Darkness.
It's not just the absence of light. It's a cold void swallowing everything—the noise, the pain, the memories. I'm drifting, falling into a silence so deep it feels like I'm sinking beneath an endless sea.
But my mind won't let me go.
Not yet.
Faces flash—sharp, vivid—like shards of glass cutting through the void. Izuku's fierce eyes, burning with a mix of hope and despair. Shoto's clenched fists trembling, holding onto every breath. Bakugo's roar, a storm of anger and frustration. My friends—my family—rushing toward a future I'm not sure I'll see.
Why now? Why this?
I fought so hard. So much blood spilled, so many nights without rest. I carried their burdens, their secrets, their hopes. I was the shield—the phantom lurking in the shadows.
And now? I'm breaking.
I feel the poison spreading—like wildfire consuming everything from the inside. My body is a battlefield, each cell warring against the toxin that refuses to let go. It's stealing me piece by piece.
But my heart… it still beats.
Faint, broken, but defiant.
I'm afraid.
Of the dark.
Of leaving them behind.
Of being forgotten.
I thought I was stronger than this.
But maybe strength isn't about invincibility.
Maybe it's about standing up, even when every part of you wants to fall.
The memories come unbidden—a laugh shared with my childhood friends, the quiet moments training with Zane, the painful silence between brothers torn apart by secrets.
I wasn't always this person.
I was just a kid once.
A scared kid dreaming of heroes.
Now I am what I swore I'd never become—a shadow lurking in the dark, a mask hiding scars deeper than any wound.
If I die here…
Will they remember the real me?
Or just the phantom?
My breath falters again.
I reach out—not with my body, but with my will.
"I'm not done," I whisper, though no one hears.
"I still have a fight left."
Because if I don't believe that—if I let this darkness win—
Then what am I?
The storm rages outside.
But inside me, a different storm brews.
One that refuses to end in silence.
One that screams, even in the face of death.
I won't disappear.
Not like this.
Not now.