A/N: Just a heads up, the chapters are going to average below 5000 words or under. I'm not going to rewrite entire episodes word for word, just the parts I believe are necessary. Speaking of, the next few chapters are still going to follow closely to the series, although there will be a couple references to past stories and characters in this saga, particularly Frank Castle and Homelander every now and then.

Music: "Warm or Cold" from Mandalorian Season 1 OST

Two Days Later

"Hand over the Child, Mando, and I might let you live!"

Days after leaving Sorgan, the Mandalorian, accompanied by Dredd and Ryan, were ambushed in deep space by another bounty hunter, hellbent on claiming the reward for both the Child and the defected warrior. As Mando swerved the Razor Crest, trying to dodge the other ship's blaster bolts, Dredd grunted in annoyance, holding onto the side of the cockpit, while Ryan sat next to the Child.

"Have you tried firing back?" Joseph asked snidely, just as Mando received an alert on his ship's display that the left engine was hit.

"Hold on!" Mando ordered, seemingly ignoring Dredd's question, as he jerked the steering yokes to the right and performed a barrel roll downward.

"Come on." Mando grunted, finding that the bounty hunter was still on them.

"Uncle Joe-" Ryan turned to look at Dredd. "What if I went out there?"

"No." the Judge said sternly. "You don't know if you'll survive."

"I'll never know if I don't try." Ryan argued.

"The answer's no." Dredd growled, just as the communications line opened up on the ship.

"I can bring you in warm… or I can bring you in cold."

Mando cut off the thrusters, stopping in space, and watched as the bounty hunter's ship, appearing to be a vertical B-Wing fighter from Ryan's memory, soared past him.

"That's my line." Mando mumbled, before he fired his guns. Two crimson bolts shot out, not unlike Ryan's laser vision, and struck the hunter's ship, causing it to explode in a fiery ball of orange and white light. With the threat eliminated, the Mandalorian continued flying, while assessing damage.

"Dammit. Running low on fuel." Mando grumbled in annoyance, as he fiddled with the controls. Meanwhile, Dredd and Ryan continued their argument from earlier.

"You should have let me go out there." Ryan chastised. "I could've helped!"

"Have you ever flown into space?" Dredd asked.

"No, but I would've been fine!" Ryan insisted. "I have all of Homelander's powers, and he was in space."

"Homelander was on an alien world." Dredd corrected. "The Avengers were with him, and they were breathing fine."

Ryan narrowed his eyes in annoyance, before looking back at the front of the cockpit. Dredd sighed in frustration, as he leaned forward.

"Ryan, you know why I'm saying this." Joseph told him. "You're mother wouldn't stand it if you died when I could've stopped it."

Butcher opened his mouth to speak, when the comm line suddenly activated again.

"This is Mos Eisley Spaceport, we are tracking you. Head for bay 3-5."

"Copy that." Mando replied, flipping a switch above him. "Locking for 3-5."

At the mention of Mos Eisley, Ryan's ears perked up, and he looked up, seeing what looked like an orange, brown, and yellow colored planet right in front of them.

"We're going to Tatooine?" Ryan asked excitedly.

"You've been there?" Mando inquired, turning to look at the supe.

"Something like that." Ryan grinned, before looking back at Dredd. "Uncle Joe, maybe we can find someone to help us get home."

Dredd nodded, as the Crest landed in a vacant port, and the passengers got up. Mando placed the Child in a silver floating sphere, and he, Dredd, and Ryan stepped out of the ship to find three small robots with disc shaped heads scurrying towards them. It only took a second for Butcher to realize what the where.

"Pit droids." Ryan murmured.

"They're called droids here too?" Joseph frowned. Perhaps this universe wasn't that different after all.

Mando pulled out a pistol and shot the ground, causing the pit droids to fold on themselves.

"HEY!"

The trio looked up, seeing an old woman in a brown suit and wiry gray hair march towards them.

"You damage my droids, and you'll pay for it!" the woman snapped.

"Keep them away from my ship." Mando ordered.

"You think that's a good idea, huh?" the woman snarked, staring up at the heap of metal. "Looks like you've suffered a lot of damage to the engines. If I had to guess, you were in a shootout."

Mando shrugged, while the woman continued inspecting.

"You also got a fuel leak. Honestly, how'd you get it to land?" the woman asked. "This'll set you back!"

"I have five hundred Imperial credits." Mando told her, reaching into his belt and revealing the currency.

"That's it?" the old woman raised an eyebrow, as she took the money. Once she pocketed the credits, she turned to the pit droids. "Well, what do ya think?"

The pit droids either shook or nodded their heads, having varying reactions.

"Well, it'll cover the hangar at least."

"Will these work?" Dredd asked, reaching into his belt and pulling out his own form of currency.

"What the Hell are those?" the lady asked, eyeing the stack of dark blue rectangles.

"They're credits." Dredd explained. It wasn't technically a lie, since that's what currency looked like in Mega City One.

"Well, whatever they are, I've never seen them before." the woman told him. "So I can't take them."

"I'll get you your money."

"Yeah, I've heard that before." the woman scoffed.

"Just keep them away from the ship." Mando reminded her, before walking off. Dredd began to follow, but first addressed Ryan.

"Stay with the ship." Joe more or less ordered. "Keep the Child safe."

Ryan reluctantly nodded, and walked back into the Crest, while the old woman rolled her eyes.

"Womp rats."

The Mandalorian and Dredd walked down the sandy streets of Mos Eisley, passing by several large spikes with faded white helmets sticking on top.

"What happened?" Dredd asked curiously.

"After the Empire fell, the Stormtroopers were rounded up and executed." the Mandalorian explained. "Those helmets are supposed to ward off anyone else who tries to enslave their planet."

Dredd frowned at the pasty white helmets, as they continued forward.

"Were those real credits?" Mando asked, thinking back to the currency Dredd tried to give that woman.

"Yes." Joe confirmed. "Where I'm from, that's where they're called."

Music: "Stuck With Me Now" from Mandalorian Season 1 OST

The Mandalorian nodded, and they walked into what appeared to be some type of bar. Or at least, that's what Joseph imagined a bar would look like here. After all, there was a droid wiping a counter with a dirty rag, while several different species were drinking what he assumed was alcohol. Some appeared to be gigantic insects. Others as anthropomorphic frogs. Some even appeared to have spiky hair covering their entire body, while possessing four eyes.

"Hey droid." Mando called out, walking up to the counter. "I'm a hunter. I'm looking for some work."

"Unfortunately, the bounty hunter guild no longer operates on Tatooine." the droid said mechanically.

"I'm not looking for guild work."

"I am afraid that does not help your situation. At least by my calculation."

"Think again, tin can!"

Dredd and Mando turned around, seeing a man in some type of black jacket sitting at a corner table, with his feet propped up.

"You looking for work, have a seat, my friends." the man offered. "The name's Toro- Toro Callican. Come on, relax."

Mando and Dredd walked over, sitting down at the table, while Toro slapped a disc down on the table. A second later, a hologram popped up, showing the face of a woman with her black hair in a ponytail.

"I picked this puck up from the mid rim." Toro explained. "Fennec Shand, assassin. Heard she's been on the run ever since the New Republic put all her employers in line."

"I know the name." Mando grimaced.

"Her tracking fob got her out here, in the Dune Sea." Toro revealed. "Should be easy."

"Well, good luck." Mando shrugged, as he stood up.

"Wait, I thought you needed work." Toro quickly said.

"How long have you been in the guild?" Mando asked.

"Long enough." Callican said arrogantly.

"Clearly not." Mando bit back. "Fennec Shand is an elite mercenary, killing for all the crime syndicates- including the Hutts."

"But this is my first job!" Toro said desperately. "Look, you can keep the money, I just want my name to go out there, so I can get into the guild. I can't do this alone."

Mando looked back to the wannabe hunter, and slowly nodded.

"Meet me in hangar 3-5 in half an hour. Bring three speeder bikes, and give me the tracking fob."

Toro widened his eyes, before pulling out the tracking fob from his person. Instead of handing it over, he smashed it against the wall, much to Mando's annoyance.

"Don't worry. Got it all in here." Toro grinned.

"Half an hour." Mando lowered his voice to a growl.

"Guess you're both stuck with me now." Toro smirked. The Mandalorian turned to leave, with Dredd standing up and quickly following him out of the cantina.

"This doesn't serve me." Joseph announced. He was right, collecting bounties didn't serve him… not anymore. Seven years ago, when he was still going by Billy Butcher, it would be a different story. But that was in the past. Since then, he resumed his identity as Dredd, the Judge from Mega City One.

"You want to find a way back, right?" Mando asked, as they continued walking. "This is how you do it."

"We can find another way-"

"She didn't take your credits." Mando interjected. "Look at it this way: you told me where you're from, you're a Judge. You uphold the law in your city, right? Fennec Shand is a murderer. We're doing the galaxy a service."

Behind his visor, Dredd narrowed his eyes, but nevertheless stayed silent for the remainder of their walk back.

Some time later, Mando and Dredd arrived back at the hangar, where the old woman was hard at work.

"Oh, you're back!" the lady groaned, setting down a welding tool. "I've gotten to work on your repairs, but it's taken longer without droids, like you requested."

"Thank you." Mando nodded, as he and Joseph walked up the ship's ramp to find Ryan sitting in the cockpit, the Child sitting in his lap.

"How is he?"

Ryan frowned, as he looked at the Child trying to reach for one of the control stick's silver balls.

"Acting like the baby he is." Butcher shrugged. Mando chuckled, reaching over to the control and twisting off the ball.

"Here."

The Mandalorian handed the Child the ball, before he began walking away.

"Thank you, Ryan." Dredd told his step-son, as he began walking off. Ryan simply nodded, and continued playing with the Child.

Mando and Joseph walked out of the hangar, finding Toro waiting for them, having acquired three hovering speeder bikes.

"Not too shabby, right?" Callican smiled, as the other two got on their bikes. "I mean, I am from Corellia."

Mando and Dredd said nothing, as Toro revved his own speeder and took off, where he was shortly followed by his companions.

Music: "Speederbikes" from Mandalorian Season 1 OST

The trio raced out of Mos Eisley on their speeders, travelling to what Dredd assumed was the Dune Sea, with mounds of sand all around them. After what seemed like an hour, Mando finally slowed down, holding up his hand to signal the other two to stop with him.

"What's going on?" Toro asked.

"Get down." Mando ordered, as he, Toro, and Dredd ducked behind one of the dunes.

"What do you see?"

Joseph looked over the dune, seeing some type of overgrown lizard species, walking around. On its back was a saddle of some kind, and attached to it…

"Dewback." Toro exclaimed, noticing a body hanging from the saddle. "Is that her?"

"Don't know." Mando admitted. "I'll check it out. Callican, Dredd, cover me."

"That's a roj." Joseph nodded, pulling out his Lawgiver. Mando bolted up from behind the mound, running over to the dewback, with Joe watching.

"Is it her?" Toro called out.

"No, it's another hunter!" Mando called out.

"Well, I hope you're not planning on keeping all that for yourself!"

Joseph squinted his eyes, seeing the Mandalorian inspect the body further, before looking back up.

"Get down!"

A blaster bolt suddenly struck Mando's shoulder, making him stumble backward.

"MANDO!" Toro shouted, as the warrior got back up and bolted back up the dune. Just as he got to the top, another bolt whizzed at him, hitting him in the back.

"What happened?" Toro asked, once Mando ducked back down.

"Sniper bolt. Only an MK modified rifle could make that shot." Mando explained.

"Are you okay?" Dredd asked.

"Yes. My armor is made of beskar." Mando shrugged. "At that range, it held up."

Joseph nodded thoughtfully. He wondered if his Judge armor would hold up from that kind of firepower.

"So what do we do?" Toro asked.

"We're going to wait for nightfall." Mando decided. "She has the highground, so we wait for it to get dark."

"Roger." Dredd agreed, pulling out his thermal binoculars and seeing a pinprick of heat, laying down on a ridge several miles ahead of them. Nightfall… he wasn't sure how long the days were on this planet, but he figured that wouldn't be for another few hours. Best he could do now was rest.

Music: "Night Riders" from Mandalorian Season 1 OST

Several hours later, Dredd opened his eyes to see the night sky, with Mando standing over him.

"Wake up." the Mandalorian told him. "We're going."

Dredd wordlessly nodded, and the two of them joined Toro on the bikes.

"Ride as fast as you can, toward those rocks." Mando ordered.

"But she'll snipe us off the bikes." Toro protested. Mando simply tossed a small device towards Callican, before giving another to Dredd.

"That's a flash charge." Mando explained. "We'll all alternate shots. Combined with our speed, we'll have a chance."

With that, the speeders raced off, towards Fennec. Mando waited a few seconds, before firing his flash charge, temporarily blinding the sniper.

"Now!" the Mandalorian shouted, and Toro fired his own charge. A few moments later, Joseph fired his device, but a shot rang out, hitting Mando's speeder and throwing him forward. While Toro surged forward, Dredd stopped his speeder, jumping off to check on the Mandalorian.

"You good?"

Mando didn't answer, instead getting up and firing the charge one last time, before a sniper bolt struck him dead in the chest. Dredd drew his Lawgiver, pointing it toward the ridge, just as Toro disappeared from view.

"Incendiary."

The gun made that same electronic hum, and Dredd squeezed the trigger, watching as the deadly round soared into the sky in the hopes of distracting the sniper. Just as the round exploded into small balls of fire, another laser blast descended from the ridge, destroying Dredd's speeder.

"I'll be fine." Mando told Dredd. "Go help the kid."

Joe nodded, and he ran towards the ridge, hearing the sounds of blaster fire. The Judge ran up the sand, just in time to see Fennec flip Callican onto his side.

"Let him go." Joseph said in a low voice. Fennec turned towards Dredd, her lips curling into a smile.

"Nice helmet." the assassin smirked, as she whipped out a hidden blade and threw it at Dredd, making him drop the Lawgiver. "Can't wait to pick it off your corpse."

"Don't bet on it, creep." Joseph sneered, surging forward and swinging his fist at her. Shand ducked, kicking out with her legs, but Joe caught her foot and threw her to the ground, before grabbing her by the shoulders. As he lifted her up, Fennec slammed her forehead into his chin, forcing Joseph to release her, and got into a fighting stance. Dredd grit his teeth, as he pulled out his daystick, waving it in front of him in a flourish. Fennec ran forward, preparing to throw a haymaker, and Joe sidestepped, grabbing her arm and pressing the daystick against her elbow, finishing by kicking the back of her legs and forcing her onto one knee.

"Good work."

Dredd looked up, seeing the Mandalorian had finally caught up with them.

"Yeah, good work, partners." Toro groaned, painfully standing up. Joseph carefully put his daystick away, while pulling out his handcuffs and restraining Fennec.

"A Mandalorian." Shand sneered, staring at Mando. Meanwhile, Dredd walked over towards his Lawgiver and picked it up, wiping the sand away and holstering it for the time being.

"Haven't seen one of your kind in a long time. Ever been to Navarro?" Fennec asked mockingly. "I hear things didn't go so well. But it looks like you got off easy."

"You don't have to worry about getting to Navarro." Toro smirked. "After we turn you in, you're my ticket into the guild. I should be thanking you."

"You're welcome." Fennec rolled her eyes, as the four of them walked down the dune to find only one speeder.

"Uh oh. Looks like two of us will have to walk."

"Or we can drag you." Dredd sneered.

"One will still have to walk." Mando pointed out.

"So what is the plan?" Callican asked, looking around. Mando sighed, looking out towards the dunes. Dredd frowned, wondering if his helmet had thermal imaging like his binoculars.

"I need you to get the dewback from earlier." Mando ordered.

"Right, and leave you with my bounty and my ride?" Toro asked sarcastically. "Not gonna happen."

Mando gave Callican a hard look, before shaking his head.

"Fine. I'll go. Just don't let her near the bike. She's no good to us dead."

"I'll go with you." Dredd offered. "You shouldn't go alone."

Mando looked over to the Judge, before shrugging and walking off. Joe followed behind, and once they got a considerable distance away, Mando began speaking.

"Why'd you come with?"

"What?" Joseph asked in confusion.

"You said I shouldn't go alone." Mando elaborated. "Why is that?"

Dredd sighed, as he gazed forward.

"I knew a man named Frank." Joseph explained. "Ex-military. Married my former partner, adopted two kids. He's hammered into them what he calls the Battle Buddy System. Guess it rubbed off."

"Adopted… like Ryan?" Mando asked.

"No." Dredd shook his head, as they continued marching through the Dune Sea. "Ryan's my wife's son. His father, he… he did something to her. Something horrible."

Mando slowly nodded. He had a pretty good idea what he meant, but he didn't dare say it. Instead, he dropped the subject, and they carried on in silence.

By the time Dredd and the Mandalorian found the dewback, it was already light out, and after climbing on, they both headed back towards the ridge where they left Fennec and Toro. Getting there took significantly shorter time than earlier, but when they arrived, all they found was Shand's body, curled up on the ground. She wasn't moving.

"Drokk." Dredd growled, as Mando sighed in frustration.

Music: "The Hangar" from Mandalorian Season 1 OST

Ryan spun around in the cockpit's chair, lazily looking around the ship. He had the same powers as Homelander… and Joe was relegating him to babysitting this Baby Yoda creature. Granted, he did understand why he was doing this; he still felt guilty for the Dark Judges kidnapping him during Necropolis. But that was six years ago. He was all grown up now. He had spent the last five years helping protect Mega City One. So why was Joe suddenly being so protective-

Butcher suddenly picked up the sound of a speeder bike outside the hangar with his super hearing, and stopped spinning around. He quickly stood up, setting the Child down, and walked down the ramp, just in time to see a young man in a black jacket, holding the old woman hostage with a blaster pointed at her back.

"Who are you?" Ryan asked, cautiously stepping forward.

"Where's the target?" the man demanded, as the old woman widened her eyes in fear.

"I… I don't know." Ryan lied, clenching his fists.

"Stop lying!" the man yelled, shifting his blaster to point at Ryan. That was the opening he needed, and he suddenly fired a laser blast from his eyes, striking the blaster and heating up the metal. The kidnapper flinched, dropping the gun before it could melt, and the old woman backed away, while Butcher flew over and grabbed him by the collar.

"I'm going to ask again." Ryan said sternly, allowing his eyes to flicker crimson. "Who. Are. You?"

Dredd and Mando arrived back at hangar 3-5, dismounting the dewback to find a speeder in front of the entrance. And not just any speeder- Toro's speeder. The Judge and the Mandalorian gave each other a grim look, as they pulled out their pistols and cautiously walked in. Instead of being met with a fight, they found Ryan and the old woman, with Toro Callican sitting in front of them. Mando squinted, seeing something restraining Toro's wrists… was that a durasteel bar wrapped around him?

"Ryan, you alright?" Dredd asked.

"I'm fine, Uncle Joe." Ryan smirked, looking towards the lady. "He tried to take her hostage, and wanted to take the Child."

"You should've seen him!" the old woman exclaimed happily. "He shot blaster bolts out of his eyes! His kriffing eyes, I'm telling you!"

"Yeah." Joe nodded, as he walked towards Callican.

"What?" Toro widened his eyes. "What are you going to do?"

"Your crimes are murder, kidnapping, and attempted child abduction." Dredd said calmly, raising his Lawgiver. "The sentence is death."

Dredd squeezed the trigger, and a single bullet shot out, hitting Callican in the middle of the head. The mercenary's body crumpled, and everyone watched, as blood seeped out.

"It didn't cauterize." Mando realized, seeing the ground began to soak in a dark red.

"No." Dredd agreed, while the armored warrior reached down and looted the body, finding a coin purse and dumping its contents into the old woman's hands.

"Will that cover me?"

The woman's eyes widened, seeing dozens of credits fall into her palm.

"Uh… yeah." the woman shrugged, pocketing the currency.

"Thank you." Mando nodded, and he walked up the ramp. Joseph looked back to the old woman, taking off the Project Proteus belt and showing it to her.

"Think you can fix this?"

The woman eyed the belt, and quickly shook her head.

"Sorry. I only know how to fix ships."

Dredd reluctantly nodded, and he and Ryan quickly ascended the ramp of the Razor Crest, just before they felt the ship take off.

"So where now?" Joe asked the Mandalorian.

"I'll try to contact an old friend." Mando replied. "Maybe he can help."

Joseph was about to retort, when he felt a hand rest on his shoulder. The Judge looked over, looking at the face of his stepson.

"Hey." Ryan told his father figure, as they sat down in the cockpit. "We'll find a way home. We'll find a way back to Mom."

Joseph felt the corners of his mouth tug into a small, and then it was gone. He was back to Old Stoney Face, as the ship flew away from Tatooine and into deep space once more.

A/N: And there's another chapter! I didn't include the scene with the Tusken Raiders or the conversation between Toro and Fennic because 1. the raiders bit felt like filler just to pad the runtime of the episode, and 2. neither Mando nor Dredd were present for their conversation

The next chapter is going to be largely based off the following episode, although there will be some changes.