I gasped.
It wasn't loud — more like a breath caught in a throat that had forgotten how to breathe.
My chest stung. My skin burned like acid was crawling beneath it. My vision was fractured, colors bleeding into each other, shapes melting at the edges.
But I was alive.
Barely.
I opened my eyes just enough to see the storm-ridden sky above me, the clouds still blackened with smoke, lightning flashing somewhere far away.
I tried to sit up.
Couldn't.
My arms felt like stone. My legs like ice.
Someone was kneeling beside me, a blur of shadow and silver.
Shira.
Her hair was messy, her eyes rimmed with red, and her face was pale — stained with dust and worry. Her hands were glowing faintly, pressing against my chest, trying to stabilize whatever the toxin hadn't already torn apart.
"Anos…" her voice cracked. "Hey. You with me?"
I tried to speak but coughed instead. A wet sound. Sharp. Copper flooded my mouth.
She pressed her palm to my forehead. "You idiot. Why the hell would you do that alone?"
I blinked slowly.
Because I had to.
Because no one else could.
Because I promised I'd protect them all.
And I'd break myself doing it if I had to.
Shira looked away, like she knew what I was thinking. Her voice dropped to a whisper.
"They're alive… most of them. Your friends… They're being rushed to hospitals. Evacuated. Stabilized. They fought until their bodies gave out."
I swallowed painfully.
"Class 1-A held the line until backup arrived."
Backup?
That's when I heard the voice — crackling through the comms, strong and full of authority.
"This is Stars and Stripes. We're taking control of the remaining sectors. All pro heroes move to defensive positions. Nomu stragglers to be neutralized. Clones are destabilizing — priority is rescue and containment. I repeat—"
Her voice echoed across the battlefield, loud even over the thunder. More voices followed — voices I hadn't heard in hours. Endeavor. Hawks. Mirko. Edgeshot. Even Best Jeanist.
They were here.
The reinforcements finally arrived.
But at what cost?
I turned my head weakly, vision still fading in and out. Flames flickered across the ruins. Sirens wailed in the distance. The battlefield was scorched, broken — buildings in pieces, roads shredded, bodies being carried on stretchers.
And still… they fought.
Still… they survived.
A warm hand wrapped around mine. Shira again.
"You're going to be okay," she whispered, though I heard the fear in her voice. "We'll fix this. We'll fix you."
But I wasn't sure I believed her.
Because as the comms buzzed and the clouds roared above, I could feel it — deep inside.
Something inside me had changed.
Cracked.
And whatever the Genesis Flame had become… it wasn't done with me yet.