I made a few changes to how I tackled this incident, and some of the things in the chapter were probably a little much. To everyone who has read the source material, it does feel different when you're the one writing it. So for anyone who thought this chapter was too much, I changed a few things.

However, to Spectre6, please don't EVER question a writer's mental state. That it is one of the worst things you could do them.


09:00, Krownest Infirmary

"I'm we've done all we can do," The doctor said with remorse, "There's severe damage to the spinal cord, and her legs are almost entirely useless. I wouldn't count on her walking anywhere anytime soon." The Batman stared out the window and into the street, with Fenn Rau and a medical doctor behind him. The room was very dark, mainly due to the tech that they used, and the only furniture was a medical bed and a heartbeat monitor.

On the bed was Sabine Wren, still unconscious from the incident last night, "Thank you, Doctor." Rau said as Bruce kept staring, this whole situation felt strangely familiar, but he couldn't figure out why. He heard Fenn begin to approach the window next to him, the smoke from one of their versions of cigarettes clouding the room, and fogging up the windows to the streets of the city below, "I got the report for you, but it's not pretty. You sure you can handle it?"

"Try me." Bruce said.

Rau sighed in what seemed like dread, like he was hoping that the detective wouldn't want to know, "About five hours ago, a woman by the name of Meldy Kryze called law enforcement to Clan Wren's fortress. When they arrived, the door to a secret passageway from the back of the fortress was left open, and a single guard was positioned there, but he was found dead with a abnormally large grin on his face," Rau said, shuffling his feet nervously, "The victim- Sabine- was found in a... um... pose-"

"Pose?" Bruce asked, clenching his fist as he registered what Rau had just told him.

The Mandalorian looked at him strangely, "They didn't tell you? I though you knew," Batman turned away from him, and twirled a Joker card found at the scene in his fingers, "There was also a lens cap from a camera found there, and it wasn't like the ones we have, so, er..."

Bruce stopped in his tracks, "Say it."

"Well, we believe he took some pictures. Of her." Batman sucked in a breath as the words exited the soldier's mouth, and his stomach churning in anger, "Look I'm sorry, I thought they told you." The Dark Knight stepped forward, walking toward Sabine's bed, as she lay there in a medical gown, a needle pushed into her forearm, "I'm off, I have to escort her father from the landing bay when he arrives. What are you going to do?"

Hello, I came to talk. Bruce rested his hand on the rails of the bed, looking down at the young warrior, someone Ezra had trusted him to protect. And he failed. He looked down at the card, squinting in anger and hate at it, "I'm going to find him. It's time for this to end." His eyes went from the card to Sabine, as he tried to work out how to explain to her what the Joker had taken from her.

"If you truly are who you say you are," Fenn said from somewhere behind him, the mechanical sound of a door sliding open could be heard as he stepped into the doorway, "Then we're all holding you to it. Until we meet again." With that final word, the door slid closed, and Bruce was left alone with Sabine.

"You can stop now." Bruce said, turning from Sabine to the monitor, tapping the buttons as he increased the morphine he'd put into it, and just as he predicted, Sabine's eyes opened, and went right to him.

"How'd you know?" She asked, her voice indicated that she wasn't actually focused on getting an answer to that question, so he didn't answer it, "Why can't I move my legs?" His fingers froze for a minute on the keypad, and he took in a breath, before he resumed his typing, "Batman?" There was still a little sarcasm in her voice as she said his name, but there overwhelming amounts of worry within it.

He exhaled slowly, "He shot you in the abdomen," Her eyes widened, that alone was enough to make Bruce reconsider telling her or not, "The round heavily damaged the spinal cord," Sabine's head sank slowly as she stared down at her feet, "It- It paralyzed you. I'm sorry." Her expression changed, the face that so often was covered in frustration and determination, was now the same expression he saw in the mirror in the months after his parents were killed.

"I-" She began, but she choked on her own words, and she visibly was trying to move her legs, but they were as still as they had ever been, "No... no my mother! Where is she?" The artist stared up at him, waiting patiently for an answer, but this time, it was too much. He'd told enough young children that their parents weren't coming back, he wasn't ready to tell her, "What is he doing to her?"

"I don't know."

"You said you knew him!" She yelled, "You knew what he'd do! That man took my brother, then my mother, and now my life from me! And you have done NOTHING!" She grabbed his cape in fury, "What is he doing to my mother?"

He couldn't look at her, it was too much. Her grip on his cape began to slip, but he grasped her wrists, and stared her right in the eye, "I don't know what he's planning to do to your mother," He told her, as she looked at him with those frightened chocolate eyes, "But I swear to you on my life, Sabine Wren, I will find out." He watched as her eyes began to fade, and sleep began to take hold of her. He slowly set her down on the bed as she fell unconscious again, before turning away toward the window, and leaving without a trace.


Unknown Regions, ?

"ARRRGH!" Ezra threw his fist against the wall of his hut, the stone that he had built it with crumble on impact, "Get out, get out, get out!" He'd been in his head this whole time. The Joker was in his head, "Get out of my head!" He put his hands on his hair, thrashing his head back and fourth in some frivolous attempt to return command over his thoughts to himself.

'You should've seen her face, HA!' Joker's voice came again, the laughing briefly stopping, 'She kept mumbling your name during her photo-shoot, AHAHA!'

Ezra's vision slowly began to decay, the colors beginning to be mismatched with purple and green, "What did you do to her?" He knew that Kanan would tell him to calm himself right now, but it was too much, too much rage, "You god damn maniac, what did you do to her?" The laughing in his head grew louder and louder, it was almost like it was coming from right behind him, no in front of him, or no to his left! He screamed in rage and swung his fist to his left, only for it to slam against the stone, scraping his knuckles instantly, and drawing blood.

'Oh, oh, nonono, this one'll really kill you!' The clown prince's laughing grew louder and louder, 'See these two guys walk into a club, but they don't get any of the ladies' attention, so the first guy, he suggests; "Hey man, hows about we go gets ourselves some cash so we can get some of these chicks in bed, eh?" But ohhhhh, no, the second guy, ya see, he isn't the kinda guy to pull cheep tricks on girls to get their attention!'

"Sabine, what did you do to her?"

'Oh shut your mouth, kiddo, I'm getting to that!' The Joker sneered, before his giggles continued, 'Now, the second guy, he says; "Naw, man. I heard that there's some princess stayin' over at that hotel, how's that sound?" The first guy agrees, so they head over to the royal hotel, with the first guy's trusty revolver, and then knock on the princess's door. Now the princess, she puts down her painting, and goes right over to the door, opens it, and then BANG!'

Ezra puts his hand to his mouth as it dawns on him what the Joker is telling him, but right as he places his hand on his mouth, the laughing stops suddenly, and he finds his mouth wide open.

The Joker continued speaking, 'See now, she's on the ground, bleeding out like a goat in the slaughterhouse, and the first guy, he's not sure what to do; "So now what, she's bout to die?' See, he was never that smart, so the second guy has an idea; "Hey! I've got this camera with me, we can snap some pictures and sell 'em to some of those loons over in Arkham!" AHAHAHAHAHA!'

"No, no you didn't!"

'Oh yes I did,' He laughed in delight, 'And maybe, just maybe, little squirt will do it himself! Isn't that right, Ezzy boy!'

"Oh, oh god." Ezra sank to his knees on the ground, the tears beginning to form, "Sabine! SABIIIIIINNNNNAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" There was no voice in his head, no imaginary laughing...

Because the laughing came from his own mouth, as he sat there. Laughing.


The Ghost, 07:00

"I don't want to speak to you, ever again." Hera growled as she stormed into the cockpit of the Ghost, with Batman trailing behind her. She walked into the room, and pressed the lock button on the door, making it slam shut. She took in a breath and sat down in Sabine's spray painted chair, and pressing her palms against the seat. She felt tears begin to run down her cheeks as she thought back to the report she'd gotten from the scene.

The first thing she felt was horror. Reading the description of what was found, the state of which Sabine had been found in, and the sheer amount of photos that were taken from the scene. The very thought of what Sabine must be feeling right now broke her heart into pieces, the warrior who loved causing mischief on missions, leading her family into battle against the Empire, all of that had been ripped away by one man with a gun.

As the tears poured down, the door swished open again, as Batman stood there looking the darkest he'd ever been, "I think I know where he is," He told her in usual growling voice, and he tossed a datachip onto the table, "But I need a ship." Hera scowled at him, but breathed outwards, and looked down at the chip, it read one word: Mand'alor.


So this is probably the third to last chapter, and it will be the last one where Ezra will be heavily featured, but I've got plans for him, don't worry. We're in the Joker's endgame now, so things will start to ramp up from here, and the inter-dimensional travel will slowly become less and less of a mystery as time goes on. But I am going to announce the semi-sequel/spin-off of this story: MANHATTAN. Some of you may recognize that name, but it will be a crossover story between Stranger Things and a DC story called Watchmen, both set in the eighties, and will directly tie into this. But anyway, next chapter will be heavily focused on Ursa and Joker, and where Hera and Batman's investigation is taking them.

Reviews make all the difference, and will always make the chapters come out quicker, since it helps a lot to hear what you all think of these. Thanks for reading!

-MB