After a hearty meal which Wanda had prepared for us, we piled into Vision's car and headed for Pepe lake. I had often come there to observe the Pepe frogs, which thrived there, giving the lake its name, and just to relax when I felt hyper or anxious. It was a beautiful place, and I was excited that my revenge would finally be exacted there.

The lake wasn't too far from the Maximoff household, and we were able to arrive early. We stepped out of the car, striding down the grassy fields to a pathway which circled around the lake. Pepe frogs hopped into the water at our approach, their different facial expressions filling me with joy, despite the majority of them looking sad. Upon reaching a small wooden pier which was used for fishing, we stopped, and awaited the arrival of Quackity and his gang.

We didn't have to wait too long, however; it seemed that he had planned to arrive early as well. Monty's expensive car pulled up in the parking lot nearby, and we watched as Quackity's squadron stepped out of the cars, making their way towards us. Anger flooded my body as I saw him, one of the many causes of my pain. Monty and Waylon were beside him, looking rather happy with themselves. I noticed that their hands were intertwined as they walked, and this caused some of my rage to dissipate. It seemed like now their relationship was official, and that made me very happy. Behind them was Ballora, looking just as terrifyingly beautiful as before. Her eyes were fixed on me, seeming to stare through my soul, and I knew that she still blamed me for her death. I needed to change that soon.

"Well, well, well." Quackity looked at us, a grin settling on his face as he surveyed my team. He leaned against one of the wooden posts of the pier, regarding us as his friends surrounded him, prepared for battle. "Look who it is; Pig Lover, Four-eyes, Hammer Time, and Useless Chauffeur."

"Great to see you again, Scarface." I greeted. "Glad to see that you got your squad together; Richie Rich, Four-eyes 2.0, and 'Overglorified Blueberry'." I chuckled, recalling the old insult Technoblade had used. "God, that still makes me laugh, even now."

"Your copied insults will get you nowhere, Wonder." Quackity told me.

"Yeah, and neither will yours." I retorted. "It's time that we settled this, once and for all. I'm gonna kill you, and your friends, and exact my revenge."

"Yeah, like that's gonna happen." Monty scoffed. "You blew up Las Nevadas. You're the one who's going to pay."

"Wait, wh-"

Before I could speak, Glitch piped up from beside me. "You think? After everything you've done to us and your friends?!" They pointed an accusing finger at him. "You attacked us first! We didn't even want to fight you guys!"

"You even went as far as brainwashing your friends." Vision said, a look of disdain on his face for the man he had worked for. Pointing at Ballora, he continued to accuse Quackity. "I may not know exactly what happened, but I know that you told her that Wonder killed her, and we both know that it was Technoblade who-"

"That's a lie!" Ballora shouted.

"It's not a lie! I swear to God, I didn't kill you!" I insisted.

"You deceitful scum..." Thor growled, electricity sparking in his eyes as he raised his hammer. "I, Thor, son of Odin, will strike you down for the crimes you have committed."

"You won't get the chance," Monty retorted, pulling out his gun. "since we're going to kill you first!"

Glitch pulled out the pistol which JD had given them, pointing it somewhere between Monty and Waylon. Quackity and I drew our swords in unison, the former moving away from the pier and giving himself room to move about in combat. Vision, Waylon, and Ballora all raised their fists, weaponless yet eager to fight.

"You brought this upon yourself, Wonder." Quackity told me, an angry, determined look on his face. "You brought this on yourself when you set off the bomb and exploded Las Nevadas, and for that, you're gonna-"

"Wait, wait, wait." I raised my hands. "Slow down. Who said that I was the one who set off the bomb?"

"Of course it was you!" Quackity shouted.

"I wasn't even CLOSE to that thing!" I fumed. "And neither were my friends! It had to be someone from your side!"

A memory flashed in my mind of our positions in battle when the bomb had been set off, and I distinctly remembered Ballora being nearest it when we had all froze. She had looked frightened when I had seen her, which added to my suspicions, but I didn't say anything.

"Anyone could have set off the bomb at the time." Quackity told me. "It had to have been one of you guys! You're the ones who had it when we attacked you!"

"IT WASN'T ME!" I screeched. "I remember who was nearest the bomb at the time, and it wasn't me, I swear!"

"Well then, who was it?" Monty asked, tilting his head. "Tell us, if you're so smart!"

I felt cornered, unable to think long enough to make a rational decision. All I wanted was for all of the blame to be taken off of me. I raised my sword, pointing it directly at the culprit, watching as fear and surprise filled her eyes.

"Don't-"

"It was her." I declared. "She was closest to the bomb, she must've been the one to hit it. She even looks guilty!"

Quackity's eyes widened at my words, and he slowly turned his head towards Ballora as he attempted to remember her position in relation to the bomb. I lowered my sword, watching the little drama with wonder as the realization that I was right dawned on his face.

"Did you activate the bomb?" Quackity asked, tilting his head slightly. I've been around him for long enough to realize that this was a sign that he was pissed- very, very pissed. Ballora's breath caught in her throat, and she looked around at her comrades, stepping backwards onto the pier.

"I don't-" she stammered nervously. "There- there were many people around, any one of us could've-"

"Don't give me that bullshit," Quackity gritted his teeth, advancing towards her. "I remember now; you were nearest the bomb. Did you blow up Las Nevadas?"

I could feel the tension radiating off of him; he looked ready to kill. A murderous glint could be seen in his rage-filled eyes, and the old voice in my head suddenly returned to me.

I shouldn't have said anything.

Ballora backed up, moving further down the pier, maintaining eye contact with Quackity as he continued to walk towards her. Her fear grew more prominent as she tried to speak, but couldn't, knowing that anything she said would just fuel his anger.

"Well?" Quackity demanded. Ballora glanced behind her and realized that she was nearing the edge of the pier. She instantly froze, knowing that there was nowhere else for her to go. Unable to look at him anymore, she nodded, whispering a barely audible confirmation. I heard Monty draw a sharp breath from beside me, and I knew that he was surprised too. Relief washed over me as I felt the attention shift away from me, but was quickly dispelled by nervousness as I saw Quackity's hands trembling slightly, rage overcoming him. I noticed his grip tighten ever so slightly on his gun, and a pang of fear struck me.

Oh dear...

I raised my hands. "Quackity, the point of all of this is-"

"THAT IS THE POINT!" Quackity shouted, pulling out his gun and pointing it down the pier, directly at Ballora. Everyone took a step back, frightened by his actions.

"Quackity, what the hell are you doing?!" Ballora's voice shook slightly as she stepped back to the edge of the pier.

"You can't talk your way out of this, Ballora! I have wanted the culprit for the destruction of my casino to suffer, as I've suffered. You destroyed Las Nevadas," Quackity glared at her. "so you die!"

Monty, who had been standing still, shocked by this whole ordeal, cleared his throat.

"Now, now, Quackity," he said, chuckling nervously. "Let's not do something that we might regret-"

"You think I'll regret this?" Quackity asked, not taking his eyes off of Ballora.

"Quackity, listen to me!" Monty exclaimed. "Yes, she fucked up, but it wasn't purposeful! She didn't mean to destroy Las Nevadas! She's still a valid part of our team! We can just rebuild your casino, and it'll be better than before! You can't do this!"

Quackity remained silent and still, not looking at him as he spoke, but rather looking at the ground.

"Are you listening to me?"

He nodded slowly. "I'm listening."

Monty sighed, stepping forward. "Put the gun down, Quackity. You can't do this, and you know it. Las Nevadas is gone, and this won't change anything."

Quackity looked up again, at Ballora, nodding again. "You're right. This won't fix my casino."

Monty smiled, and I felt a wave of relief wash over me once more.

"But revenge will certainly make me feel better."

Before anyone could say or do anything, a loud bang shot through the air, echoing all around us, causing me to jump in surprise and fear. Ballora doubled over, clutching at her chest, attempting to halt the flow of blood as it seeped from her. Quackity stood there, frozen, staring at her with a look of shock and terror on his face as he realized what he had just done.

"Shit..."

"Oh my god..." Monty breathed. "What have you done?"

I looked from Quackity to Ballora, several emotions running through me that I could not process. Quackity seemed to snap back to reality, the full realization of what he did coming over him at last. Without a word, he dropped his gun, turning around and bolting away from the pier.

"Quackity- what the hell are you- where are you GOING?" Monty shouted. He swore angrily as he began to run after Quackity, calling after him. "For fuck's sake- get BACK here!"

Waylon, not wishing to prolong his stay with us, quickly followed his now-boyfriend as he chased after Quackity. Glancing back at my friends, I saw that they all wore similar looks of shock, fright, and confusion, akin to what I was feeling, though my fright was far more prominent then theirs was.

"What the shit-" I muttered, before a loud splash diverted my attention back to Ballora, who was nowhere to be seen. Waves rippled across the once-still surface of the lake, and I realize that she must have collapsed, falling into the water.

"Oh god..." I said aloud before I realized what I was saying. I shook my head, attempting to clear my thoughts.

What the fuck is wrong with me? I thought. She's a villain, she's sick! I'm glad she's dying!

But then, a second voice in my head spoke up. you've never liked seeing people drown...you hate it.

The cold...the maddening descent...

Falling so far, until there's nothing left...

Left there, in the dark...

See what I did there?

I internally cursed myself for my taste in music before focusing back on the task at hand. Turning back to the lake, I realized that blood had clouded the water, making it impossible to see her anymore. A fresh wave of fear washed over me as I realized this, and all of a sudden, it felt as though my body didn't belong to me. I was no longer in control of myself; my instincts had taken over. My sword fell from my limp fingers, clattering on the ground as I began to run down the pier, towards the water. I could faintly hear my friends calling my name, but I didn't care.

"Wonder, what are you DOING-!" came Visions voice, abruptly cut off as I leapt off of the pier, plunging into the water below.

As soon as I fell through the surface, I instantly regretted my decisions. The water felt like ice against my skin, and I was completely unable to see due to the blood in the water. Nevertheless, I pushed through the cold water to the bottom, groping around for Ballora. My fingers brushed against skin, and I clasped onto her wrist like a vice, turning myself around and kicking wildly to the surface. My lungs felt as though they were going to burst, and they probably would have if I hadn't swam as quickly as I had.

I felt my head break the surface of the lake, and I gasped for air before pulling Ballora up as well, trying my best to keep both of us above the water at the same time. This was a difficult task, since our clothes weighed us down by quite a lot, but I managed to pull it off as I swam towards the nearby bank, grateful to be on land again. I clambered onto the rocks which outlined the lake, and began to make my way towards my shocked friends, dragging her beside me.

"You gonna give me a hand, or what?" I called to them. They didn't move.

"Wonder...why would you do that?" Glitch asked. This made me pause for a moment; I didn't even know myself. I tried to think of an excuse that would get my friends to help me.

"Uh- information!" I replied. "She's probably got tons of information on the bad guys and their plans, but she can't give us any if she's dead!"

This snapped my friends into action. Vision dashed back to the car to start it, while Thor and Glitch ran over to where we were. Glitch tore off their jacket and wrapped it tightly around where Ballora's bullet wound was, tying the sleeves together, attempting to halt the flow of blood. It didn't work that well, but it still helped.

"Does anyone know CPR?!" I shouted. My friends all shook their heads.

"Wonder, I thought you knew CPR," Thor noted as he took Ballora in his arms, carrying her off to Vision's car.

"I do, but I'm not using it on her!" I retorted, becoming very flustered. "She's my enemy! I'm not doing- that!"

Thor rolled his eyes as he jogged off. Glitch and I followed him quickly, jumping into the car.

"We need to go to The Big City Hospital." I told Vision, sliding in the back seat where Ballora lay, unconscious. I didn't know what to do; I've never been in a situation like this before. All I could do was pray that she wouldn't die, if she wasn't already dead by this point. Internally hating myself for caring so much about my enemy, and not knowing why, I could only utter a curse under my breath as Vision began to drive.

"I swear to god, Ballora, if you die, I'm going to kill you."