Chapter 1

I am he that liveth, and was dead; and behold, I am alive for evermore, amen; and have the keys of hell and of death. - [Book of Revelation]

With a groan, he clutched the side of his head as the sun mercilessly beat down on him. Groggily, he tried opening his eyes and felt a searing pain coursing through his body as the heat bared down on him. Jolting awake, he scrambled to steady himself on a tree beside him as he took shelter from the sun's rays. He was thirsty and the pain coating him felt like burns all over his body. Wait. Burns. He stared down on his body, feeling it and found himself bandaged from head to toe as he slowly remembered who he was and what happened the day before. He remembers reaching the main encampment of the White-Legs and ambushing their leader, Salt-Upon-Wounds, and killing him. He also remembered the savage's last stand as he pulled the pin off of a grenade and tossed it into a hidden area filled with explosives. He remembered being engulfed one last time in flames as he died from the explosion.

And yet, he's alive.

'How odd. This may yet be another White-Legs trick, fooling me into thinking that I had killed their leader when he is very much alive and torturing me right now. Perhaps… the White-Legs have elected Caesar's Legion's help and was able to bring one of those VR pods from the Old World to Zion?' he thought. Shaking his head at the ludicrousness of the idea, he forced himself to think of another way despite his thirst. 'No. If that were the case, one of the Dead Horses or Sorrows would have heard about it and relayed it to the others, thus reaching me. But if that's not the case, why am I here? How am I alive? And where can I get some water?'

The last thought reminded him of his need to quench his thirst. Looking around the area, he spots an odd pool of water with a yacht, seemingly stranded in the middle. He took no notice of the other details as his body reminded him again of his needs as it threatened to collapse yet again due to thirst. He shambles towards it in a daze and bends over to cup his hands and take in huge gulps of water. He cared not now what the water may be or where it came from and continued to drink his fill. His thirst quenched and his body satisfied, he took a few moments to regain composure to himself and heard someone behind him.

"Well, well. Looks like one of you brats managed to get ashore. Makes my job at killing you much easier."

'Brat?' He looked at the water and noticed his reflection in the water. He looks… different… and younger somehow. Now that he noticed it, he did feel lighter than usual and sprightly at that. No longer did he feel his joints creaking, which was fortunate for him, though his burns were still there. He sensed the man take out a spear-like weapon of sorts and started brandish it over to him.

"Oi. Are you listening to me brat? I said, I want to hear your screams!" the man shouted, swinging his weapon towards him.

Before the weapon made contact, however, the boy in front of him disappeared quickly and two flash of lights came from him. The man thought nothing of it until he felt it.

Looking down, he found two holes leaking with blood. One on his chest and the other on his abdomen. Fear showed in his eyes as he trembled before the boy as he clutched the wounds to stop them from bleeding. He looked at the boy and saw that his eyes were showing such intensity and ferocity that it felt like looking at death in the eye. With that final thought, he passed out and fell backward, bleeding slowly to his death.

Satisfied with his work, the boy reloads his weapon and holsters it. He was just about to start moving when he heard a rather girly scream coming from the yacht. Turning his attention to it, he saw three other teens like him currently (something that made him want to look in the water again) stranded on top of the yacht and noticed several other people surrounding them. He noted that each had an expression of murderous intent directed towards the teens and knew he had to act fast. Drawing out his weapon, he crept towards a rock that gave him the high ground and aimed.

Atop the yacht, Midoriya, Tsu, and Mineta huddled together to keep themselves out of range of the villains. They had only just regained their footing after that mist villain whisked them to this part of the USJ in an attempt to scatter them all. He looked down in the water to find 10 or so villains sneering and jeering at them, waiting for the right opportunity to strike. Seeing this hesitancy to pounce them all at once, he turns to his classmates and began formulating a plan.

"I count 10 or so villains down there and they don't seem to be doing anything yet. I feel like they're hesitating since they don't know our quirks and are just waiting for something to happen," he said.

"What makes you think that Midoriya-chan? Kero," replied Tsu at the greenette.

Peering again to make sure his guess was right, he replied. "If they knew all our quirks, they wouldn't have sent you into a place with water. I'm guessing they only scattered us in order to overwhelm us while they wait for All Might to appear."

The purple-ball-haired midget started panicking overhearing the greenette's thoughts. "T-t-that can't be possible, can it? There's no way they can beat All Might!"

"Well think about it. They wouldn't be so bold to a school filled with heroes and heroes-in-training if they didn't have a way to beat All Might. As scary as that sounds, I feel like that's the case and we might need to stall them a bit longer so they either give up, or the other heroes come. With that said…"

"Do you have a plan, kero?" croaked the frog-girl.

Nodding, Midoriya said, "I do. Now, I have to know the aspects of your quirks so I can tweak it a bit should the time arise. What's your quirk, Asu- I mean, Tsuyu-chan?"

"Well, as you know, I have all the abilities that a frog has so I can swim underwater for a period of time, jump really high both vertically and horizontally, extend my tongue, and be resistant to cold, although I can't go lower than -3OC or I'd freeze to death." Then, a silent pause. "I can also secrete mucus from my skin that can be poisonous and spit my stomach out to wash it, but I doubt that's going to be of help."

"Okay and what about you Mineta? What does your quirk do?"

The purple midget popped-off a purple ball from his hair and stuck it onto the yacht's wall. "I can remove purple balls off from my hair and when I stick them onto surfaces, they usually stick around for a good few hours or a whole day if I'm feeling it. If I remove too much my head bleeds."

Silence. Uncomfortable silence.

"Err… I suppose we could use it to capture villains or slow them down… I guess?" Midoriya said, scratching his cheek as he tried to come up with a use for Mineta's quirk.

"See?! My quirk is totally useless for this situation! We're gonna die here and I haven't even touched my first pair of bre- pthoo!" Mineta was slapped across the face with Tsuyu's tongue, and the midget stopped talking to clutch his throbbing cheek. He whimpered a bit as he tried to console himself and not bawl out completely.

"L-look, we don't have any choice right now and help is far from being near us. This is the only chance we have at getting out of here and helping our classmates out. Besides," Midoriya says, as he peeks over the edge to see the villains gathering around as though they were planning. "I don't think they're going to wait any longer for us move and it seems like they're hatching a plan of their own. So, what do you two say?"

The two looked at each other then back at Midoriya. Tsu spoke first as she reluctantly agrees with Midoriya's plan. "I hope your plan works, Midoriya-chan. It wouldn't bode well for us if we got ourselves hurt but we can try."

Mineta, looking a bit a reluctant at first, sighs in defeat as he nods for them to execute their plan. "If you guys are set for it, I'm game for it I guess. Don't wanna get stuck here either."

"Alright, that's settled then. Now, this is what you guys have to-"

"Em… Midoriya-chan? I think our problem might be solved already," interrupted Asui, pointing down by the shore.

Midoriya and Mineta looked at each other then walked towards where Asui was. They looked over the ship and saw someone wrapped in bandages from head-to-toe, duking it out with the villains.

"Woah, look at him go! He's just dodging them left and right!" commented Mineta as he watched in awe at their mysterious savior weaving between the villains. Audible gunshots could be heard as he fended off each thug and dropped them dead as quickly as he could move.

"W-wait… is he… shooting at them? Oh god, he's k-killing them isn't he?" panicked Midoriya as he notes that a certain pool of blood was starting to flow from the villains' fallen bodies.

"K-kero? I'm not entirely sure, but it looks like it. I suppose it's better them than us that he's shooting. Could he be a villain that didn't agree with the others and just went on a killing spree now?" replied Asui, a slight look of fear present on her face, but nonetheless, keeps it stoic.

"It's like watching Mission Impossible or a war movie. I mean, he moves like one of those tactical ops soldiers, but combined well with guerilla warfare or barbaric combat back in the medieval ages. Just look at him!" commented Mineta, feeling a tad bit excited at seeing the event unfold before him.

"How do you know so much of that, Mineta-san? I could've sworn that all the things you look at or learn are related to lewd and vulgar topics. This is surprising coming from you," replied Asui curtly.

The purple-haired midget turned towards the frog-girl with a look of disappointment on his face. "How could you say that Asui-san! I am a man of culture you know! And besides, I wouldn't have been able to get into U.A.'s hero course if I didn't know a tactic or two."

"Fair point, kero. Oh look, seems like our ally/foe is done with his killing spree."

The bandaged teen huffed and gasped for air. He had not fought like that since the battle for Zion. It may have been only a day ever since, but it felt like a year due to his current body's limits. He wiped the blood off his gun and grimaced as he realized that he'd been wounded on his arms, further adding to the pain he felt. He grunted and shrugged the pain off. He's had worse after all.

He then turned his attention to where the three U.A. students were hiding. He holsters his weapon and calls out.

"You can come out now. It's safe," he said.

The trio realized that they have been spotted and most probably have been seen beforehand. The fact that the newcomer did not immediately fire upon them and tried to kill them was a good sign that he was an ally of theirs.

"Well, that sort of answers our question on whether he's an enemy or foe. But, we should still be careful though. I'll grab the both of you and hop us out of this ship to the shore nearby. I'm the only one who can do that right now and it would be better if we stick together rather than come to the shore one by one. Sounds good?" the frog-girl said, suggesting her plan towards the two boys.

"O-okay, Asu—Tsuyu-san. I'll ready my quirk just in case he tries to do s-something," the greenette said, stuttering a bit.

"Hehe, okay then Asui-san~" replied the purple-haired midget lewdly.

Asui stared at Mineta blankly and grab Midoriya instead. "On second thought, maybe I'll just leave you here for the pros."

"EH?! No, no, wait, I'm sorry! Please don't leave me here…" wailed Mineta at the thought of being left behind.

Midoriya looked at his classmate and laughed nervously at his expense. While he did find Mineta to be a bit over at times, he was still someone that needed to be saved. As such, the only gentlemanly way to fix their problem is to offer up his service.

"Er… I'll just carry you instead, Mineta-san! T-that way, Asu—Tsuyu-san won't feel uncomfortable carrying us both and bring us safely across," suggested the green-haired teen, going a bit red for even suggesting such a thing.

"Aw… that's manly of you Midoriya-san! Well, I guess I'll take you up on your offer then… *sigh* Asui-san's boobs…"

Shaking her head, Asui carries Midoriya on her arms and waited till Mineta was held tightly by Midoriya. When they both were ready, the frog-girl flexed her legs and lept mightily over the faux sea and lands safely by the shore. She sets down the two and cautiously observes the bandaged teen as he walked towards them. Likewise, as soon as Mineta and Midoriya had finally touched back into dry land, they held their guard up until the bandaged teen stopped just a meter in front of them.

"Are you three alright?" inquired the bandaged teen.

The teen looked to be no older than them yet had this aura of maturity surrounding them. It was as though he had a lot of experience dealing with villains or staying out of trouble. Not only that, but the skill level also that Mineta has described to them a while ago was almost similar to a pro's so while they were a bit suspicious of him, they were willing to trust him should he prove to be on their side.

Going first, Midoriya replied, "Uhm… n-not really. Just a minor bruise from l-landing a while ago. Mineta-san, Tsuyu-san, are you two alright?" he said, noting his own injuries then asking his classmates.

"Nope, don't have any injuries, kero," replied the frog-girl. 'How intriguing,' thought the bandaged teen.

"Oh, uh, I was bleeding from pulling my hair out a while ago but I'm good now," replied Mineta. 'Those purple balls on his head, those are hair?' the bandaged teen curiously thought.

"O-oh, that's good to hear then," said Midoriya before turning back to the bandaged teen. "Uhm… w-we're alright, it seems… But, what about you? You seem to be wounded already and wounded yet again. N-not that I'm saying that's b-bad though! I-I mean, it's bad if you're wounded so uhm… do you need medical attention?"

'To care for the safety of a stranger before his own. Most interesting. Something tells me these children are to be trusted,' the bandaged teen said in his mind, mentally noting his observations for future use.

"I am fine, thank you for asking. Just a few cuts and scrapes on my arms. Nothing that I can't handle," he said. "I know that we are strangers, and you are wary of my presence. But, I come delivering Good News. The Lord has sent me to do his bidding, and do it I shall."

"A-ah… I see…" replied Midoriya. He then looked back at his two classmates and whispered to them, "He seems to be trustworthy. What should I ask him?"

"Ask him his name and affiliation. I sense that he can be trusted but we can't be sure until we confirm it," replied Asui. Nodding, the greenette turns back at the bandaged teen and said, "Uhm… we're not sure who you are and why you're here. So, er… c-could you tell us your name? A-and h-how did you get here?"

The bandaged teen's shoulders relaxed and took a step forward, outstretching his hand in greeting. "I suppose an introduction is fair. My name is Joshua Graham. As for why I am here or how I got here, I do not know. All I know is how bizarre this place is. Quite unlike the one where I am from and that's saying something."

"You don't remember how you got here, kero?" asked Asui. "So, you're not with the villains then?"

"Precisely. As for that question, no. If the dead bodies tell you anything, then you would know that I am not a 'villain'," Joshua replies. "Like I've said, I am here to do the Lord's bidding. He has called me to bring down his wrath upon evildoers and I intend to do so."

Well, that answers why he chose violence. Clearly, whoever this guy is or was, he has no idea about the villain invasion and may have been whisked in by the portal guy's quirk and became a victim. Since they're heroes-to-be, the first and foremost job they have to do is secure the civilians. Armed or not.

"Okay then. We trust that you are telling us the truth," said Asui. "But, no more killing okay? We're not allowed to take the lives of others, even if they're villains, and that goes especially towards civilians like you. Could you please follow us then? The villain invasion has scattered many of us and we'd like to get back to our, uhm… teacher to rendezvous. Will that be okay?" Asui suggested, motioning for the bandaged teen to follow them.

Joshua frowned beneath his head wraps. He may look like an adolescent now, but by no means is he unable to defend himself. Despite his internal conflict with himself, he knew that the most sensible thing to do is follow these three as they know more of what's happening and are clearly the ones who are in the good side. Furthermore, he doesn't know where he is so information from these three and their teacher would be beneficial.

Reluctantly nodding, Joshua said, "Very well. Lead the way."

"O-oh, uhm… we're g-gonna have to confiscate your weapon." When Midoriya saw the teen frown again, he quickly tried to defuse the tension. "I-I mean, just until w-we get to safety! I-it's just, we can't h-have you shooting down others when we can just restrain them… a-and, it's a law here that tells us not to kill anybody and that greatly applies to civilians or non-heroes."

Joshua stared with a frown at the green-haired teen. What's with their naivete? It's almost as if they were not willing to take someone's life or resort to drastic measures to save others. Also, what's with the hero, non-hero, civilian talk?

"We may encounter those who wish to do you harm along the way. It will not bode us well should we become defenseless against them. I understand that you three are some sort of law enforcement trainees and have some kind of formal combat, but, in this certain scenario of surreality, it would be best to have a weapon that communicates the desire for others to back off and not mess with you," said Joshua. Despite that, however, he unclips his holster from his belt and hands it over to the green-haired teen. "But, if you insist that lives should not be taken then I will reluctantly comply. I have a way to fend myself without a ranged weapon so I suppose I can make do with what we have. Now then, let us keep going."

Well, that was easy. Midoriya was expecting the stranger to put up a resistance and he'd have to convince him further about the morality of life, but was surprised to see how easily the stranger complied.

"Th-thank you… uhm… I guess you'll get it back afterwards so uh… yeah, let's go!" cried out the greenette as he led the group.

While Midoriya had been nervous about the whole encounter, Joshua was annoyed. 'This is a strange place. I am most definitely not in the Mojave or anywhere near the wasteland. The rules here are almost the same as pre-war sets of rules. Peace is advocated as a means to solve problems than violence. Despite that, there are those who cause harm and take the lives of others. What's more, these children and those adults have oddities within them. For example, that girl. She has the mannerisms and abilities of a frog yet none of them find it odd. Hm, I wonder, what else has the Lord in store for me?'

Hey there everybody! It's me again, Arbiter101. I'm sure you're getting tired of me rewriting and rewriting chapters again and again and I get you. I hate having to do it again.

I read the whole damn thing again and found that certain chapters were rushed to meet the demands of my dear viewers. I felt quite pressured because of that and in turn has turned the story into a cesspool of squeezed portions and feels a bit off and, dare I say it, worse than the original version of the story.

So, I have made a promise with myself to take as much time as needed to write the story and polish out the few chinks and patch up the holes in it. If you guys have any idea how to make a condensed story without making it feel that way, please, tell me. That would help a new writer a lot.

As always, leave a review if you like the story and feel free to point out my mistakes. It helps me make a better story for you to enjoy in these times.

That's all I have to say and Arbiter101, out.