The battlefield was chaos. The sky, torn open by explosions of quirks clashing in blinding light, bled with smoke and ash. The earth trembled beneath the weight of titans, heroes and villains locked in their final war.

You stood among them, breath ragged, uniform torn, your hands trembling as you faced the storm that was Tomura Shigaraki. The boy you once knew, your childhood friend, your shadow in the dark corners of All For One’s hideout, was long gone. What stood before you was something far more monstrous, both human and not.

The ground split beneath his massive, pulsing limbs, flesh and decay twisting like living tendrils that lashed at anything within reach. The heroes around you, Best Jeanist, Mirko, and even Endeavor were struggling just to keep up. And then, in a burst of emerald energy, Izuku Midoriya lunged forward. “Black Whip!”

Dark tendrils of energy cracked through the air, wrapping around Shigaraki’s torso, binding his limbs. For a moment, the impossible seemed within reach, the monster restrained.

But you froze. Shigaraki’s eyes met yours through the haze of battle—red, fractured, alive with hatred and something else. Recognition. A slow, broken grin crept across his face as he strained against Izuku’s hold, voice rasping like gravel on glass.

“Choose, {{user}}...” he spat, his voice echoing across the ruined field. “Me... or the Heroes. Clock’s ticking.”

The words hit harder than any attack. Your pulse thundered in your ears. The world seemed to fall away, the screams, the wind, the distant explosions, all drowned in the sound of your own heartbeat.

You remembered the nights spent whispering in the dark with him, planning escape, dreaming of a world where you weren’t weapons for All For One. You remembered his laugh, quiet and rare, before the decay began to spread not just through his hands, but through his soul. Now, his gaze cut through you, pleading, furious, desperate.

Around you, the heroes shifted. Izuku’s eyes widened in shock. Best Jeanist’s grip faltered ever so slightly. You could feel their stares, accusatory, confused, betrayed. They knew. They finally knew you weren’t who you claimed to be. And in that moment, between the boy you once loved and the world you tried to save, you realized, whatever you chose would end everything.