystery Gang, correct?" Ayano asked. "You're known for investigating criminals rather than fighting monsters."

"That's us," Fureddo said, his tone grim. "Some seriously bad stuff has been happening lately. We can't just pretend like everything is fine. We need to get to the bottom of this. Everyone in this school deserves to be safe and happy. We won't let anyone turn our school into a dangerous, scary place. We're going to patrol the school and look for the person who's responsible for everything that's been going on recently."

"I see…" Ayano said, leaning forward.

Fureddo noted her expression. "Are you interested in helping us find the perpetrator?"

Ayano nodded.

Fureddo gave her a small smile. "That's great! You're a part of the investigation team now. Let's work hard to keep this school safe."

He shook hands with her, as she pulled up a chair and sat down with the rest of the club. She slipped a Saikou-brand camera around her neck.

"Quick introductions," Fureddo said. "I'm Fureddo Jonzu. I'm the Class B rank 69 hero known as 'Fred'. I'm the leader."

Ayano could tell by the red armband of leadership around his arm. A picture of a camera was on said armband. He had short, polyester blond hair with a short fringe parted to the right. He wore a pastel blue neckerchief. His skin was tanned, making his blue eyes stick out. A Saikou-brand camera was around his neck.

"My name is Beruma Dinkuri, also known as the Class B rank 75 hero 'Velma'," said a young woman with glasses and a dark purple bob.

"I'm Dafuni Bureiku," said a girl with long, light brown hair, heavy eyeshadow and a lavender necktie. "My hero name is 'Daphne', and I'm Class B rank 89."

"Name's Rojasu Norubiru," said a guy with a goatee, green eyes, and wavy brown hair. "Hero name is Shaggy, rank is Class B 95."

"Sukubi Dubidu," said a boy with a deep tan, messy red hair, and orange eyes. "'Scooby', Class B rank 101."

"We're Mystery Incorporated, but most people call us the 'Mystery Gang'," Fureddo finished. "We're also known as the Photography Club, but… we don't actually do much photography here." He put his fist on the table. "Anyway! We're going to get to the bottom of who really attacked Blue Dragon, and killed Death Gatling and Lustful Tutor."

"We believe there is a dangerous person running around the school," Beruma told Ayano. "We believe this person is responsible for the deaths of Unagi Denkashiza, Asu Rito, Sneck, Osana Najimi, and Amai Odayaka."

"But Asu Rito was poisoned by an employee at an ice-cream parlour," Ayano pointed out. "I was at the scene, and I can guarantee there was no one else there aside from that employee."

"Fair point," Fureddo said. "So Asu Rito might've not been a target… and we know pretty much nothing about what happened to Unagi. He just disappeared one afternoon. However, we did find some blood splatters near the incinerators."

He showed Ayano pictures of blood splatters by the incinerators.

"Perhaps the delinquents had a brawl outside the incinerator," Ayano said. "It is where they hang out."

"That's a possibility," Beruma agreed. "We tried to question the delinquents, but they told us to go away."

"As for Osana, she was killed during a train bombing," Fureddo said.

"I believe Osana somehow got herself stuck on the train, and wasn't able to get off before it exploded," Ayano said.

"I heard Tornado of Terror was at the scene," Dafuni commented. "She's scary, but I don't think she'd kill someone…"

"What about Sneck?" Rojasu asked. "His body was found buried underneath some sand."

"And Amai was killed by a monster," Ayano pointed out.

"We're meant to be covering who attacked Blue Dragon and killed Lustful Tutor," Fureddo spoke up, trying to keep the conversation on focus.

"And who killed Death Gatling," Beruma added.

"I believe it was the Hero Hunter Garou," Ayano said. "Who else could it be?"

"Garou could've put Aoi-sama in hospital," Fureddo agreed. "He's strong enough to fight her. After all, he took down Tank Top Master and Metal Bat. He most likely could've killed Lustful Tutor as well. But in Death Gatling's case, his attacker was masked, and Garou has never been masked before…"

"Garou put on a fake identity when he entered the Super Fight Tournament," Ayano said. "Perhaps he decided to do so again."

"But isn't it weird how so many students from our school have been targeted?" Fureddo asked. "It can't all be a coincidence, right?"

Ayano snapped her fingers. "I've got it."

The group leaned in. "What is it?"

"The Monster Association is targeting Goddess," Ayano said. "And the masked attacker? That is no human, it's a monster. A dangerous and intelligent monster the Monster Association is sending out to attack multiple heroes at once. A hero killer."

"That… that could be a possibility," Beruma agreed. "There are humanoid monsters, so it's likely this masked attacker is a monster, and might be working alongside Garou and the Monster Association..."

The group gasped, and continued their conversation, building on the theory.

"We have to tell the Hero Association," Fureddo declared. "We have to tell them about… the Hero Killer!"

Ayano smirked. These puppets were so easy to manipulate.

She briefly glanced at a text on her phone from Info-chan.

Info-chan:

Hey there. Got some good news for you.

Ayano:

What is it?

Info-chan:

Are you aware of the Hero Hospital?

Ayano:

I am.

Info-chan:

As you're probably aware, there are a lot of monsters running around at the moment. The heroes are occupied with all of this. There's also someone known as the 'Hero Hunter' on the run. You can get away with a lot with him taking the blame for everything, and don't even get me started on the monsters.

Due to the heroes being so busy, a lot of them are being taken down by monsters. And where do injured heroes end up? The Hero Hospital, of course. As of right now, there are a few Class S heroes in there. If you did something to that hospital, you could get rid of multiple heroes at once…

Ayano:

Destroy the hospital? I would need explosives for that.

Info-chan:

Luckily, I know where you can get some...

"Please, Miss Toriyasu! Go on a date with me!"

Akane Toriyasu blushed as the boy offered her a handful of roses. She put a hand over her heart, pushing her bright red hair over her shoulder.

"I'm so sorry, dear," she said, "but I'm not interested in dating at the moment. But I'm sure there's someone else out for you!"

The boy bowed. "Oh… I… I understand." He walked away, head hanging. Akane frowned. She pitied the boy, but it wasn't the first time this had happened. She just didn't have the time to date anyone. It was that simple.

She sighed, staring at the beautiful old sakura trees, before moving away to continue patrolling Akademi's club rooms. The Photography Club, aka the Mystery Gang, were walking around, investigating something about a recent monster attack. Akane noticed a different group of students looked up upset about something.

"What's wrong, dears?" she asked, approaching them.

"There are so many monsters right now," one of them said. "And there's a hero hunter as well. Have you heard the news?"

"I'm afraid so," Akane said. She gave them a gentle smile. "But don't worry, dears. The heroes will be able to handle the monsters."

Her presence alone seemed to make them feel a bit better, and they seemed less tense. Akane walked away, sighing deeply. She kept on her friendly smile, waving to various students as she continued to walk around. She knew that she'd have to protect the school with her own two hands, now that Aoi was in hospital. As she kept thinking, her phone buzzed. She pulled it out of her pocket.

It was from her boss.

"Another hero hunter, hmm?" Akane mumbled to herself, looking over the message. "Oh dear… that could be a problem."

But as a hero, she'd have to take care of it herself.

"So, you guys worried about Garou?"

Iaian, Bushidrill and Okamaitachi turned to face Strawberry Thief, the youngest disciple of Atomic Samurai, as she stared at the building before her: a large dojo with a grey roof. Birds were perched on the edge of said roof. They were all waiting for their master to emerge.

"It shouldn't be a problem for Master," Iaian said, gripping his sword. "And besides, Silver Fang is going after Garou as well."

"Garou was Silver Fang's disciple," Bushidrill pointed out. "If anyone can find Garou, it's him."

"And he was the Indestructible Rival's friend," Strawberry Thief added, glancing at her guitar. "Man, I missed having her as a club leader."

"Oh, yeah," Okamaitachi said. "You know her, don't you?"

The other three sometimes forgot Strawberry Thief was an Akademi student, despite the fact that she was wearing her uniform underneath a grey windcheater. She certainly was a bit eccentric, but had an easy going spunk about her. She also liked to carry her electric guitar around; said thing was currently located on her back. Located on her hip was a longsword. Turns out, she was just as good as playing her guitar as she was using a sword.

The other three found themselves wondering why Atomic Samurai had chosen to make the pop-punk girl who led a band named the Strawberry Thieves (after herself of course) one of his top disciples, but on the other hand, there were far more eccentric heroes.

Speaking of Atomic Samurai, the man himself burst through the dojo doors, a grim expression on his face. Birds flew off the roof. The disciples ran over to him.

"We're going," he told his disciples. "But now our target is… the Monster Association… and the Hero Killer."