Rule #40: If it seems like someone is out to get you, they are

That day we learned what the Pro Heroes are really up against, the darkness they faced to keep us safe. We looked at these villains and pure evil stared back.

The old bandages that usually sat draped around Aizawa-Sensei's shoulders like a droopy scarf suddenly flared to life and despite the dire situation, reminded Toru very much of a frill-necked lizard. Just in front of them, 13 made sure to keep the class back and out of the way for their protection and out from underfoot of the Pro.

"What? Real villains?" Kirishima questioned in disbelief, "No way! How could so many of them get into a UA facility this secure?"

"Yeah, 13 why aren't the alarms going off?" Yaoyorozu stepped forth.

"Good question, not sure" 13 replied.

"Is the entire campus under attack? Or is this their only target? Either way if the alarm sensors weren't triggered then one of these villains must have a Quirk that is able to mask their presence here" Suggested Todoroki.

"Which means they carefully chose this isolated facility as an entry point at a time when a class was being taught" Shiro continued, "They're either fools or genius' for trespassing here. That said, they've thought this out, whatever their plan, they must have a concrete objective in mind"

"But what is it?" Todoroki ended.

"Hey, look!" Toru pointed to the quiet villain at the back, though her eyes stayed trained on the monster at his side, "Handsy must be the boss"

"How d'ya figure?" Tamaki asked, her gaze zipping back and forth between the endless number of villains, "He's not even moving, he's just standing there"

"Like Todoroki & Shiro said, they've obviously got some kind of plan in mind: y'know, play the pawns to protect the king"

"Like chess!"

"Exactly"

"13, get them outta here and alert the main campus" Aizawa-Sensei ordered, moving forth as he prepared to take on the drones of mindless villains before them. "Actually if they've got the ability to block our sensors then they might be jamming our regular communications too. Kaminari, try using your Quirk to contact the school"

"Yessir!" Replied the blonde as he set to work.

"What are you going to do? You can't fight them on your own! There's too many of 'em, even if you can nullify their Quirks your fighting style's not suited for this! Your power works best in stealthy fights and that's not gonna help with a group…" Midoriya piped up, his rambles quickly revealing just how much of his analysis' he knew by heart.

"You can't be a Pro if you only have one trick" Aizawa-Sensei retorted over his shoulder, "I'll leave it to you, 13" And with that he launched forward to battle.

13 motioned them forward, back towards the entrance behind them. With one last backward glance at the monstrous beast still behind them, Toru fled with the rest of 1-A. And yet, she couldn't help but shake the feeling of familiarity that surrounded the brain-exposed creature.

There was just…something about it that seemed to ring a bell with her. Maybe it was the way it held itself? Or was it the way it appeared? Just what was about this creature that tickled her fancy so?

Her fast-paced musings were cut off with the reappearance of the portal villain who appeared before them, blocking their exit as he did so. "There is no escape for you" purred the disembodied voice of whoever stood before them, "It''s a pleasure to meet you, we are the League of Villains" Despite the polite manners and sweet tone, everyone was still tensed, ready and waiting for the other shoe to drop.

"…I know it's impolite, but we decided to invite ourselves into this haven of justice to say 'hello' and besides, isn't this the perfect place for All Might, the Symbol of Peace, to take his last breath?"

W-what? Did he just say…? Toru started.

"I believe he was supposed to be here today and yet I see no sign of him. There must've of been some sort of change in plans we did not foresee. Ah, well, in the end I suppose it doesn't matter I still have a role to play"

The creature before them spread out its…arms at the same time that 13 popped off a finger socket in preparation to use their Quirk. Only they never got the chance as Kirishima and Bakugo simultaneously jumped forth, sending a fiery attack towards the dark being.

Toru felt like she was trying to cough up a lung when the smoke and debris from the aftershock of the attack enveloped the class. However when the cloud dissipated it revealed the villain to still be standing before them unharmed. And why would they be? It's obviously got some sort of teleportation or portal Quirk! She thought.

"You live up to your school's reputation" Purred the villain, its voice bounced around like an echo as it spoke, "But you should be more careful children, otherwise someone might get hurt"

"You two…GET OUT OF THE WAY RIGHT NOW!" 13 demanded.

"I'll scatter you across this facility" The swirling darkness before them swept forth and enveloped the class in a black dome, "…to meet my comrades and your death!"

What…is this? Toru grit out, her arms raised to protect her face from the twisting mass surrounding her as it pushed and pulled at her small figure. Though despite her best efforts, her feet were easily swept out from underneath her and she was sucked backwards into dark mass.

And then she was falling. One moment she had been amongst her peers, blanketed by a dark swirling mass and then next she was free falling towards the ground. Flailing a little in the air, Toru was eventually able to right herself so that she was falling face first, like a skydiver towards the ground below.

Despite the situation, it was not fear that coursed through her veins (though maybe it should have been given the circumstances) but anticipation-filled adrenaline. An almost predatory grin spread across her face as she quickly scanned the fast approaching ground. Finally, let's have some fun!

She was able to see that she had been deposited somewhere in the landslide zone. Not only that, but Todoroki was there as well and he had already gone to work in quickly freezing any and all villains in the area; they looked like little ice statues. Party pooper!

As Toru came within reaching distance of one of the purposefully upturned lampposts, she leant forward slightly, just enough for her to tip forward so that her hands could grip onto the metal of the pole. Thankful for her gloves, Toru used the force of her sudden turn to swing herself around the pole like a fireman before coming to rest on a frosty piece of rubble that jutted out from the base of the lamppost.

From there it was easy enough to slide down the ice-encrusted rubble and pick her way over to where Todoroki stood amongst a collection of frosty villains, stuck in place with expressions of anger and fury written across their faces.

As Toru drew closer she could hear Todoroki almost scolding the villains, "…to scatter us and kill us? Tch, you were woefully unprepared. In fact, to me it looks like you've had no training, you haven't the slightest idea how to use your Quirks"

Stunned comments arose from the frozen villains as Todoroki moved passed the frozen group and onto the next pair that tried to attack. It seemed that they weren't expecting such a response from a class of first years. "This power…it froze us the instance we warped here!"

"He's not a kid, he's monster!"

"So cold!"

"Ah! Don't shoot! It's just me!" Toru cried with hands raised as Todoroki spun on his heel to face her, obviously thinking she was another villain trying to creep up on him.

"Hagakure?" Todoroki questioned, lowering his frosty hands when he spotted the floating goggles and gloves behind him.

"Mmhm, is that all of them?" Toru craned her head this way and that as she looked for any more villains hiding in the shadows.

"So far, duck" Todoroki merely raised a hand to the outstretched lance that swept over Toru's head and swept a foot along the ground, incasing the two ambushing villains in ice.

"They're not very good, are they?" Toru rose from her crouch as she inspected the icy villains around them.

"From what I can tell there are only four or five truly dangerous people here. If that's the case, what we need right now is more information"

"Yeah, you're right"

Todoroki lifted his voice from the quiet tones he had been using with Toru to talk to the surrounding villains, "Listen well, if you stay frozen your cells will slowly die as your body succumbs to frostbite and hypothermia"

He moved over to the closet upright villain and placed a misty hand over their terror-filled face "…Luckily for you I wanna be a hero so I'd like to avoid any unnecessary cruelty but I can only do that if you tell me how you plan to kill All Might; that's the only way you'll survive"

The villain sniffled and blubbered as his face was enveloped by the misty cold that flowed from Todoroki's hand, invading all manner of airways and orifices as he struggled in his icy chains. Toru bit her lip as she watched the exchange going on before her, it was becoming more and more clear (to her at least) that this one didn't really know what was going on.

"Don't bother" Toru eventually spoke up, "He doesn't know anything"

"How do you know?" Todoroki asked as he turned from the villain, dropping his hand as he did so.

"I mean look at him" Toru gestured to the shivering man, "His appearance and fighting prowess clearly show he's nothing more than a thug or a hired gun. Not to mention he keeps looking off in that direction, which means he's probably looking for direction from someone else, like…" Toru moved over to stand next to the villain so she could follow his wandering eye line.

"…Him" A grin spread across her lips when her gaze landed on a large, bulky man frozen in a kneeling position not too far away. Her shoes crunched against the ice as she picked her way over to the frozen villain, before coming to a stop in front of him with Todoroki at her side. "Hello" Toru purred.

There was nothing obviously outstanding about the man in front of them; sure he seemed to be imitating a bodybuilder but other than that, there were noticeable signs as to what sort of Quirk he had. "Can you thaw him out? Just enough for him to talk" Toru questioned.

Silently, Todoroki did as he was asked before stepping back in line with the albino who hummed her thanks. The man in question slowly lifted his head, his stiff neck cracking from the awkward position as he raised his beady eyes to the two teens before him.

Toru took a step or two forth, breaking the silence and drawing the man's gaze to her. Or at least where he thought she was. "Just tell us what we want, c'me on man we don't have to do this" Toru began, purposefully tinging her tone with slight desperation, a rather big contrast to the purr she had greeted him with.

"No, we don't" The villain spat, sending a wad of spit straight towards her eye "Why don't you just let me go, cause I don't know nothing"

"All right" Toru nodded her head in resignation and though she kept her eyes on the man before her, she raised a gloved hand to stop Todoroki from coming any closer. With a put-upon sigh, Toru slowly and carefully removed one of her gloves before turning back to the man. "I want you to think about your eyes, you see this? This light?" Toru raised her bare hand now glowing with her Quirk.

Possibly despite his best interests, the villain's eyes zoned in on the hand in question as Toru continued to nonchalantly raise her hand towards his face. "…This is bright enough to blind you forever; eyes open or closed, it doesn't matter…" Her hand raised up his squirming body to rest mere centimetres away from his pudgy face "…So, do you wanna spend the rest of your life in dark? Or do you wanna tell us want we want?"

"Nnn…nngh! Gah! Ah!" The man grunted and groaned as Toru intensified the light and heat emanating from her palm.

"Well? What is gonna be?" Toru spoke calmly like she was asking someone about their day. A calm exterior hiding the storm within. For despite the calm exterior she put on, inside she was practically brimming with excitement. God! I didn't realise how much I missed this kind of thing!

"No!…God! God! Stop! God stop!" Toru pushed harder until the smell of cooking flesh began to permeate the area, "God! The boss was gonna do it!…Ngh! His pet! He was gonna use his pet!" The man blubbered.

"Which one?" Toru pursued unconcerned.

"Nn!…N-Nomu! The Nomu! I swear! God! Please stop!" He was sobbing by now.

"Hagakure, that's enough" Todoroki intervened lowering her arm with a hand on her wrist.

"Mm" She easily agreed pulling her glove back on.

"You…bitch!" Spat the villain blinking furiously at the sudden change.

Toru didn't say anything, instead turned and punched the sobbing man in the nose, knocking him out for good measure. She turned back to Todoroki who seemed to be regarding her with an odd expression she couldn't quite decipher, "Shall we?"