"What do we do now?" Hagakure asked, sticking closely to Todoroki and I's side.

"I'm not sure honestly," I sighed, my shoulders slumping. "Since we were warped so far away we don't even know what's going on."

"All we do know is that they're looking for All Might," Todoroki interrupted. "For now, I think we should try and regroup with as many of our classmates as we can, as a group we might be able to overpower the villains."

"True," I nodded. "From what we've seen, most of these so-called 'villains' are just average thugs. With a well-timed attack, they're easy to beat."

I took a moment to survey our surroundings, taking note that we weren't far from the center of the USJ where the villains first appeared.

"Should we head towards the center?" Hagakure asked unsurely. "Mr. Aizawa is there and he might need help."

"That's not a bad idea," I replied. "Hopefully everyone else heads there too."

Todoroki rested his chin in his hand, his eyes closing for a moment in thought. Hagakure and I watched curiously as his eyes shot open.

"Hagakure, since you can't be easily seen you, scout, ahead," Todoroki said. "Then we can avoid running into villains and meet up with Mr. Aizawa faster."

"Great idea Todoroki!" Hagakure chirped, her floating gloved hands forming peace signs. "I'm on it!"

"Good luck." I said, giving Hagakure what I hoped was a reassuring smile.

Hagakure then tiptoed away.

"You think she'll be alright?" I asked, turning to look at Todoroki.

The boy shrugged.

"That's super reassuring..." I groaned sarcastically.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A small girl sat cross-legged on top of a small hill of dirt, her eyes watching over all of the people running around below her. This building truly was massive, it shocked her to think that a place like this was used for training heroes.

"I wonder if Mr. Kurogiri is doing alright," She mumbled, raising a small wooden puppet to her face. "I know, how about you go and check on him for me! I was ordered to stay here by Mr. Kurogiri, so I can't go, but you can my little puppet."

The girl's eyes glowed bright red for a moment, the tiny lifeless wooden doll in her hand suddenly spasming. It sat up in her palms, its blank face staring up at her.

"Find Mr. Kurogiri for me," She instructed the puppet. "He has glowing yellow eyes and is made of purple fog. You'll definitely know when you've found him."

The doll nodded obediently, jumping off of her hand and scurrying away. 

"I wonder what jerk-face Shigaraki is doing..." She mumbled, drumming her fingers along her knee.

Her eyes snapped to the left, and one of her many puppets came rushing toward her.

"There are three heading this way..." The puppet rasped, its voice seeming to bounce all around without coming from a specific direction.

"Thank you for telling me," She said smiling softly. "I appreciate all your help, you may go now."

"It's not like I have anything better to do..." The doll chuckled sadly. "I am dead."

The girl frowned. "I would give you my body if I knew how... I don't like this world anyway."

"Nonsense..." The small wooden figure said, placing a wooden hand on her knee. "At least you can still feel and remember. Be glad you have a name."

The puppet fell lifeless, the soul that had briefly resided in it now gone. The girl stood up, scooping up the lifeless doll with her.

"I better hide," The little girl mumbled. "Mr. Kurogiri won't be happy if I'm captured."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hagakure returned only a few minutes later, sounding slightly panicked.

"I didn't spot anybody," She began. "But there are these little wooden dolls scattered all over the place! They walk around all on their own, so someone nearby must be controlling them."

"Someone could be using the dolls to keep an eye on us," Todoroki said. "If that's the case, then there isn't much of a point in being stealthy anymore. Our biggest concern should be getting rid of whoever is controlling these dolls."

"I was thinking the same thing," I nodded. "We have to find whoever is controlling the dolls."

"How are we supposed to find them?" Hagakure asked with a heavy sigh. "The zone alone is huge, what if they aren't even in this zone?"

"Let's just look for easy hiding spots," I suggested. "Whoever's controlling them doesn't want to fight in close combat so they're controlling the dolls from a distance. But they are probably still close enough to keep an eye on us."

"Exactly," Todoroki nodded. "Start looking for holes or easy hiding places. I'll fan out with my ice, if they want to avoid being frozen they'll have to move when the ice reaches them."

Todoroki stomped his right food and ice began to fan out all around us, creeping into even the tiniest of cracks in the rocks and filling small holes. A few of the small dolls were also caught in the ice, wriggling to get free.

"Nice," I smirked. "Not only will this force them out of hiding, but we've gotten rid of a few of their puppets."

All of our heads suddenly snapped off to our left, a sharp yelp of surprise catching my attention. A small girl lay sprawled out on the ground, obviously having just tripped over an unconscious thug. 

"A kid?" Hagakure asked. "How would she even get in here."

The girl was quick to get off, dusting herself off and giving each of us a glare. Her large red eyes remained narrowed, her small lips downturned in a frown. She placed a hand on her hip, which brought my attention to the demon mask strapped to her waist. Based on her looks, she was probably about seven or eight, but nowadays you never could be sure.

Todoroki was a lot more on guard than we were, he faced the girl with his right side angled towards her, ready to react instantly if he felt threatened. Despite the fact that she looked like a child, he wasn't taking any chances. 

"Stay back!" She exclaimed, scurrying behind the unconscious thug's body. "Or else I'll have to get rid of you!"

"Like I'm going to be afraid of some kid," I scoffed, rolling my eyes. "Go home kid, there are real villains here, now's no time to mess around."

"We aren't just any old villains!" She exclaimed. "We're the League of Villains!"

"So you're with these villains?" Hagakure asked.

"Yes!" She grinned. "You can call me Marionette!" 

"Damn, how old are you?" I asked.

"None of your business," She growled. "Mr. Kurogiri says I shouldn't talk to talk to strangers, so die instead!"

The unconscious body of the thug suddenly rose to his feet, taking a protective stance in front of the girl. His eyes snapped open, however, they seemed hazy, like he wasn't really looking at us. 

"This one's interesting," A voice echoed from the man. "This body has an interesting power."

"Use it well," Marionette ordered. "Put them down."

The man's teeth elongated and sharp cracks rang through the air. It looked like his body was growing and rearranging itself until the man vaguely resembled a giant, bipedal lizard. A snake-like tongue poked out of his mouth, his beady yellow eyes locking onto the three of us.

"Well shit," I whistled. "That's a big lizard, and to think I liked lizards."

"What do we do?!" Hagakure screamed.

Todoroki stepped in front of us, his expression remaining cool and calm. With practiced ease he encased the lizard-man from head to tail in ice, freezing him in place. Marionette's eye widened and she stumbled backward. Her breaths were heavy, eyes wide with fear.

"MR. KUROGIRI!" She wailed.

I lunged for her, intent on restraining her, she obviously had useful information. Kid or not she said she is a villain. Maybe if we can bring her in she can be rehabilitated somehow. Before I could reach her though, Todoroki pulled me back just as a portal opened beneath the girl, dropping her into darkness.

The three of us stood there in silence for a moment, attempting to understand what just went down.

"You know what, how about we just move on and try to find Mr. Aizawa?" I suggested.

"Good idea..." Hagakure agreed.

Todoroki just nodded. He seemed to be coping better than the rest of us.

A/N

I had an idea for a new villain character, but I didn't want her to have her own book just for her, so I added her here. If Deku has Kota and Eri to save, then Tora has Kuse and the mysterious new villain Marionette. Anyway, I hope you guys liked the chapter!

(Edited 2022.08.03) I actually forgot about the young villain I created, not sure if she will appear again based on the direction the story is now headed, but I guess we will see. I already have quite a few OCs in this book that have appeared and will appear later.