Chapter 45 - A Hero from Long Ago

Sunday morning came, and Matthew awoke in the morning. He got dressed in his Sunday clothing, grabbed his Bible off of his bookcase, left his room, and headed downstairs to the kitchen. There, much to his surprise, he found Shoji, Milo, Ashido, Sunshine, Kaminari, Joshua, and Jiro waiting down there for him. Just like Matthew, they were dressed in formal, yet casual, clothing.

"Hey, what are you all doing up?" Matthew asked.

"We had such a good time last Sunday, we figured on going again." Milo replied. "But, we didn't want to go to the church without you."

"That's nice of you guys to wait for me; thanks for doing that. I texted Shiozaki if she and Yanagi wanted to walk over with us, and she said yes. So, we'll head over there to get them, and then head to the church. You all had breakfast?"

"Yeah, which just leaves you." Joshua replied. "You going to have any breakfast?"

"I'll grab something on the way over." said Matthew. "Hey, you and Jiro coming as well, Joshua?"

"Sunshine invited us last night, before lights out. So, yeah, we'll be coming with you to church as well. You don't mind, do you?"

"Nah, the more, the merrier! Alright, let's get moving; I'll grab something to eat on the way over. First though, we gotta go and pick up Shiozaki and Yanagi, which means we're going to head over to Class 1-B Heights Alliance."

After saying that, the group of eight left Class 1-A Heights Alliance. They walked for a few minutes, then came to the Class 1-B Heights Alliance building. There, they found Shiozaki and Yanagi waiting for them, just outside the gate. After the usual greetings, the ten students began walking to the church.


The students arrived at the church, where they met with the congregation, and greeted Pastor Tetsuo, who was Shiozaki's father. After a couple minutes of chatter, some hymns were sung, and then Pastor Tetsuo began preaching. Funnily enough, what he talked about was the story of 'Joshua and the Battle of Jericho'. The story was about how Joshua and the Israelites, God's chosen people, were told by God to march around the city of Jericho, and how by obeying God and his commands, the unbreakable walls of Jericho collapsed and fell!

The students who hadn't heard the story before listened in awe; they had never heard a story like that before! Just as last time, it was an engaging topic! After questions were asked, some more hymns were sung, a couple of announcements were made, and the service concluded. Afterwards, the ten U.A students sat in a circle and chatted with each other.

"That story was awesome!" Ashido cheered, pumping her fist. "Are all stories in the Bible like this?!"

"Yes, yes they are." Milo replied, a smile on his face. "In fact, the Bible is full of stories with different genres: Action, Adventure, Drama, Romance, Humor, Horror, Spiritual, you name it!"

"Romance, huh?" asked Kaminari, his tone humorous. "Name a romantic story in the Bible."

"I got a romantic one, but it has a twist." Matthew replied. "There was a man named Jacob, and he loved a girl named Rachel. However, her father told him he would have to work seven years in order to marry her. Jacob worked seven years, but he ended up getting tricked into marrying the wrong girl; he married her sister, Leah!"

"Ouch…" Jiro spoke, her tone somewhat pained.

"Yeah, and then he had to work seven MORE years in order to marry the girl he loved!"

"He must've really loved her, if he was willing to work that long for her." Joshua spoke up. "Okay, give us one with both drama and humor in it."

"That would be the victory on Mount Carmel." Matthew replied.

"Mount Carmel? That sounds sweet!" said Ashido, her tone cheerful.

"You're think of 'Caramel', Pink-Puff." Milo replied, trying to stifle a laugh. "He said 'Carmel'."

"So, how does this particular story have drama and humor in it?" asked Yanagi.

"A wicked king named Ahab challenged one of God's greatest prophets, Elijah, to offer a sacrifice for their god to take." Matthew replied. "Of course, Ahab's god was fake, but he wasn't going to let that stop him. After a while, when nothing happened, Elijah began mocking them. His jokes at their expense are pretty funny, I can tell you that."

"Did Elijah win?" asked Shoji.

"Oh yeah he did! He had four barrels of water poured onto the wood, and then prayed to God to show his glory, and BOOM! Lighting struck, took the offering, and everything else Elijah had to offer! Hence, why we call it 'The victory at Mount Carmel'."

"Wow, that's quite impressive."

"It truly is an impressive feat." Shiozaki spoke up.

"Aside from the 'Joshua' we just heard about, are there any other heroes in the Bible?" Kaminari asked.

"Oh yeah, there are tons of heroes in the Bible." Matthew replied. "And many of these heroes, believe it or not, were just as scared as any other person. But still, with God's help, they did what was right! And in the end, they received God's glory. And then there's, of course, the greatest hero of all…"

"That would be Jesus, right?" asked Joshua.

"Yeah; God in the flesh."

"What does that mean exactly, 'God in the flesh'?"

"It's like this, Joshua. God is holy, so holy in fact, that if we were to see him in his purest, holiest form, we would be vaporized on the spot! So, in order for God to have a better connection with us, and so that we wouldn't be vaporized in his presence, he sent his son, his physical form, down to us. And his son, Jesus, his physical form, came just like the rest of us: he was born, he grew up, he had friends, he was basically an average guy, just like us."

"But he wasn't exactly average, as he was the Son of God." Sunshine added.

"Yeah, I'm getting there." said Matthew. "Back then, the world didn't have quirks like we do now. Back then, there was only one power: the power of God. And while God lent some of his power to certain people, such as his prophets, Jesus had the full-on, full-fledged power of God, as he was him, but in physical form. And with it, he did many wonders: he healed sick, casted out evil spirits, stopped storms, he even brought people back to life! Can you imagine having the power to reverse death?"

"That would be a powerful quirk to have, if it were possible." Jiro replied. "So, what happened to this 'hero'?"

"Jesus had infinite wisdom, and he taught God's word to many people. He told that he was the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and that he was the Son of God. And though many people followed and believed, there were those who didn't follow. You see, there were religious teachers who had a lot of power, and they used that power to further their own works, rather than God's. They used their power to promote injustice, and Jesus couldn't just stand by and let that happen. So, he exposed their corrupt ways, and woke the people up to what they were doing. The religious teachers didn't like that very much, so they sought to kill Jesus."

"They didn't succeed, right?" Ashido asked, her tone worried. "He defeated them, right?"

"No… they won." Matthew replied, his tone now sounding. "They captured him, they beat him, and… they killed him; had him executed like he committed a crime…"

"Even with such great power, he was still killed." said Shoji, his tone downcast. "That doesn't really sound like a great hero story…"

"You'd be surprised if I told why he died." Matthew continued. "We're not perfect; we fail over and over, day after day. We do things that are against God, and he can't just automatically forgive us. I mean, if you were a judge, you wouldn't automatically forgive a serial killer who just butchered several families, right? You would say that he has to pay for his crimes, which is the same for us; we have to pay for every bad thing we've done, and that means death. But Jesus loved us so much, that he decided to die in our place! And he was scared too, as he was going to have to go through pain that we could never imagine! But, in the end, he decided that his love for us was more powerful than anything else, so he went through with it. He was innocent, he never did wrong, and yet, he died as if he was guilty…"

"He gave his life for us." Sunshine spoke, her tone thoughtful. "That does sound like a heroic thing to do."

"Yeah, but if it just ended with him dying and never coming back, it wouldn't be that heroic. But, that's not the end… you want me to continue?"

"Yeah! Keep going!" Ashido and Kaminari said at the same time.

Matthew laughed and replied, "Okay, okay… So, Jesus died and was buried… but then three days passed, and… he came back to life! Because he was innocent, yet died as if he was guilty, death reversed itself, and the curse was broken! Now, if you believe in Jesus, and that he died for you, you'll have eternal peace, and death will not be the end of you. And that's why I'm fearless, and that's why I don't fear death, or the villains, or the fact that I'm quirkless. Because he sacrificed himself for me, I'm not afraid to sacrifice myself for others. So yeah, that's the story of the greatest hero of all…"

"And I believe that as well." Sunshine added.

"Same here for me." Milo added.

"And myself." Shiozaki added.

Everyone was silent after that, as they all had to mentally digest the story that Matthew told them. After a few minutes of thinking, Joshua finally broke the silence.

"I don't want to be afraid anymore." Joshua spoke up.

"Me too." Shoji added.

"Me three." Ashido added.

"Same goes for me." said Yanagi.

"And me." Kaminari added.

"And me too." Jiro added.

"So, how do we earn this… eternal peace?" Joshua asked.

Matthew smiled and said, "You pray to God. You say you're sorry for what you've done, you lay down your pride and everything else, and you tell God that you believe in his son, and what he did for you. Then, it won't come right away, but you won't be afraid anymore…"

Joshua nodded, and replied, "Okay… no more fear…"


The ten had prayed together, and the six who didn't know God now received him! Afterwards, they all left the church to have some lunch. They felt good, invincible, like they could take on the world!

"So, I guess this is what you would call a 'spiritual high'?" Ashido asked, as she walked with Milo's arm around her.

"Yeah, and it feels good, doesn't it, Mina?" Milo replied.

"Can you keep feeling this good, Matthew?" Joshua asked.

"As long as you keep studying, and following God's word, then yes, Joshua." Matthew replied. "And yeah, there will times when you fall, and there will be times when it seems hopeless, but don't be discouraged. Because when you fail, ask God for forgiveness, and he'll grant it to you. He'll help you get back up, and you can try again. All you gotta do, is accept the forgiveness he offers you…"

Joshua then began chuckling, which then turned into a full-on laugh. Jiro, who was walking beside him, gave a wistful look.

"What's so funny?" Jiro asked.

"I keep thinking of that song I Want to Know What Love Is." Joshua replied, his tone cheerful. "I guess I now know what love is: it's laying down your life for those you love…"

"Which is what a hero does."

"And what Jesus did." Sunshine added. "I guess he was one of the first heroes, wasn't he?"

"Yeah, he was." Matthew replied. "He definitely was…"

They continued walking, occasionally chatting with each other, as Joshua hummed a couple of notes of I Want to Know What Love Is. Then it got rather humorous after Milo started singing Joshua Fought the Battle of Jericho, which made Joshua start playfully attacking him. Everyone had a good laugh at that, and they continued walking to get some lunch.


What the U.A students didn't see, was Death Wish was standing on the roof of a building! He was spying on them, particularly Joshua! Upon looking through a pair of binoculars and seeing his son laughing, an angry look came upon Death Wish's face! And he let out a growl of rage, as he crushed the binoculars in his hands!

"You're going to be defeated…" said a random, male voice that just appeared out of nowhere.

Death Wish suddenly whipped around and saw the owner of the voice: he was male, sixteen years of age, and he looked to be of Israeli descent. He had long black hair, tanned skin, and blue eyes. His clothing consisted of white cloak, a white long-sleeved shirt, white pants, and he was barefoot. It was Eon Feivish!

"Who, or what, are you?" Death Wish asked, his tone villainous.

"Just someone who knows what you're up to." Eon replied. "And like I said before, you are going to be defeated…"

Death Wish laughed crassly and asked, "By who? You?"

"No, by your son. He's going to break the hold he has over you."

Death Wish's prideful demeanor shrank away, replaced by anger. He then activated his quirk, and raced forward to attack Eon! He then leapt through the air, letting out a loud roar and-

Eon moved forward quickly, flicked him in the chest, and Death Wish collapsed to the ground! He twitched and tried to get up, but found that he couldn't! It was like he was paralyzed in his entire body!

"Little trick I picked up from a friend of mine." said Eon, kneeling down to speak with Death Wish, who was on the ground. "Don't worry; you'll be free in ten minutes. As I was saying, you're not going to win. Joshua's going to be free, free from the hold you have over him. You can try, but he's going to be a hero. And I'm going to be there to make sure that none of you, none… of you, kill any of them…"

Eon got up and, deciding to have some lunch, disappeared from Death Wish's view. True to Eon's word, ten minutes passed, and Death Wish was able to get back up. He then jumped off the roof, landed in an alleyway, and went on his way.

The day went by as usual…

Author's Notes: So I decided to go all-out on the spiritual, as I felt it would be fitting. Plus, it gives a deeper understanding as to what truly makes Matthew, Milo, and Sunshine brave enough to take on villains, and become true heroes. As for the songs, I Want to Know what Love Is is by Foreigner, and Joshua Fought the Battle of Jericho is a traditional song.

R&R,

Heroboy005