They headed over to the urban section of the USJ. The tall buildings and wide roads reminded Mallory of the fire dome, but many of the towers were half destroyed, leaning precariously against each other and with busted windows. It was eerie, so she turned her full attention to Thirteen as he began explaining the exercise.

The drill was a simple search and rescue operation, but half of the students needing rescuing - Mallory included - weren't allowed to speak. She would have loved to do something more exciting, but she figured her chance would come. They would have years to get the hang of this kind of thing before doing it in the real world, after all.

She ignored Katsuki's relentless outbursts as he complained about being near Izuku again - seriously, what was his problem? Izuku was nice! - and picked her away across a mound of rubble about a block away. She wanted to find an area that would be hard to see her from and give the rescuers a challenge. Izuku and Ochaco were smart, Minoru was...Minoru, and Katsuki seemed way too impulsive and thick headed. She really only expected the first two to find her, wherever she ended up.

She hopped down from another pile of debris and turned, noticing a hole that was big enough to crawl through at the edge of the remains of a high rise building. It seemed to be held up by steel beams. She hopped back up and jumped repeatedly over the hole, but the material didn't budge. There wasn't enough time to find another place to hide, and it seemed safe enough, so Mallory dropped to her stomach and shimmied her way inside.

Fortunately, the space was wide enough for her to turn around and face the road, and her gas mask kept her from inhaling the fine particles that wafted upward with each movement. She spotted Shoto entering the building across from her and wondered which of them would be found first. It'd surely be him if he didn't look for a particular place to hide, but now that she thought about it, Minoru was so short that there was potential he would find her on the ground. The thought made her shudder; he was the last person she'd want rescuing him.

Several minutes passed. Mallory could hear Katsuki yelling for people to show themselves, but he seemed far away judging by the echo. She was wondering where the other rescuers were when the ground suddenly shook close to her with a thunderous roar.

"What?!" she gasped. Clouds of dust exploded from the building across from her, blinding Mallory. It was so thick she couldn't see, but she remembered with dreadful clarity that it wasn't empty.

"Todoroki-kun!" Horrified, Mallory attempted to scramble out from her hiding place, but before she could do anything, she heard someone else cry out his name.

Tenya skidded into view; he must have been nearby. He was facing away from her and didn't seem to notice her position. She was so shocked by what just happened that she paused. The pall of debris made it impossible to assess the situation. Had the building collapsed? Was Shoto still inside? What were they going to do?

"Todoroki-kun! Can you hear me?" Tenya yelled in alarm.

Just then, a massive shadow came into view. Immediately, Mallory knew it couldn't be their classmate. The cloud parted, and her stomach filled with ice. A hulking man was walking out of the building, his face covered by a black cloth with goggles, a gasmask, and horns protruding from his head. His muscles bulged under a tight black jumpsuit, but worst of all, he was holding a limp Shoto in one hand.

A villain? Terror seized Mallory, stealing her breath away. Tenya took a step back, and the man's gaze swept over to him. He froze briefly, then ran. If he was running, then that meant he didn't recognize the man, and so he must have been a villain, right? Dread made her body numb.

The villain calmly walked away, heading towards Tenya. For a moment longer, Mallory was paralyzed. Tenya had run towards where the teachers were last, so what was she supposed to do? Run the opposite way and alert everyone? Saving herself was out of the question, but fighting was, too. Not only was the man equipped with a gasmask, but she couldn't risk using a gas that could hurt Shoto, and that was assuming she could even get close to the villain to begin with.

She scrambled out of her hiding place and took a deep breath. There wasn't anyone else around that she could see or hear, but who was to say that was the only villain in the building? In that case, she couldn't afford to be alone for long. She had to regroup with Tenya and hope others would join along the way.

Mallory started running, knowing she was heading straight into danger, but unable to think of a better alternative. The villain was undoubtedly strong, but everyone had made it out of the first villain attack okay. Maybe if multiple students or the whole class got together, things would be alright.

She wasn't far behind the villain, and was soon able to see him again. Mallory tried to stay as far away as possible and reduced her speed to a light jog, trying not to draw attention to herself. She was still at a loss as to how the class could rescue Shoto and apprehend the villain, and it made her anxious to not have a plan, but she had to trust in her teachers and peers. If everything worked out okay in the past, then surely it would now...right?

Suddenly, the villain raised his foot high and stomped. Shockwaves of power rippled through the entire landscape, knocking her off her feet. She looked up in fear as a massive mushroom cloud of dust, dirt, and debris shot straight up before racing outwards in all directions. Mallory squeezed her eyes shut and put her hands over her face, but she could feel pebbles and shards of glass sting her bear skin.

Even dropping to the ground wasn't enough. She felt weightless, and screamed as she was thrown into the air. She had no idea how far she was moved before her back slammed against something, and suddenly she was being pulled sideways. As quickly as she had gone airborne, she felt concrete beneath her and the wind ceased.

"Tinker! Are you alright?" Someone shouted close to her ear. She looked up.

"Tokoyami-kun!"

They were crouched under a sharp outcropping of stone, and then Dark Shadow appeared next to him. She realized that he had grabbed her and pulled her to safety.

"Thank you," she gasped, "both of you."

Fumikage nodded, then turned his head as the wind died. The dust settled, and they hesitantly peered over the edge and gasped.

A massive crater had formed, with the villain right at the epicenter.

"How…?" Fumikage made a strangled cry and Mallory hardly dared to breathe. How could someone be so powerful?!

As they scrambled out from their hiding place, Fumikage ran straight towards the source, but Mallory hesitated. Something just seemed...off. This strength was unbelievable, rivaled only by one person she knew of. If the League of Villains had such a trump card up their sleeves, why use that Nomu she heard about? Why did this person lie in wait? How was he able to stay hidden here for days? None of it was adding up. It was almost as if this villain...wasn't a villain at all.

The pressure melted off her shoulders and allowed her legs to move. She chased after Fumikage to the edge of the crater, and she could see more of her classmates converging towards the villain or already there. Did anyone else have the same hypothesis? Admittedly she wasn't one hundred percent sure, but now as she approached, she could see that even the man's build was similar. Her only uncertainty was Shoto, who the villain still held in his hand. Was he really hurt?

She heard an explosion as she reached the lip of the cleared space, flanking Fumikage, and watched as Katsuki charged him, delivering swift but careful blows at the villain, avoiding Shoto and even managing to perform an impressive flip and making him stumble a bit from behind. His maneuverability was incredible, and Mallory couldn't help but pause for a moment to admire that. Katsuki had so much potential, but his attitude was so awful! Wait, that wasn't important right now!

"Glasses!" Katsuki roared, looking at Tenya over his shoulder. "Tell the other weaklings to get out of here! I can handle this myself."

Tenya said something, but Mallory couldn't catch it. However, some of her peers spoke up.

"Who're you calling weaklings, Bakugo?" Eijiro shouted with a grin.

"We are the twenty students of class A," Momo added sternly.

"And we'll all be heroes!" Ochaco cried.

Mallory looked over and realized that, indeed, everyone was present. In any other instance, she would have felt much better, but if she was right, then they could never hope to win if he went all out. Even if this was a real villain, she was completely useless here, anyway. She couldn't help but lower her head briefly and wonder why she was even there, despite knowing in the back of her mind that it was a foolish thought. Different heroes existed to handle a variety of situations, so why did she feel so bothered?

When can I start making up for the things I've done?

She was shaken, quite literally, from her thoughts as the ground trembled once more, and she looked up just in time to see a hail of boulders sailing straight towards the students. One half her size was sailing straight towards her, but before she could react a beam of light to her left destroyed it, breaking it into harmless pebbles that scattered around her.

"Th-Thank you, Aoyama-kun!" she gasped in relief. He winked at her and flashed a dazzling white smile.

"You're welcome!"

Multiple students charged straight for him, but he easily swept them away with a flex of his muscles, creating another storm of dust that almost knocked her off her feet. Once she cleared, she saw that Katsuki was attempting to fight him once again, but none of his blasts were landing.

Surely it had to be him! Mallory couldn't help but be a little upset. She almost got hurt! Well, maybe he was trying to keep the scenario realistic, but…. "H-Hey! Isn't this enough?" she shouted down at him. "You're going to hurt someone!"

"Uh…." She turned to see Denki give her a dumbfounded look. "Tinker, you do know that's a villain, right?"

Her eyes widened. Did no one else think what she did? Maybe she was wrong? "But isn't that just-?"

"Now!"

She was interrupted by a shout from Izuku, and turned back to the crater to see him run straight for the villain. Ochaco and Tsuyu helped propel him forward, but she was surprised to see that his target wasn't the villain, but rather Shoto. He grabbed him and managed to haul him away, but then he took off his glove and aimed his hand.

"No, wait, Midoriya-kun!" Mallory tried to say. "You don't have to do that! It's-!"

Too late, he flicked his finger, firing a massive burst of energy that surely would have knocked anyone clear across the landscape...except for a villain. She had to be positive now. There was no way anyone but one could resist that kind of strength - and now he was responsible for Izuku breaking his finger.

She was definitely getting angrier.

Pushed over the edge, she slid down the lip and into the massive hole. "That's enough! Quit scaring everyone!" she yelled, stomping towards him.

She heard someone say her name in confusion, but she didn't stop charging - and neither did Katsuki.

Mallory halted when Katsuki threw himself forward, straight at the villain once more. He delivered a massive blow with both hands, and she could feel the heat of his power rake over her. The villain was thrown backwards, straight into a slab of concrete covered in dots...no, Minoru's balls! She didn't even notice he had covered it, and it quickly became apparent that the villain was stuck. When she glanced back at Katsuki, she saw murderous glee as he sauntered closer. Uh oh.

"Wait!" She broke into a sprint and stepped between them. Katsuki's eyes widened in surprise, then narrowed in fury.

"Get the hell out of my way!" he roared.

"I know how you feel, and I'm really angry, too! But, um...maybe don't burn him to a crisp?"

"The hell are you talking about?! He's a villain!"

Exasperated, she stomped her foot and spun on her heel. "I said I'm mad, too! You've done enough damage, All Might!"

There was a collective gasp from everyone behind her, and the 'villain' slipped out of his mask, revealing pointy blond hair and a huge smile.

"I am here!" All Might proclaimed.

For a second, there was a pause. Then, with a scream of bewilderment and shock everyone cried in unison, "All Might?!"

He laughed in a boisterous manner, completely at odds with the atmosphere. "I wanted to make a surprise in which a villain appeared in the end," he explained. "You all did a wonderful job! I'd expect nothing less from the hero class…. Er, well, I'm sorry."

As he spoke, the crowd gathered closer to him, glowering. Mallory shared the sentiment. She had been really scared at first, and then he really could have hurt her. She understood the idea of preparing for the real world, but...she hoped she wouldn't have nightmares of villains appearing out of nowhere now.

At his apology, a chorus of protest rang out at once.

"You went overboard, you idiot!"

"What the hell were you thinking?"

"You made Deku-kun hurt his finger!"

"I was so scared for Todoroki!"

At that, Mallory was reminded of him. She looked over her shoulder and saw him standing and walking towards the group. "Todoroki-kun! All Might didn't hurt you, did he?" she asked, moving over to him.

Before he could respond, Katsuki interrupted. "You two! Were you in on this?"

She flushed and waved her hands. "No, I had nothing to do with this!"

Shoto looked down. "I didn't know until he first showed up, and he asked me to help him. Sorry."

"Tinker." She perked up when she heard her name, and saw a handful of students approach her.

"How'd you know that was All Might?" Kaminari asked incredulously.

She was being stared at by about half the class now, and she could feel the blood rush to her ears. Mallory shrugged helplessly. "Well...it was obvious?" Realizing that she sounded insulting, she rushed to clarify. "Er, I just mean that, his build and strength matched! Yeah, that was it! And, you know, I couldn't think of how or why the League of Villains would keep someone as strong as All Might just waiting around here…."

For a moment, everyone exchanged glances, realization slowly spreading across their faces. Momo sighed and looked away, holding her arm. "I should have noticed that," she muttered.

Before Mallory could say anything, Aizawa's stern voice rang across the clearing. "All right, class, dismissed."

Another ruckus ensued as everyone slowly climbed their way out and towards the exit, mostly with Katsuki demanding to know if their teacher was involved as well. He didn't respond, but as she started to walk past her, he stopped her.

"That was very observant of you, Tinker," he said, his tone seeming more tired than usual. "Hone your attention to detail, especially if you're not in an environment well suited for your Quirk."

His words gave her pause. She still wasn't used to any kind of praise, but what he said made sense. Maybe, just maybe she wasn't totally useless in a situation like this.

She nodded firmly. "Yes, sir!"