(Reader's P.O.V.)

Joker, or should I say the Phantom Ruby, starts laughing as the world around us starts distorting. He removes his mask and where there should be a blue eye is a red one, distorting and pixelating. Suddenly, I feel the splash of cold water and I jolt upright only to be enveloped in a pair of arms. At first, I'm startled, shaking and screaming but then I realize I'm back in reality. Back in the real world, not the one cooked up for me by the Phantom Ruby. "I-It's alright... I've suppressed him for now. You don't have to worry about him doing that again." His voice is different from what I'm used to. He's speaking in a gentle tone. He carefully lets go of me and pulls away, he's not wearing his mask. "Sorry about the water. It was the only way I could wake you. I should've known... The Phantom Ruby is unpredictable. I should've known that he'd-" I stop him and look at his chest. He's covered in blood. His blood. "You're hurt!" "Better me than you! It was the only way to get him to stop!" "But you're bleeding!" I try to get up but he pulls me back. "And I can deal with that myself. What I can't deal with is the only person who's ever actually cared about me being trapped in a place I can't save her! Look, I hate saying this but I actually care about you. I wasn't good at showing it and the Phantom Ruby corrupted my judgment so much that I thought I didn't care. That day we first met... I saw myself in you. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go patch myself up. Don't go falling asleep on me." "Shouldn't I be telling you that..." He grabs a first aid kit and starts cleaning his wound. I notice him having trouble applying the bandages. "Here, let me help you." "I don't need it. I've had worse than this believe me." He sighs in frustration and finally decides to let me help. "I think he might've been right about you. We really are similar." I finish wrapping the bandages and give him a confused look. "I don't mean we're exactly identical but some things about us are the same. Like when we first met. You were shaking like a leaf but the look in your eyes was determined. Like you were trying to override your fear. Kinda reminded me of how I was, back when I was a kid. I guess over time I got it into my head I needed to be fearless. That I needed my squad to believe I was afraid of nothing and so I fooled myself into believing it. When I saw you trapped like that it was like all the chains the ruby created on my mind broke and for the first time in a while, I felt afraid. The last time I felt fear like that I got angry with myself for feeling that way." He clenches his hand into a fist. I guess it's a sore subject for him. "It's okay to be afraid. You can't stop fear you know. You can overcome it but it's still there. Do you think I wasn't afraid when I fought you or when you put me through those tests? In a way, fear and bravery go hand in hand. You can't have one without the other. Someone once told me that if you're never afraid, you were never alive. I don't know if that makes any sense to you but I hope that helps." He sits in silence and hums at my words. "We still have a problem though. When I ripped the ruby out of my chest, it copied my body and ran off. It's still out there somewhere. It probably plans to help Eggman and destroy the resistance. Now I'm not a big fan of theirs but I know someone who would prefer not to lose any friends. Once I recover enough, we're getting out of here and we're going to put an end to these illusions. I've had enough of living a lie. I think it's about time I start living in reality."