Disclaimer: I own nothing but my original characters and works; all other characters and worlds belong to their respective owners. I'm just playing with them.

Betad by Priapus, Marethyu, Old man of the mountain

The Guild of Gamers: The Paladin

"You may be more like your father than I thought," Noire says, watching as I make my build.

"I can't tell if that's a compliment or not," I admit, giving the very attractive woman a smile. Seeing that I still don't have enough points for my build, I take another Drawback with a grin. I'm not one to turn away from a challenge.

"Hm, it's neither. Just an observation," Noire replies, a small smile on her lips. "You realise that you've made a very difficult start? In that way, you're very much not like Kei. He spent his entire first year hiding away, you've done the exact opposite."

"I need the points," I say with a shrug. "And I'm not scared of a little challenge."

"You realise that while death isn't the end for you, there will be considerable penalties should you fail. You're my first Gamer since I joined the council; I will be displeased if you embarrass me," Noire warns, giving me a dangerous look. "Jin's first gamer looks to be a very successful one; I expect you to do better than them."

"I will," I swear, a confident smile on my lips. Noire's systems come with very customisable starts, and while I have made life dangerous for myself, it should be worth it.

"We shall see. Are you done?" Noire asks, looking over my build. The White Magic system has many options, but I've gone for a Paladin build. I have one hell of a fight waiting for me when I get to my new home, after all.

"I am," I agree, looking over my choices one last time.

The long list of Drawbacks makes me smile. The gamer in me is ready for the challenge.

"So be it," Noire says, the screens vanishing as I gasp as my system comes online. "Good look, Nathaniel. Do not fail me."

"I never lose," I say, smiling with anticipation as she sends me to the hell I've chosen for myself.

– Victoria Dallon (Glory Girl) –

Waiting for the transport, she took several calming breaths. This wasn't her first Endbringer battle, but that didn't mean anything. You never really got used to going against these nightmarish monsters.

"Name?" she heard the PRT agent ask, glancing over to see who else was dumb enough to volunteer for this. She paused, as did many of the gathered capes (both heroes and villains alike), seeing a teenage boy likely her age or younger.

"Paladin," the unmasked boy said, looking entirely out of place in the room full of capes. He wasn't wearing a cape outfit, dressed only in a pair of slightly torn jeans and a blue T-shirt with Armsmaster's design on it. The shirt looked a size too small, showing off Paladin's impressive muscles.

Armsmaster himself looked over at the newcomer with a slight frown.

"Powers?" the PRT agent asked, moving on quickly.

"I have a fairly strong brute rating and an aura that absorbs energy and purifies things. I should be able to deal with the radiation; I can heal as well," Paladin said, his voice somewhat shaky. "Plus my weapons, they're projections."

He demonstrated as he closed his eyes, and a glowing silver sword and shield appeared in his hands. When he reopened his eyes, they had turned from forest green to a softly glowing silver, and his jet-black hair swayed slightly as if the wind was blowing through it despite being indoors.

"Does your healing have any known side effects?" the agent asked, continuing with professionalism.

"No, I don't think so. I've only used it on a dog so far, but I know it works on people as well," Paladin said, banishing his weapons.

"Is this your first time out?"

It wasn't the agent this time, but Armsmaster cutting in as Paladin turned to face the PRT hero.

"It is," Paladin confirmed, making her eyes widen. She figured he was from out of town, coming to the closest gathering point but this was his debut? He had some of the biggest balls she'd ever seen, choosing the Hero-Killer as his first cape battle. "My costume wasn't ready, but I can't stand aside during an Endbringer attack."

The resolve in his voice impressed her, and she wasn't alone. She glared at the Empire capes, all giving the white teen a covetous look, but before anyone else could speak, Strider appeared. It was time.

Giving one last look at the seemingly unprepared teenage boy, she paused, seeing something in his eyes as they all gathered up. There was no fear in his gaze, which briefly locked with hers as he gave her a small smile; in fact, he seemed downright eager.

Before she could think about that, Strider teleported them all, and she had bigger things on her mind. Much bigger things. In the distance, she could see Behemoth lumbering towards them. They were the first and only line of defence between Behemoth and Atlanta.

– Crystal Pelham (Laserdream) –

She'd fucked up.

Her entire body screamed in pain as Behemoth's lightning coursed through her, sending her flying from the sky towards the ground below. She hadn't noticed the danger until it was too late, unable to dodge as Behemoth sent a blast of lightning her way. She'd tossed up a shield, but her forcefields were the weakest in her family, and she couldn't stop a normal cape attack, let alone an Endbringer's blast. It had only clipped her, but it had been enough.

The pain was overwhelming, but she knew she had bigger things to worry about as she landed painfully. Looking up at the approaching monster, she knew two things. She was inside his kill aura, and she was going to die.

Everyone knew that you couldn't approach the Hero-Killer, or he'd just cook you alive. And yet, as she tried to rise to her feet, she couldn't feel him boiling her alive from the inside.

Her leg was broken from the fall, making her collapse back down as she watched the massive monster approach her. She didn't know why she was alive, but she knew it wouldn't last long as Behemoth walked towards her, a storm raging around him.

No one could get her out, not when she was inside the kill aura, and she felt tears sting her eyes. She didn't want to look back to where her family were likely watching in horror; her eyes locked onto Behemoth.

Despite her fear, a silver glow forced her to look away as she heard someone rushing towards her, the new boy from earlier charging right towards her into the kill aura. She shouted out for him to leave her, not wanting a new cape to die to the aura he probably didn't even know about, but he ignored her as the storm reached them.

And yet, the raging lightning didn't strike her. Each bolt of the storm was redirected towards Paladin, the glow he was giving off growing increasingly bright as he reached her, his eyes now entirely silver.

Reaching down, he placed a hand on her stomach and winced in pain as she gasped. Her leg snapped back into place, utterly painlessly, even as Paladin gave off a grunt of pain, fist clenching. The damage from the lightning bolt faded, the ugly burns along her exposed side healing to reveal pristine flesh as he clutched his own side.

"Can you fly?" Paladin asked through clenched teeth, her eyes wide as she looked up at him. His voice sounded different, with an almost angelic touch to it, as she nodded rapidly, enraptured.

He helped her to her feet, gesturing for her to leave as he stared up at the Endbringer, and after a moment of hesitation, she flew away, noticing finally the slight silver glow around her. The glow faded as she left the kill aura, making her eyes widen in realisation.

Looking back at her saviour, she watched him summon a sword again. Now wielding a large glowing greatsword, he stared up at the Endbringer for a moment; the image of the teenage boy standing before the fifty-foot Behemoth burned into her mind before he charged.

The glow of his sword increased a hundred-fold, the blade seemingly made of the silver light as he leapt forward and brought the blade down in a single great cleave. As it struck, the pair were engulfed in a blast of silver light, making her eyes widen and her heart race as her saviour vanished from sight.

As the light cleared, she felt herself gasp in utter shock at the sight of a single figure still standing there. Paladin, resting against his greatsword that was stuck into the ground, stood alone, with no Behemoth in sight.

Then, the sword vanished, and without his weapon to hold him up, Paladin fell to the floor.

– Colin Wallis (Armsmaster) –

They'd found Behemoth quickly; it wasn't exactly hard, all things considered, even if the boy who had sent him away was down for the count. Floating in orbit around Mars, Behemoth seemed to be throwing a tantrum as he stirred up the most powerful storm they'd ever seen the Endbringer manage, but it didn't seem able to really do anything from its current position.

"Who is he?" Alexandria asked, making them all share a look. None of the Brockton Bay heroes had the answers she was looking for.

"Paladin. He says this is his first time out," Armsmaster answered, making her pause. He couldn't see her eyes, but he could imagine the shock in them as Panacea looked over the sleeping teen.

"He's fine, physically anyway. He's exhausted, and his pain receptors look like he was in a lot of pain, but I can't find anything wrong with him," Panacea cut in, making Alexandria nod.

"He was taking our pain; I saw him wince and touch his side when he healed my side," Laserdream piped up, making them share a look. He had healed a lot of people today, some on the brink of death. If he was experiencing their pain every time, he probably felt like he'd died a hundred times over. It was no wonder he'd just collapsed once the adrenaline failed him.

"He didn't come with a mask?" Alexandria asked, making him shake his head.

"He said his costume wasn't ready," Armsmaster replied, looking over the sleeping teen. This was an amazing fight, for Behemoth at least. Around ten percent of the people who took part had died, which was amazing for Behemoth, and they all knew why. Paladin had been absorbing Behemoth's heat, his radiation and his lightning into himself as he ran around, barely staying alive as he healed as many people as possible.

Some people had reported taking direct hits that dealt no damage at all, only to see Paladin in pain from seemingly nothing; he could transfer other people's wounds onto himself.

"I know who he is," someone said, making them all turn to where Shadow Stalker was staring at the sleeping cape. "He goes to my school."

"Should we be talking about his civilian life?" Glory Girl said, making Armsmaster frown.

"He didn't wear a mask, and the Empire saw his face. They won't ignore him," Armsmaster pointed out. "Who is he?"

"Nathanial Hayashi, he's in my class, but I've never spoken to him. He disappeared at the start of the school year, some medical issues apparently," Shadow Stalker explained, making him share a look with Alexandria. It was November now; could he have triggered just a couple of months ago?

Before she could say anything else, the topic of their conversation groaned slightly as he started to sit up. Looking around the room, soft green eyes blinked as whatever was causing him to glow was clearly no longer in effect.

"Hey," Nathaniel said, giving them a tired wave.

…'hey'?

"My apologies for rushing you, but what can you tell me about the power you used to banish Behemoth?" Alexandria asked, making him turn to her.

"Banish is right. I used a Banishing Smite. I just had to absorb a lot of energy first; he's a big boy," Paladin replied, moving to sit on the edge of the medical bed he'd been placed on. "I can add energy I absorb into my Smites, and Behemoth puts off a lot of energy."

He winced as he moved, Panacea placing a hand on his bare arm as she made sure he was okay. Nathaniel's T-shirt was barely hanging on for dear life, the Armsmaster design on the front barely recognisable, making his lips twitch slightly.

"Are you okay?" Panacea asked, making Paladin nod slowly.

"I feel like I've been hit by a truck, then reversed over a few times, but I'll live," Paladin said with a confident smile, stretching slightly as he clenched his fist several times. "So, where did the bastard end up?"

"Behemoth is currently orbiting around Mars. Is that not what you were trying to do?"

"Mars? That's weird, damn it. I was aiming for another dimension," Paladin said, frowning in annoyance. "Eh, not surprised I couldn't completely cheese the boss fight."

They all blinked at his casual attitude, a grin on his face.

"Hey, which Endbringer is supposed to be next?" Paladin asked, making Alexandria's lips twitch.

"Leviathan was last, so it should be the Simurgh," she answered, making him nod.

"Right, flying super-master/thinker. Yeah, I can handle that," Paladin said, stretching as he rose to his feet. "Three months is more than enough time to make a strategy to cheese that. So, same time next apocalypse?"

…what?

– Taylor Hebert – Later –

Banging on the outside of her locker, she screamed for someone to help her as she felt bugs crawling all over her body. The trio laughed from outside, mocking words barely audible through the locker door and her desperate banging.

She barely noticed when the laughter suddenly cut off, but it was more than noticeable when the door to her locker was ripped off its hinges, causing her to fall out of the filth-filled locker and onto the floor.

Hearing it hit the floor, she looked up into the gentle eyes of her saviour as he gave off a soft silver glow.

"I see Winslow is still the shithole I left it," Nathaniel, Paladin, said, reaching down as the glow intensified and the filth and bugs on her were all purged in the silver light. "Are you alright?" he asked, his voice kind as he offered her a hand up.

Instead, in an act that would embarrass her later, she clutched the legs of her saviour, sobbing in relief, which made him kneel down and gently stroke her hair. Looking up at him, she saw that his gaze was elsewhere despite his soothing actions.

Turning to see what he was looking at, she felt a momentary pang of satisfaction as she spotted the trio, all looking pale and panicked, as the Vanquisher of Behemoth glared at them with disgust. Emma went to speak, but her honeyed words died in her throat as Nathaniel just glowered at her.

"What's going on here?" Mr Gladly asked. Oh, now a teacher has noticed something is wrong? Mr Gladly froze as he saw Nathaniel helping her to her feet. "Pala- M-Mr Hayashi?"

Turning to the teacher, Nathaniel gave him an angry look which practically made the weak-willed teacher cower in place before the look faded to a more reserved look, a dark smile forming on Nathaniel's lips.

– That Night –

It turned out, as good as Emma was at talking her way out of trouble, as much as the school seemed incredibly hesitant to punish their track star and the daughter of a lawyer… they wanted to piss off the newest big damn hero far less.

Emma, Sophia and Madison were all suspended, facing criminal charges, and Alan had practically turned white when Nathaniel offered her and her father the use of his lawyer. The conversation between Carol Dallon and Alan had been short, but the man she'd once seen as her uncle had come out of it looking like he was considering becoming a heavy alcoholic. All three of the trio were under house arrest, and Madison had already broken and confessed to hundreds of their 'pranks'.

That was before her dad punched him in the face, which probably didn't help their case, but at least it hadn't ended up with her dad being arrested.

Hearing a knock on her door, she called for them to enter, wondering what her dad wanted. They'd just talked for hours, and honestly, she was all talked out after that emotionally draining conversation.

The door opened, and her heart started to pound as she saw a much younger man than she was expecting; Nathaniel, giving her a small wave, entered the room.

"Hey, Taylor," Nathaniel said, his eyes briefly looking over her. She was acutely aware that she'd just gotten out of the bath, dressed in some embarrassingly childish flannel pyjamas as her hero gave her a small smile.

"N-Nathaniel, what are you doing here?" Taylor squeaked, well aware that a boy was in her bedroom. Not just any boy either, but one of the most wanted men in the world after his hero debut. She'd heard some of the girls in Winslow planning to basically jump him if he ever came back to school.

"You can just call me Nathan," Nathan said, giving her a smile. "I just wanted to check on you and apologise."

Apologise? He was her saviour; she didn't know what he meant because he could do no wrong in her mind. He was perfect.

"What do you-"

"We both know this isn't a new thing; if someone had stepped in before, if I'd had the balls to stand up to those three before I got super-powers, you wouldn't have had to go through this," Nathan explained, but she just smiled softly.

Nobody, not a single student or teacher, had tried to help her. She was accused of lying even when she tried to tell people. Nathan might have waited until he was a world-renowned hero first, but he had saved her. She hadn't missed the way he'd gone from a skinny geeky boy who hung out with Greg to a complete hunk.

"If you had tried to help, they'd just have bullied you as well," Taylor said, giving him a sad smile. He went to speak again, but she cut him off with an impulsive move. His eyes widened slightly, but he didn't turn away as her lips met with his.

– Next Morning –

Stretching as she woke up, she got out of bed with hope in her chest for the first time in a long time. Her body protested, sore in places left untouched before last night, and she blushed slightly as she gathered her clothes.

Nathan was gone, having left late last night (before her father got back from his meeting with Carol, thank God), but she'd see him again soon. She needed to get a mobile. She knew her father wouldn't like it, but he could deal with it.

Turning on her computer, she returned to her most viewed page as she read the new posts on the Paladin thread of PHO. Looking at his Cape Wiki page, she touched the screen slightly, stroking the picture of Nathan. Her saviour, she'd started to show him her gratitude last night, but she'd spend the rest of her life repaying him for dragging her out of her despair.

– Thomas Calvert (Coil) –

This just wasn't fair.

"What did I do to you?" Coil asked, his power failing him as he saw the god-damn Vanquisher of Behemoth approaching him, glowing with light and brandishing a large sword. He'd been very carefully avoiding this nightmarishly strong cape that fucked with his powers, but it hadn't been enough as Paladin he'd just showed up at his base on a day that he'd had both his timelines be in the base.

"Heya, Coil. You wanna know something funny?" Paladin asked, making Coil blink. "Your power lets you avoid the consequences of your actions, hiding all your worst deeds away in another timeline, but now? Now you're going to die because of something you didn't even do. You're dead because of something someone on another timeline did."

"W-what are you talking about?" Coil asked desperately, making Paladin grin.

"Lisa sends her regards, but it's not the one you're thinking of," Paladin said, lunging forwards as Coil failed to move in time, the sword piercing his chest and pinning him to his chair. "Sorry, sucks to suck."

This just wasn't fair… but nothing he could do would stop him from bleeding out, a sword through his heart.

– Lisa Hayashi (Oracle) –

Her son was a good boy, even if he'd inherited several of her and Kei's worst traits. Well, he was a better person than his hedonist of a sister anyway (not that she could talk, given what she and Kei got up to). Watching another Coil bleed out, she smirked maliciously. Ruining Coil's life across the multiverse was a hobby of hers.

Watching Nathan meet with Alt-Lisa to discuss the aftermath of Coil's death, she paused for a moment and giggled. Nathan could be a little oblivious to the obvious at times; he was smart, but he had his blind spots. Seeing how he handled a younger version of his mother being so thirsty for him would be funny. She'd have to thank Noire for setting up this screen so they could keep an eye on her son.

Still, her brows furrowed as she checked his settings again. Had he really needed to take that many drawbacks? At least when Kei liked a challenge, he stuck to VR with no stakes, but her son was a bit of a thrill-seeker.

She had faith, even as she looked at the trackers showing the Teeth, Slaughterhouse Nine, Yangban, and more starting to head his way. He could handle it, right?

Author's Note: This is not a new story, just a one-off for an idea I've had. Nathaniel is Kei and Lisa's son from Tinker, getting a system from Noire after she and Jin become Council Members (Kuro D retired because being on the council was hard work).