I should've known the silence wouldn't last.
It never does.
The rumble started small—barely noticeable beneath the crackle of ruined buildings and shifting rubble. Then it became a roar. A guttural, echoing quake as if the city itself screamed.
The Nomu weren't done.
Neither was Joker.
And neither were the cloned pro heroes.
Across the battlefield, the haze lifted just enough to reveal the next nightmare.
A silhouette emerged through the smoke—tall, wrapped in tattered red-and-white cloth. All Might.
But not our All Might.
This one moved stiffly, his grin too wide, his eyes vacant and glowing.
"That's not him," Bakugo snarled, barely standing beside Shoto.
"No," Shoto said, ice building along his palm. "But it wants us to think it is."
Behind it, more followed. A twisted version of Hawks, wings made of razors. A clone of Endeavor—burning brighter than the real one ever had, its flames an unnatural blue. A skeletal version of Mirko, limbs reinforced with metal, blood dripping from her claws.
Cloned legends. Deadly shadows.
And they were all heading straight for us.
"Positions!" I shouted.
My voice carried through the comms—my team moved instantly. River launched a barricade of kinetic shields. Ghost vaulted forward, blades whistling through the air. Thorn fired suppressive blasts toward the ground to slow their advance.
I charged first.
My body ached from the last explosion, but I pushed it aside. The clone of All Might launched itself toward me—its fist cracked the air, breaking the sound barrier as it aimed for my skull.
I caught it.
The force nearly shattered my arm.
But I held.
"Not today," I growled—and threw.
It flew into a wall hard enough to shake the street.
More came. Dozens. Maybe hundreds. Joker's grand finale wasn't a bomb.
It was them.
Rewritten heroes, reborn as monsters.
And behind them? Joker himself, standing atop a half-destroyed tower, grinning like a mad god.
He clapped, slow. "Bravo, Dark Phantom. Or should I say… Anos?"
My name echoed through the comms again.
Izuku looked up at me with hollow eyes.
My childhood friends flinched.
Every lie I'd built…
Burned under Joker's voice.
But I didn't have time to break.
Only time to fight.
"MOVE!" I roared.
The cloned Mirko sprinted toward Eliza—before I could get there, Marcus tackled it out of the way, his arm snapping with the force of the hit.
"Marcus!" Eliza screamed.
He didn't get back up.
Diamond pulled him behind a barrier as more clones attacked. My friends fought through blood and tears, side-by-side with people who felt betrayed, confused—but still loyal.
The lines between pain and purpose blurred.
And still the villains came—a wave of escaped monsters from Tartarus and beyond. One had a grin like knives and bones erupting from their skin. Another wielded acid and shadow.
We were drowning in chaos.
Then—
Boom.
A massive energy surge ripped through the battlefield. A Nomu the size of a skyscraper roared as it pulled itself from the depths of the earth.
Ryah's voice came through my comms. "That toxin cleared the first layer. But the Joker adapted. That Nomu? It's been feeding on radiation, bio-energy—it's not just alive. It's aware."
"Then we end it," I said, jaw tight.
I took to the skies again.
My team flanked me.
Izuku launched beside me without a word.
He didn't forgive me.
But he would fight with me.
For now.
Bakugo roared and hurled an explosion into the side of the skyscraper Nomu's head. Shoto iced its legs, trying to freeze it to the street.
I dove.
A war without mercy had begun.
And this time… I didn't hold back.