Jonny turned around to face Nazz, Kevin and Rolf. "Looks like everyone is here." He tightened his grip on the bat and let out a light chuckle. "Time to get this show on the road."

Kevin was the first to reach him. The jock swung several times at Jonny, each blow was evaded or blocked by the bat. Jonny swung the bat at Kevin, succeeding in hitting him in the stomach and sending him to the ground, Jonny raised the bat, but was forced to block several attacks from Rolf and Nazz. As the fight continued the three Eds tried to stand, but Ed was tied up to the wall and Edd and Eddy were still reeling from the blows Jonny had given them. Kevin had gotten back up but it was clear from his laboured breathing that he was injured.

"We've got to do something," Edd whispered to Eddy. "Jonny has snapped! The lad's got a murderous glint in his eyes!"

"But what can we do?" hissed Eddy. "We can't even stand Double D! And Ed is tied up!"

Jonny blocked some more punches from Rolf and Kevin and began leading them and Nazz down to one of the attic's corners, passing by Ed along the way. Edd tried to get up again, but he was only able to stand for a second before his leg gave out on him, Eddy tried to grab Edd but someone else got there before him, catching Edd's left arm.

"Sarah?" said Eddy.

"Be quiet!" whispered Sarah. "Jonny hasn't seen me. I'm going to have to leave you guys here and go help Ed."

"Ed is in no condition to do anything! Look at him! He's in a more deplorable state then me and-"

"I know Double D. But you have to trust me and Ed on this. It's the only way." Sarah gently lowered Edd to the ground and after checking that Jonny was still occupied with Rolf, Kevin and Nazz, she sprinted towards Ed and began untying the rope around his stomach. Edd and Eddy saw her whisper something to Ed but they couldn't make out what she was saying. They both turned around when they heard someone hitting the floor.

Jonny stared at his battered bat, then at a black eyed Nazz who was lying back first on the ground. "Oh well," he murmured. "These things have a way of working out. One way or another."

"Jonny!" Kevin and Rolf both dived towards Jonny, who barely managed to avoid the two boys, at the cost of dropping the bat beside Nazz. Kevin was the first to react, he kicked the bat away from Jonny and landed several punches on his head and chest. Jonny was still standing, but the hits had caused a noticeable hump to appear at the back of his shirt.

"Do you see that?" Edd asked Eddy. "Jonny is hiding something!"

"Yeah but how are we going to get to it?"

"We'll get it," they both looked up at a grinning Sarah. "Just leave it to me and Ed."

Ed was standing just behind Sarah, glaring at Jonny who was dodging punches from Kevin. Edd and Eddy exchanged a fearful look. They recognised the glare that was on Ed's face.

Edd gulped. "Sarah? Does Ed have a pebble in his shoe?"

Sarah nodded. "Don't worry, Ed gave me something to deal with him afterwards." She waited until Ed started walking towards Jonny before pulling out a fishing rod. "As soon as Ed is done with Jonny I'll use this to pull off his shoe and remove the pebble."

The three of them watched as Ed stomped past a bruised Rolf and stood before Jonny, who had reacquired the baseball bat. Kevin lay nearby, holding on to his ribs.

"How are you standing?" demanded Jonny. He swung at Ed, who easily caught the bat with his hands. "How? How?" Jonny tried pulling the bat back towards him but it wouldn't budge. Ed pulled the bat upwards, causing Jonny to let go and fall before Ed. "Ed?" Jonny tensed up when he saw Ed start raising the bat. Ed stared at Jonny, then at the bat, before smacking Jonny's back, causing Jonny to scream and an old boomerang to fly out of his shirt.

"Sarah, get the pebble!" Edd shouted when he saw Ed strike Jonny again. "Before Ed destroys Jonny!"

Sarah nodded and readied the rod. The hook landed on the tip of Ed's right shoe. Sarah gave a hard tug, causing Ed's shoe to come off and a little pebble to fall out of it. Ed froze, the bat inches away from Jonny's head. He stared ahead for a few seconds before falling to the ground.

"Ed!" Sarah was beside him in a flash, her face pale. Rolf stirred, eventually succeeding in standing after two attempts. Kevin took a deep breath before limping towards Edd and Eddy, with Rolf's help he was able to pull both Ed's up. The four boys stared at Nazz, who hadn't moved an inch, then at Jonny who was on his knees staring at the ground, his whole body shaking violently.

"That whack job is so dead," growled Kevin.

Rolf's eyes started twitching. "Wait your turn Kevin. This son of a shepherd gets the first hit."

"That's fine with me. I'll go after you."

Edd's eyes widened. "Wait gentleman! We need to-"

"You wanna go first Double D?" Kevin nodded approvingly at him. "Are you two okay with that?" he asked Rolf and Eddy who slowly nodded. "Okay, we'll hold him for ya pal."

"No Kevin! We'll be continuing this destructive cycle if we do this! We can't just beat up Jonny!"

"Then what are we supposed to do?" demanded Eddy. "We can't just hope that Jonny leaves us alone!"

Edd was about to respond when they heard Nazz softly groaning. The four boys turned in time to see the blonde slowly rise up. Despite her efforts she couldn't stand up, eventually sitting down on her knees.

"Double D is right," she said in between labored breaths. "We can't do this. We're acting the way we used to act five years ago."

"Then, what do we do Nazz?" asked Kevin, irritably. "What can we do to fix this?"

"We need to," Nazz paused to massage her head. She held up her hand when she saw the four approach her. "I'm fine." Several seconds passed before she finally spoke. "We need to take the blame for what happened tonight."

The four boys stared in shock. Sarah, who was trying to untie Jimmy was also in shock, as was Jimmy himself, his jaw had practically hit the floor when he heard Nazz. Even Ed, who was struggling to keep his eyes open was stunned. Considering what happened to Eddy after his last scam, everyone knew a harsh punishment awaited them.

"You can't do that!" All eyes fell upon a frantic Jonny who had just pushed aside the old boomerang with the baseball bat. "I need to take the blame for tonight! I deserve it!" When nobody said anything Jonny continued, "Ed didn't finish me off," he whispered. "Even after everything I did tonight he choose not to... to..." Jonny slammed his fists to the ground and yelled, "let me take the blame! It all makes sense now! Before me it was the Eds!"

Eddy glared at Jonny. "What are you talking about Melonhead?"

"You three were the outcasts of the Cul-de-Sac! Now it's my turn!" Jonny looked up, revealing his tear-stained face. "Tonight was supposed to be the night I make you all feel the same way I felt five years ago. And yet, something stopped me from actually going after you rapscallions, I don't know what that was. I only came back here after I found that," he pointed at the old boomerang which was now lying underneath his bed. "It flew into my hand one day and then I suddenly wanted to come back here." Jonny let out a humourless laugh. "So pathetic, that's what I am. That's why I need to be blamed for tonight. But can you just do one thing for me?"

"And what would do that be?" Edd slowly asked.

"Just tell me why. Why was I attacked at the theme park? Why was I made the outcast before I left Peach Creek?"

A long, uncomfortable silence followed. Sarah and Jimmy exchanged a look before choosing to leave the attic. Ed stood up, looked at Jonny and shuffled down the stairs. Rolf and Kevin were right behind him, Kevin gently patting Edd and Eddy on the shoulder as they were lowered onto the ground, Rolf murmuring how lucky Jonny was as the two boys limped away. Nazz was the last to leave, hugging both boys and saying "I'm sorry" afterwards.

Edd and Eddy shared a look, Eddy was about to protest but froze when he saw the stern, pleading look Edd was giving him, he took a deep breath and turned to face Jonny who was wiping the tears off his face with his sleeve.

"Jonny," Eddy waited until Jonny was facing him before saying, "I don't blame ya for feeling this way. Without Ed and Double D I would've ended up a complete wreck. Heck, even now I'm surprised that after Mondo A-Go Go the others decided to give me a chance. It feels like a dream; you know?"

Jonny said nothing.

"When you attacked the three of us it was after we'd made peace with the other kids," said Edd. "We were no longer enemies. They were defending us. It was wrong of us to not explain things to you and we shouldn't have let the others beat you up like that. We're sorry Jonny, we're sorry that you and Plank ended up with all these feelings stored up inside of you."

"I don't know where Plank is," mumbled Jonny. "The last time I saw him was the day before I found the boomerang."

Edd gasped. "Oh my. Jonny, I'm sorry to hear that."

Here goes nothing. Eddy took a deep breath. He forced himself to stand and approached Jonny, ignoring Edd's protests. He waited until Jonny was staring up at him before he deciding to tell Jonny his plan.

"Eddy?"

"Relax Jonny. I'm only going to say this once." Eddy did his best to keep his voice steady as he spoke. "I know you think you need to take the heat for tonight's events, because you feel you deserve it. I get that. Which is why... I'm offering to share the heat with you."

Edd's eyes grew to the size of saucers. "Eddy no! Think about what awaits you if you go through with this! The punishment you got for doing your last scam will look tame compared to this!"

"I know Double D! The same fate awaits you, Ed and the others if you all decide to take the blame!" Eddy rubbed the back of his neck and held his hand out towards Jonny. "We both feel the need to fix things Jonny. And someone needs to be blamed for tonight. So let's face the bullets together."

Jonny stared at Eddy's hand. "Do you mean it Eddy?"

Eddy nodded and offered him a reassuring smile. "I promise."

Jonny firmly grasped Eddy's hand. "Then let's go Eddy," he said as he stood up. They both turned to face Edd, who was looking down at the ground. "Double D?"

Edd refused to look at them. "I hope you know what you're doing Eddy."