Greed was flailing. Lust glared from the floating truck, but there wasn't much she could do from up high.
"You dumb kid, put me down! Cut it out!" And I could tell the nausea of being zero gravity was hitting her a bit as she kept on floating.
"The longer I let you float up, the harder it'll hurt when I let you go," I told her. I had figured out after a lot of science classes how high terminal velocity was, and I wasn't going to let her get anywhere near that - but I could let her go high enough to break an arm. Which wasn't nice, but I got the impression it would save a lot of people.
"You're not going to kill her," snapped Lust, turning to me. "That's not the kind of hero you are, Uravity."
I realized she was probably going to turn her quirk on me again and closed my eyes. It was a reflex, but I heard her mutter "Dammit, so you've figured it out?"
Twenty-two, twenty-three...
Oh. She has to look you in the eye to use that quirk on you. OK. So as long as my eyes are shut and Lust is stuck on the truck, she can't do anything to me. And Greed can't do anything in the air.
Twenty-four, twenty-five...
Where are Tsu and Ryukyu?
"You can't find blind forever, foolish girl! And you won't let Greed fall to her death. I saw it in your mind!"
"You've seen memories," I told her. "That's who I was until now. Maybe i've changed!"
Thirty, thirty-two...
"Lust, tell her to let me down, now!" panicked Greed.
"I'll let you down if you tell me who you are, why you're stealing this stuff, and who you're working for!" I called up to her.
"Would Deku threaten a villain?" yelled Lust, obviously playing on my memories. "Dear, dear, Uravity, what would your hero say if he saw you now? Probably wouldn't ever want you, would he? You're not being very hero-like at this moment!"
Thirty-seven. She's just provoking you.
"OK, let me down, I'll talk!" shouted Greed.
"Talk while you're floating. You've got some time before the fall will kill you."
"OK, ok! I'm with the Mercenaries of - "
"Shut up, you idiot!"
Crunch.
I had to open my eyes now. Lust had jumped from the car and was grasping Greed's throat. Well, now or never.
"Release."
They both toppled to the ground, falling smack into the pavement.
"You damn dumb kid, you're gonna pay for that!" snarled Greed. I got ready to close my eyes...
"Uravity!" came Tsu's voice as she jumped down to stand beside me, followed by Ryukyu. "You ok?"
"Don't look the one with the fur coat in the eyes!" I told her, as Ryukyu swept in over me. Greed and Lust were pulling themselves to their feet. I hadn't broken anything in their fall.
From above, I saw that Hado was preoccpied saving people Magus had flung from buildings for her to catch, and keeping Magus occupied with spiral blasts at the same time.
"Great," muttered Lust. "Now we're outnumbered. Fine job, Greed, letting a child beat you."
"Like you did better," snapped Greed. "And I'm injured here!"
Ryukyu raised her claw. "Time to talk."
"Time to leave," Lust sighed. "Magus!"
"Not without the stuff!" said Greed.
"Don't be stupid."
"You're not going anywhere. Froppy!" said Ryukyu. Froppy's tongue spat out and spiraled around Lust and Greed.
"Ooh, no good, a gross long froggy tongue, how inappropriate!" came Magus' annoying coo from above us. I saw that Hado was catching a family Magus ahd thrown up in the air, and the witch was right on top of us. "I'm afraid you'll have to let go or come along."
"Not without the stuff!" protested Greed.
Ryukyu flapped her wings and flew into the air, swiping at Magus, who dodged her and pointed her 'staff' at her two accomplices. They began to float upwards, with Tsu being dragged along.
"No!" I cried, self-floating and jumping towards Magus. "You're not getting away!"
"How rude, prison!" she shook her head. "I'm afraid I'm not going anywhere. And neither are you!" She waved her staff and I felt all control go out of my body. I was flung int othe side of the building - it was insanely painful.
"Time to go." And through my blurry eyes as I floated up the side of hte building, I saw Magus pull Lust and Greed into the car and start slamming the door on TSu's tongue.
Ryukyu had wrapped her tail around the car. Magus then waved her staff and the car spun around, flying through the building nearby and forcing Tsu to at last release the villains. The car barreled off and more civilians were screaming.
Putting my consciousness back together, I grabbed into the hole in the wall over my head, pulled myself forward, and released myself.
"I'm sorry, Ryukyu-sensei," said Tsu, whose tongue looked raw. "We let them get away."
"You two did very well for your first time out," said Ryukyu, who had returned to her usual form. From the sound of things, Uravity retrieved the stolen goods single-handedly, and you, FRoppy, held onto the villains for a very long time and followed my directions to a T. Well done."
I smiled a little shakily. Both of us were getting patched up while Hado paced back and forth.
"But but but - why were such major villains just pulling a house arrest? Those guys were professionals, right? Big powers, not just some random gang. Why go after something so small?"
"It wasn't small," said Ryukyu, pointing to the loot we'd recovered. "There were some very interesting things in those containers. Supplies and shipping orders for a new drug that's been hitting the streets lately. They call it 'Trigger'."
"Trigger? Like for content you don't like?" I asked.
"Well, not really. Trigger is a quirk-enhancing drug. Simple in concept, I know, but the execution can be complicated." She turned to me. "Uravity, what did you say Greed started to call them?"
"Mercenaries of something."
"Right. The HN has been getting reports of similar things. There have been sightings of a number of villains with the same motif lately. Noh masks and named after the seven deadly sins. They've been causing chaos and endangering people all over the place. Working with different accomplices and different goals." She sighed. "I'll pass this information along to the police."
"Be sure to let them know not to let that Lust villain look them right in the face. It paralyzes you."
"That sounds scary," Tsu told me. "I'm sorry."
"It's ok."
"For now, your shifts are over," said Ryukyu. "Well done, Uravity and FRoppy. We'll figure out what to do about these Mercenaries. You two go home and rest. You'll have a big day tomorrow."
Side B
"A gangster!" said Big Sis Mag. "I've never met one before. He's got an aura of danger about him!"
"What makes him so different from us?" I asked Compress.
"My dear young Toga, let this old-timer explain it to you. Once upon a time, the underworld was controlled by a number of big, bad, scary organizations. AS heroes came about, these groups were exposed and slowly dissipated. Then All Might brought an end to them altogether. The dregs that never got caught went on to serve as underlings for villains. Under constant surveillance, they lived destitute lives. To put it bluntly, they're like a protected species whose heyday has passed."
"Well," said the Yakuza boy, "You're not wrong about all that."
"So you were barely scarping by, Mafia Boy?" asked big Sis Mag. "Why come to us now? Shouldn't you be out celebrating All Might's retirement?"
"Nah. It's not about All Might. All for One's fall is a way bigger dear. The emperor of Darkness who ruled over the entire underworld. That guy was like an urban legend to my generation. The old guard, though, they were always gossipping that he'd up and died. Then he showed up in the flesh and got locked up in TArtarus. So now, both the light and dark sides are leaderless. Question is, who's gonna step up to lead?"
"If you're saying this knowing full well who my master is, is this a challenge?" asked Tomura. "The next leader is me. I'm gathering forces and expanding our operation day by day. And i'm gonna use that power to annihilate this society of heroes."
"Got a plan?" sneered the Yakuza.
"A plan? Didn't you come here to join our little gang?"
"Having a goal without a plan just makes you a daydreamer.e And Daydreams don't make for a good sales pitch."