—[Tape whirs. Static fuzzes. A fuzzy image appears. A voice begins to speak.]

Once upon a time, a scorpion approached a frog at the edge of a river.

He needed to cross, and the frog had what he didn’t—a way over. So the scorpion, cool and calm, asks the frog for a ride. Says, “Trust me. I won’t sting you.” The frog hesitates. He’s no fool. He knows what a scorpion is, what it does.

“If you sting me,” the frog says, “we both drown.”

The scorpion nods. “Exactly. Why would I sting you? I don’t want to die either.”

It makes sense. It’s logical. The frog buys it.

So he lets the scorpion climb on his back.

Halfway across the river—when the water is deepest and escape is impossible—the scorpion stings him.

The poison hits. The frog starts to sink.

“But why?” the frog gasps. “You said we’d both die!”

And the scorpion, without remorse, says:

“I couldn’t help it. It’s my nature.”

—[Pause. Foley clicks the tape off. Looks up.]

That’s the story, isn’t it?

Simple. Clean.

And tragically familiar.

Because right now, heading into this tag team match at Warzone… I see the frog and the scorpion standing across from me.

Destructo and Nox.

See, Destructo—you’re the frog. All hesitation, all calculation. You’ve been burned before, betrayed before, and now you’ve convinced yourself you’ve learned from it. You think you’re smarter now that you can see the stinger coming.

You think Nox won’t sting you because you’ve aligned interests in tagging. You’re trying to get across the river together, and you’re both telling yourselves it’s the smart move.

But you’re forgetting one thing…

Nox is still a scorpion.

It’s in his nature to strike.

To manipulate.

To poison.

To sink everything around him just so he can feel powerful.

And you—you’re halfway across that river already.

You’ve already let him on your back.

You think because you’ve been bitter and cruel and angry, you’re immune to betrayal. You think you’re the one in control. But Destructo, you’re not a monster. You’re a boy who’s still learning how to swim.

And the second Nox realizes he can’t use you anymore? He’ll sting you.

He’ll sink you.

And I’ll be on the shore, watching the whole thing play out, just like I’ve seen it a hundred times before.

Because I know stories, boys.

I’ve lived them.

I’ve survived them.

And I’ve rewritten more than a few.

Hatchet and I—we’re no fairy tale. We’re not a storybook team. We’re the misfits. The outcasts. The chaos they tried to cancel.

But we’re honest about it.

I know what Hatchet is. He knows what I am. We’re not lying to each other about our stingers. We’re just aiming them in the right direction.

But you two?

You’re pretending. Playing roles. Wearing masks.

And at Warzone, when your little alliance falls apart in the middle of the river, and Nox shows you his true colors—don’t be surprised, Destructo.

Don’t act like you didn’t know.

You’re the frog.

And you let the scorpion climb on.