The monster shifted. The eerie hum it let out sent vibrations through the air, a low thrumming that made my bones feel like they were grinding together.

"Alright, idiots," I clapped my hands together. "We either make this thing choke on All For One's overinflated ego, or we all die screaming. So let's get to work."

Shigaraki, still trying to process my absolute genius, blinked at me. "I don't even know where to start with how stupid that sounds."

Overhaul, ever the professional menace, chuckled. "He's right, but I kinda want to see if it works."

All For One, meanwhile, had had enough.

"You expect me," he said, slowly, darkly, "to be used as bait?"

"Hey, you wanna live?" I asked sweetly.

His fingers twitched. Murderously.

"Thought so."

Then the monster charged.

Everything erupted into chaos.

Bakugo went full fireworks mode, explosions lighting up the battlefield as he blasted backward, dodging what I could only describe as nightmare tentacles. Shoto threw up a massive ice wall, trying to slow the thing down. Shigaraki, because he wasn't listening, tried to decay it—

And it ate the decay like a snack.

"OH, THAT'S BULLSHIT," he screeched, scrambling away.

Meanwhile, Overhaul was assessing. Watching. Calculating. The bastard was way too calm for this situation.

And me?

I was already moving.

Because we were losing.

Step One: Get the Idiots to Work Together

"You absolute clowns," I shouted, dodging a swipe. "Work together or we are dead!"

Bakugo, mid-air, flipped me off. "I'M TRYING, NERD—"

"TRY HARDER."

Shoto, actually listening, redirected his ice, trying to trap the thing's limbs. Overhaul, finally done being a spectator, stepped in, reshaping the terrain beneath us to give us an actual advantage.

And Shigaraki—well, he was still pissed that his decay did nothing, but he was at least dodging now.

It wasn't perfect, but it was something.

Step Two: Get the Monster Where I Want It

I darted through the chaos, ducking under limbs, flipping over debris, getting closer and closer to my target.

All For One.

Still standing there, still trying to act untouchable.

Like an idiot.

"You're gonna want to move soon," I told him, sidestepping a swipe.

He glared at me. "And why is that?"

I grinned.

"Because I'm about to make this so much worse."

Step Three: The Big, Stupid, Brilliant Plan

I threw myself forward, hand glowing, and—

I slapped my palm against All For One's chest.

His entire body locked up.

"You—"

"Magic finds magic," I sang, shoving power into him.

The monster twitched.

Then it turned.

Right. Toward. Him.

And then?

It lunged.

The monster lurched forward, its many tendrils whipping through the air like it was sniffing out blood. But instead of me, its focus was now entirely on All For One.

Perfect.

"See?" I said, stepping back with an innocent grin. "Told you it'd work."

All For One, who was now the main course for this abomination, snarled. His hand twitched, quirks flaring up, but the monster was already moving.

"You little—"

"Ah-ah-ah," I wiggled a finger at him. "I did give you a warning."

The thing lunged.

And All For One, the big, bad, terrifying villain, did the one thing I never thought I'd see.

He ran.

The battlefield became a blur of chaos.

All For One dodged left, the monster's massive claws slamming into the ground where he had just been. Debris exploded into the air, smoke and dust mixing into a storm of destruction.

Bakugo, somewhere in the background, was screaming in laughter.

"Oh my god," Shigaraki wheezed, hands on his knees. "You—you just made him the target?"

"You bet your crusty ass I did," I replied smugly.

All For One had never moved faster in his life. He teleported, reappearing on top of a ruined pillar, only for the monster to tear straight through it a second later.

"Oh, he's pissed," Overhaul noted, watching as the villain barely blinked out of the way of another attack.

"He should be," I said. "I'm hilarious."

"Okay, while that happens," I clapped my hands together, turning to the rest of my very disorganized team, "we need to actually—oh, I don't know—win this fight?"

They stared at me.

"You mean—"

"Yes, Shoto. The thing that nearly killed all of us before I decided to make All For One its favorite snack."

"But he's—"

"I give him five minutes before he snaps and tries to blow it up," I said, waving a hand. "And then it'll go right back to trying to kill us."

Bakugo wiped tears from his eyes, still giggling. "Holy shit, nerd, I hate you, but that was amazing."

"You're welcome. Now focus."

The monster, now thoroughly distracted, was ripping through the battlefield in its pursuit of All For One. Which meant we had just enough time to prepare something devastating.

"Alright, dumbasses," I announced, planting my feet. "We need a plan."

"We had one," Shigaraki grumbled.

"And mine was better."

"You—"

"ANYWAY," I continued, cutting him off, "if we're going to kill that thing, we need to hit it hard, all at once."

"So we blast it?" Bakugo said, cracking his knuckles.

"Correct. Together."

The entire group froze.

Bakugo squinted at me. "Together?"

"Yes."

"You're joking."

"No, actually," I smirked. "I'm feeling particularly suicidal today."

There was a long, terrible silence.

"...Fine," Bakugo grumbled. "But if this doesn't work, I'm blowing you up first."

Shoto sighed, hands glowing. "Let's just get this over with."

Shigaraki gritted his teeth, looking like he wanted to murder me, but begrudgingly lifted his hands as well.

Overhaul?

He just grinned.

I had a bad feeling about that.

As All For One continued his Olympic-level sprinting across the battlefield, we got to work.

Shoto built layers of ice beneath us, creating a platform for Bakugo to launch from.

Overhaul reshaped the terrain, funneling everything toward a single kill zone.

Shigaraki—who had finally accepted his fate—coated his fingers in pure, crackling energy.

And me?

I was charging up something nasty.

The moment the monster turned—

We hit it.

All at once.