Star Wars Rebels: Just in Time

Me: Hey everyone. We finally got Sabine to take a break from...whatever she's been doing for the past few chapters.

Sabine: Well, I've been very busy with important business.

Me: Oh really?

ezraSWrebels: Like what?

Sabine: I've been working on new pieces.

Me: Well, since you're here and you have your spray paint…

Sabine: (suspiciously) What?

ezraSWrebels: Please, please, please, please, please, please, teach us HOW TO PAINT!

Me: Please? You're so good.

Sabine: Fine. Here. (Throws us each a spray can) Let's see what you got. (ezraSWrebels and I each try to paint something)

Me: (looking down at clothes) I think I got more paint on my clothes than on the wall.

ezraSWrebels: Well, I was trying to paint a dog, but it looks like I made myself into a painted mummy. (looks down at clothes)

Sabine: So what do we have? (looks at artwork) Um...that's a start. (looks at us) How about we start the chapter while you guys (points finger and moves it around) clean up?

Me: Thank you. I look like I just went paintballing.

ezraSWrebels: I don't want to get clean up; this looks amazing.

Ezra: (walking in) Okay, so I'm going on the supply run you guys tricked me into doing. Any reque… (sees the rainbow explosion in the room, and then sees Sabine) Sabine, what did you do?

Sabine: I'm just teaching them how to paint. Don't you like it?

Ezra: I can't even tell what this stuff is! Why did you think this was a good idea?

Sabine: I'm sorry that you don't like it, (thinking then smiles) but maybe you'll like this next piece. Girls, (ezraSWrebels and I look up) how about we give Ezra a makeover?

Me: Ooh, I like it.

Ezra: No, no, no, no. Stay back.

ezraSWrebels: SWEET REVENGE! (All girls ambush Ezra)

Ezra: NO! You can't hold me against my will!

ezraSWrebels: YES, yes we can.

Me: This is going to be fun. (sprays Ezra)

Sabine: Okay, so these guys are going to work on a masterpiece while I start the chapter, so disclaimer?

DISCLAIMER: We do not own Star Wars Rebels. (looks around room. Eyes land on me and ezraSWrebels) What happened here? Did Sabine use one of her little "miracles" or what?


Chapter 8: Betrayal

The next morning when Ezra woke up, he felt even worse than he did after being shot in the arm. He walked to the cockpit to see the entire crew waiting for him. He rubbed his eyes trying to focus on the faces in front of him. "What's going on?" he said wearily.

"Delza told us what she saw last night," Alex said nonchalantly. He never even looked in Ezra's direction. "I'm not going to take sides, but you have a lot of explaining to do."

"Ezra, what happened last night? Delza didn't see everything, so maybe..." Zizzy said with the slightest hint of hope in her voice. Ezra realized that Delza hadn't said anything; which was unusual for the girl who always had something to say.

"You okay, Delza?" Ezra asked but only got a grunt in return.

"Don't take it personally. It took us forever to get us to tell her what she saw last night. So, Dodge told us what happened through his eyes. What's your side?" Zizzy asked trying to soften the blow of what Delza had done. Ezra looked around the cockpit, but when his eyes landed on Dodge, his dream from last night haunted him.

"Before you say anything, just listen." Alex and Zizzy nodded, but Delza folded her arms and Dodge glared at Ezra. Ezra sighed and turned to face Alex and Zizzy. "Okay. So last night, I couldn't sleep because someone was making a bunch of noise. When I went to check, I saw Dodge talking to the Inquisitor. I wanted to try to tell someone, but I revealed where I was hiding. When Dodge saw me, he tried to kill me! I had no choice but to fight back! And then...Delza walked in." Alex and Zizzy shared a look, and then Alex responded.

"You were right Dodge. He was spying on you." Ezra's mouth fell open in disbelief.

"Hey! I thought you said you wouldn't take sides!" Alex set up the ship's autopilot and walked over to Ezra.

"Well, now I am," Alex glared at him. Ezra shared the same look. The two stood still and started a staring contest, after a few minutes Alex pulled away for the stare "so deal with it."

Ezra stood there glaring at his unreasonable teammates, they all believe the lying joke known as Dodge. Alex returned to his pilot seat not taking one look back. The others face straight ahead; all expect Dodge who looked directly looked at Ezra with a small smug on his face. Ezra wasn't about to take that from his friends and watch them fall to the Empire.

"That's it! You seriously believe this guy? How long has he been on this ship? Less than a day. How long have you guys been out of touch? More than a year! A droid would be more loyal than this guy. At least they can be reprogrammed!" Ezra's sudden outburst had shocked everyone, in turn putting the Alex and Zizzy on Dodge's side wholeheartedly after how Dodge decided to manipulate the situation.

"Don't you see? Ezra hasn't liked me ever since I came here. He said a droid would make a better friend than I would. What did I ever do to you? I need some time away from this hateful person that you consider a friend." As everyone turned back to Ezra, a wicked smile appeared on Dodge's face as he exited the cockpit. The only person who saw it was Ezra. Zizzy-as always-was the first one to break the silence.

"Ezra, why do you have to be so mean to that poor kid? He's right: you thought he was evil when he first got onto the ship. Why don't you like him?" Alex nodded, but Delza stayed quiet.

"How many times do I have to explain this? He tried to kill me! Delza was there." When Ezra looked into her eyes, they were as hollow as the night before. She saw what Dodge tried to do firsthand. Why doesn't she believe me? Delza broke the gaze and exited the cockpit while Zizzy sat down next to Alex, both no longer willing to here what Ezra had to say. He decided it was useless trying to get them to listen, so he left. He looked over at the crate he had hidden behind to find the lid on and a calm padawan meditating on top. Ezra cleared his throat to try and get her attention. When she finally opened her eyes, Ezra decided he could try just once more to change her mind.

"Delza, could you just hear me out for a moment?" She didn't glare, but she didn't speak either. Ezra took that as the cue to continue.

"Okay, I know what I said in the cockpit was pretty stupid, but I'm just trying to protect you guys. You saw what Dodge tried to do. Why do you insist on protecting him?" Delza's eyes shifted and her face fell into confusion. Ezra tried to read her; then he remembered what she had said to him when he first told her about how he didn't trust Dodge. "Ezra, don't be...silly. If Alex trusts him, we all...trust him." It wasn't what she said; it was the uncertainty in her voice when she said it. She feels it, too. She just doesn't want it to be true.

"Look, I know that Dodge is Alex's friend, but trust yourself. Dodge is bad news. He is working for the Empire, and if we don't find that tracker soon, we're toast." Delza jumped off of the crate and walked over to Ezra. Then, she spoke, and she had a lot to say.

"Ha! Trust myself! The force has been wrong before. Remember visions? Whatever you're feeling could be just like that: unreadable. Maybe this feeling could be caused by something we stole yesterday. You don't know. Besides, Dodge would have to have a force signature for us to sense him so easily. Are you calling him a sith, now? He doesn't even have yellow eyes. " Ezra hadn't even thought about that, but Dodge was working with the Inquisitor, so it would make sense to him.

"Well…actually, I don't have an answer for that, but that has nothing to do with it. Whether he's a sith or not, something is up with Dodge. Can't you just trust me for one minute and help me find that tracker?" Ezra's eyes pleaded with Delza hoping that he had convinced her that Dodge couldn't be trusted.

Suddenly, they heard a loud crash, and the HMS Rebellion started to sway. They saw Zizzy running out of the cockpit frantically trying to climb the stairs to the second level of the ship. Ezra and Delza ran back into the cockpit to find themselves surrounded by TIE fighters.

"Alex, what's going on?" Delza asked as the ship was struck by another TIE fighter blast. The ship shook even more violently than before.

"TIE fighters." Alex started up the ship and took off with the TIE fighters on their tail. Alex exited the atmosphere of Lothal into space.

"Didn't I tell you?" Ezra said triumphantly. "How else would these TIEs know our location?" Alex and Delza glared at him, but Alex turned back quickly to avoid another shot.

"Okay, you were right. Now, could you please man the nose gun? We don't have time of this!" Ezra nodded and ran out of the cockpit. Then he turned around right before he exited.

"Wait, what are you going to do?" Delza held her hands up and closed her eyes.

"I'll stall them." Suddenly one TIE flew into another, and Ezra left the cockpit and headed for the nose gun.

Zizzy, at the top gun, fired rapidly missing all of the targets. "Why can I never hit a single thing when I'm at this gun?"

"Zizzy, please hit something," Alex's voice escaped through the com.

"Hey at least I'm trying, didn't you see my rapid rage fire?" The pau'an return answer with a little sarcasm added to it.

"Shut up and hit something please." The boy sounded a little annoyed

"Well, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed," Zizzy whispered to herself not knowing it had slipped through the com.

"Zizzy, I heard that NOW GET..." Alex was cut off by the Zizzy com.

"Back to work. I'm on that, don't worry." The young teen turned off her com and went back to rapid-fire, her favorite type of fire.

"I can't believe they didn't believe me." Ezra mumbled to himself as he took down another tie "I'm a trustworthy person, right? I mean the Ghost crew seem to trust me, or were they faking it?"

Then full of self doubt, the Jedi lost focus and went into imagination land as his fire decreased from 30 shots every 3 minutes to 1 shot every 8 minutes. But before he was completely lost to crazy world, Alex's voice yelled through the com.

"EZRA! What are you doing, drawing pictures!? We need to find an opening so we jump into hyperspace." The pilot treated him with little respect as he did before, assuming he had respect for Ezra at all.

"Sorry, Alex." The raven-haired teen said softly through the com just loud enough for the other boy could hear.

Ezra slowly fired at the TIEs missing all of them, while Zizzy had her luck come back she now had shot down 10 TIEs in total it was then she had found an opening she was looking for.

"Found an opening, Alex you ready?" Zizzy voice rushed along the com networks.

"Entering hyperspace...now." Alex pressed a few buttons and jumped into hyperspace.

After a few minutes everyone poured back into the cockpit, no one saying a single word. The silence lasted for more than 30 minutes with people looking at one another or looking down at the steel metal floor of the HMS Rebellion.

Zizzy, overwhelmed by the silence, jumped up breaking it. "That was so awesome, I shot down 10 TIEs! Didn't you guys see that?"

"Zizzy, how was almost getting killed awesome?" Delza took a small glance at Ezra.

"But we didn't, so why can't I say what's on my mind?" The pau'an protested at what Delza had said.

"Killed or not, what I need to know is why Ezra wasn't focused." Alex spun his chair around resting his eyes on Ezra.

Ezra however said nothing waiting for them to notice what he has noticed. Everyone was in the cockpit where they were supposed to be, but something was different.

"Yeah, Ezra what happen down there?" It was then Delza who noticed the look on Ezra's face and the absence of a fifth from in the room; Dodge was nowhere in sight. "Guys?" Everyone turned to face Delza.

"What's wrong, Delza? Is everything okay?" Zizzy asked wondering what could possibly be amiss since they had escaped the TIE brigade.

"Um, has anyone seen Dodge lately?" Everyone but Ezra looked around the cockpit. "Well, he did say that he wanted to be alone, but do you think…" They all got up and ran to Alex's room where Dodge slept the previous night, but on the way, Ezra noticed something.

"Your ship use to have an escape pod, right?" Ezra asked while pointing to something in the wall of the HMS Rebellion. The rest of the crew backtracked to where Ezra was standing to see that their escape pod had been ejected. Alex face palmed while everyone else just stared.

"Great, so one of my closest friends not only betrayed us, but he took the only escape pod. If we get surrounded again and can't hold the TIEs off, we're all dead." Alex was once again frustrated, but this time, it was because of Dodge and his own blindness towards the situation. "Well, it looks like you were right, Ezra. Now you said Dodge planted a tracker in the cockpit, right?" Alex started walking back to the cockpit followed by Delza and Zizzy. Ezra waited for an apology, but it never came. He soon followed, but didn't return to the cockpit. He sat on top of a crate and waited a long time for someone to walk out. Finally, Delza was the one who exited.

"Hey, Ezra," she said as she hoisted herself onto the crate next to the one Ezra sat upon. "It's been a rough day for all of us, hasn't it?" She didn't get an answer, and she didn't expect one. She stared down at the metal floor unable to look Ezra in the eyes. "Giving me the silent treatment, huh? Well, I guess I deserve that. Ezra…I'm…I'm sorry that I didn't trust you. I know I should have stood up for you after everything you've done for us. I just wanted to believe that Dodge could help us, but not everyone is as trustworthy and loyal as you are. I understand if you hate us now, but we'll still get your family back no matter what. You deserve it." She jumped down from the crate and started to walk off when Ezra finally spoke.

"Thanks," he said softly as he jumped off of the crate landing right next to Delza. "So, did you guys find the tracker?" Delza smiled knowing that Ezra had forgiven them.

"Yep, it took forever, but Zizzy found and altered it. Now, we can track any ship that we scan." She and Ezra walked back into the cockpit. Their eyes landed on Zizzy and Alex. Zizzy ran up to them and started talking so fast that it was barely understood.

"Ezra, I am so, so, so, so sorry for not trusting you! Please forgive us and stay." Ezra nodded and smiled. Zizzy sighed with relief. "Oh good. It's fun having you around. Another person to beat in contests." Then, Ezra turned to Alex, who put the ship on autopilot and walked over to Ezra.

"I'm glad that I still have one loyal passenger on my side. Someone willing to put themself on the line to save this crew. Friends?" Alex held his hand out for Ezra to shake. Ezra was a little hesitant, but he finally took Alex's hand and gave it a firm shake. He knew Alex was trying to apologize, but just didn't want to say anything. "Apology accepted," Ezra said.

"Good, because you have work to do," Alex said as he pushed Ezra out of the cockpit. Ezra was about to protest, but Alex interrupted him. "You may have tried to save us, but you also tried to harm another crewmember when you fought with Dodge. For what you did, you have to clean up the mess you made. Have fun."

Ezra's mouth hung open after the door to the cockpit shut. He turned around to look at the mess he had made last night. The pile of blasters was still on the floor and, shots from the blasters had left blobs of ash on the walls. "Eh, I guess I deserve this. I did make most of the mess." Ezra said as he went over to the blaster pile. As he cleaned, he thought to himself, if I'm so trustworthy, then why haven't I saved my crew yet? They need me. He promised himself that he would make up for not having his crew out of the hands of the Empire. He tried to contact Kanan to tell him that he was coming, but Kanan had his guard up. I'll save you guys soon, even if you don't know it yet.


Me: And done. (looks at Ezra) You were right, ezraSWrebels. This looks amazing. I think I'll keep these clothes for myself and take a picture of Ezra. (pulls out camera)

Ezra: What are you doing?

ezraSWrebels: Taking pictures of the new you.

Me: Maybe we can show this to Zeb, too. He'll find this funny. Open your eyes, Ez. You don't want to look bad in the picture. (Holds camera up to eye) Smile. (takes multiple pictures) And strike a pose.

Ezra: NO! Sabine, why aren't you stopping this?

Sabine: I could never get in the way of documenting such a masterpiece. Besides, it's a good look for you.

Ezra: You are no help whatsoever.

Me: Yes she is. (takes another picture)

ezraSWrebels: Yeah, she helped us give you a paintjob. You can't say she isn't helpful.

Ezra: Are you trying to turn everyone against me?

Me: Nah, it's just so easy to mess with you.

ezraSWrebels: Don't forget fun too.

Sabine: No offense, Ezra, but they're right. Messing with you is fun and easy. It's hard not to.

Ezra: Sold out by my own family. (eyes camera and lunges for it) Give me that!

Me: (tosses camera to ezraSWrebels) Run! Show this to everyone!

ezraSWrebels: You got it. First stop Zeb. (runs out with Ezra on her tail)

Ezra: Get back here! (follows ezraSWrebels)

Sabine: (laughing) Poor kid doesn't even know that wasn't planned.

Me: He'll get over it. He's probably gonna challenge us to a light saber duel or something. It's kind of our thing.

Sabine: Well, keep it up. It's fun to watch. I'm just glad I was finally able to get in on the action.

Me: So, that's what you've been doing. You've been watching us, haven't you?

Sabine: Maybe. Want to watch Ezra chase ezraSWrebels?

Me: Sure, I just need some popcorn. That's all for now, folks. Bye.