Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Clover has been stuck in a time loop for ten years.

Reliving the same journey on repeat.

Getting along with the same colorful cast of monsters, learning of their individual troubles and deciding to sacrifice his SOUL for monsterkind’s sake, or occasionally gunning all of them down in cold blood, thousands of times over, and over, and over.

Unaware of his endless cycle of suffering, Clover was in the midst of one of his many ventures where Flowey had watched him mercilessly fill every monster he came across with holes.

The air was thick with the scent of oil and metal, and a burning orange glow radiated blistering heat from below. Having just blasted Axis into scrap, Clover trudged out of the Steamworks before Flowey could blather at him more.

Clothes covered in dust and unable to shake a growing sense of guilt, Clover patted the grime off his hat before reaching a hand out to the glowing yellow save point. Flowey popped out of the ground, annoyance plain on their face.

“Are we gonna talk about what you just did? I’ve seriously had it with this behavior. I aid you for so long yet I have to deal with your angst? Ever heard of ‘don’t bite the –’ ”

“Save the damn file, Flowey.” Clover coldly cut the flower off, clearly not in the mood to listen to the plant rant.

“Man, you've been really mouthy lately. Fine. Fine! Whatever, jerk…” The flower spat back at Clover, before extending a vine to the glowing star.

* SAVE FAILED.

“What?” Confused, Flowey tried again.

* SAVE FAILED.

A moment of ominous silence between the two passed. Slowly, Flowey turned to Clover, a twisted grin plastered on the flower’s face.

“YOU. THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT. DIE!”

A thorny vine suddenly shot out at Clover, grabbing his left ankle and tearing up his skin.

Clover quickly drew his wild revolver and charged it with his SOUL power, firing, but not before Flowey could yank his leg with the vine, throwing him off balance and causing the blast to go off target.

The yellow burning bullet sailed over the flower’s laughing head, ricocheted off a nearby pipe, and then struck… the save point. Flowey’s smile dropped, immediately replaced by a look of horror.

A resounding CRACK echoed throughout the Underground, followed by the sound of glass shattering. A blinding white blast erupted from the center of the save point, enveloping everything.

Clover… blacked out.

- - -

Chapter Text

Reality came apart at the seams, and Clover fell through the fabric.

The tapestry of everything he’d done during these ten years of lives unfurled before him, incomprehensible in its scale. The experiences of thousands of battles flowed into his body, the painful scars received, the skill to land shots in dire situations, and the muscle memory built from adaptation. The innumerable journeys he’d had throughout the Underground rewound before him at unfathomable speeds, but the details of these ventures flew by far too fast for Clover to comprehend much of.

However, there were a scant few snippets he was able to make out.

Clover saw Flowey, twisting into a variety of horrifying forms and torturing him.

Then, a regal goat monster lunging at him with a red trident.

Next, a menacing blue bird monster with long hair and starry wings, shooting endless razor sharp feathers at him.

For whatever reason, he saw himself trying to reason with a multi-tailed fox monster in a grey city.

Disturbingly, he also saw himself giving up his SOUL to a trio of grieving monsters beneath a sakura tree.

And lastly, he saw something that hadn’t been in any of his prior journeys. Deep in Hotland, a musty, dark lab full of slimy, gelatinous monsters… Within a certain room, in the heart of a sea of blue flames, a melting, sobbing fox monster. The sight awoke a dull ache in Clover’s SOUL, though he didn’t understand why.

Then, for what felt like an eternity, all Clover saw was darkness…

Alone in the void, Clover took a bit to piece together what had just happened. ‘Is this what it’s like for Flowey when they reload?’ he thought.

Able to think clearly by himself for the first time in ages, he thought about all of the monsters in the Underground he had met… and killed. He recalled their screams, faces contorted with horror, bodies riddled with holes before turning to dust… ‘What I did wasn’t Justice. It was just blind, selfish revenge. Nothing but a hollow imitation of the real thing. Part of me knew that the entire time, and yet I… Just kept going. Why did I?...’ Clover would’ve retched, if he had a mouth. He spent a long time stewing in his regrets…

~

After an extraordinarily long stretch of time, Clover suddenly fell flat on his back with a soft thud, once again having a physical body, and with it, a sense of bodily pain.

'Ow.'

Clover felt warmth on his face, and the breeze rustle his hair. Groaning, he opened his eyes and sat up, leaves crunching beneath him as he did so. Rubbing his eyes, the cowboy looked around. He was greeted by a forest in autumn, orange leaves drifting down from the tall trees surrounding a cave entrance on the side of a mountain.

The cowboy was back on the surface, right outside the cave to Mt. Ebott and the monster civilization. ‘The leaves were green when I got here. Now they’re orange? And… are there more trees here now? I don’t remember those saplings by the cave…’ he mused.

‘Looks like I’m back at square one… or square zero, maybe.’  he thought to himself. He tried to stand up, but suddenly found his center of balance was way off and fell backwards onto his rear. Confused, he looked down and noticed his legs were longer than he remembered, long enough for his skin to be poking out of his blue denim pants, making them look like shorts. Looking over the rest of his body, he was surprised to find that he was overall bigger everywhere. And his outfit was now way too small for him.

“What in tarnation.”

Clover’s own voice startled him. It didn’t sound like his own. It was far too deep. Standing up, he took a better look at himself, and checked his pockets. He had the poster of the four missing kids he lost near the start of his venture, a good few fistfuls of gold coins, and his holster held the toy gun he’d brought with him. ‘My fingers are too big to fit in the trigger guard. I’m gonna need a new revolver…’

The grown cowboy clenched & unclenched his fist, confirming to himself his hand was his own. With what he’d seen so far, he could only assume he’d somehow grown into an adult. He stretched his limbs, trying to get used to his very, very sudden massive ‘growth spurt.’

“My clothes are way too tight. I need me some new duds… And some new weapons.”

Clover paused. “I… don’t want to kill anyone again. But I need somethin’ to protect myself with. And if Flowey’s against me now, a toy pop-gun certainly ain’t gonna cut it. I better get prepared. It’s time to get some real firepower.”

He headed down the mountain, remarking on his newfound speed thanks to his longer legs and overall stronger body. He figured he’s just a bit over six feet tall now. The big cowboy headed to the nearest gun store to get geared up.

- - -

Chapter Text

Deep in the underground, Flowey repeatedly slammed a vine against a save file in vain.

* LOAD FAILED. LOAD FAILED. LOAD FAILED.

“WHY ISN’T THIS WORKING?!” the flower screamed.

Positively seething, Flowey dismissed the file. “Clover… his determination is still stronger than mine?! Even after that reset?! Damn him… He needs to die!”

Unable to Load or Save, Flowey realized his immortality was no longer set in stone. This simple fact planted a seed of fear deep within Flowey. And it was all Clover's fault. 

The flower slithered back into the ground with sinister intentions…

~

In a cold, dark room filled with medical equipment, a certain monster was stuck in a looping agony of uncontrollably melting into a puddle, subconsciously desperately attempting to pull herself together, only to fall apart again. Her flesh – or what she thought was her flesh – constantly felt like it was burning. Every few minutes, she was struck by the sensation of her innards twisting around, painfully being reorganized into places they didn’t belong.

In her mind, the only thing she could see was endless scalding blue flames eating away at her body. No sound from the outside world reached her ears, the only noise that she could hear was a haunting, discordant melody that had been tormenting her far longer than she could remember. Nothing else met her senses.

She didn’t know how long she’d been here, but it felt like this misery had gone on for years. Just trying to collect her thoughts through the haze of the endless bad dream was a struggle. Unable to do anything else, she gripped faint memories of a loving mother and a warm, eastern styled home in a desert close to her heart. She could only pray this nightmare would one day end…

~

Somber blues echoed throughout an old saloon run by an armadillo lady in the Wild East. Dim lights from old lanterns illuminated the bar at night, a few moths flying around the flames. Near the back, Ceroba, a red-headed fox monster wearing a disheveled kimono, nursed a bottle of ‘adult soda’ alone in Dina’s saloon. Her fluffy ears drooped, betraying her mood. Dark circles encompassed her eyes, and her bright orange hair was a mess. An obscene amount of empty bottles surrounded her quiet table, isolated from the rest of the world.

Ten years. Ten years had passed since she’d last seen her daughter. Ten years since she’d sent her off to the royal scientist’s lab in a panic. The scientists had never contacted her again after that, of course. There was no hope for her daughter. Over the ten years, the grief Ceroba felt had grown into an endless ocean, suffocating her and dragging her down to the darkest depths.

A man with a star-shaped head wearing blue overalls and a straw hat passed through the doors, wincing as he spotted Ceroba. He gingerly approached the slumped over fox, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Hey, Ceroba… don’t ya think this is a bit much?...”

Ceroba growled, pushing the star-man’s hand off her shoulder before giving a drunken slurred reply. “P…piss off, Starlo.” She knocked a few bottles off the table in the process.

Starlo bit his lip. “Come on now, I’m just tryin’ to look out for–”

“Just leave me alone!” Ceroba snapped, throwing a bottle at Starlo, the glass shattering on the wall behind him. The band playing blues stopped, and what few patrons were left in the bar turned to stare at the commotion.

Starlo dejectedly sighed. “I… I’ll leave ya be.” He pulled his straw hat low to hide his face, and left the saloon.

Ceroba poured the last few drops of booze from her last bottle onto her tongue. Dropping the bottle, she called out to the barkeep “Dina, g, gimme another.” Ceroba laid her head down on the table.

Dina set down the glass she was polishing before giving a stern reply. “I think you’ve had enough for one night, Ceroba.”

“F…fine. To hell with the lot of you.” Ceroba pulled herself up, stumbled out of the saloon scattering bottles as she went, and trudged home, back to the old manor.

Chapter Text

Clover once again stood atop the cliff leading down into the Underground, now freshly equipped with a new leather jacket, blue denim jeans, steel-tipped boots with spurs, leather gloves with metal plates embedded on the knuckles and the back of the hand, and his own personal armory.

Two ammo bandolier belts decorated his torso, running in an “X” pattern across his chest for quick loading. Slung across his back on a sling was a repeater carbine rifle, for longer distance targets. Secured to his belt was one hunting knife, and strapped to his waist and legs was not one, not two, but four holsters. The holsters on his belt held two .45 caliber revolvers, the holster on his left thigh held a 12 gauge sawn-off shotgun, and the holster attached to his right thigh held a big .500 caliber revolver. Clover wasn’t entirely sure if he could handle the recoil from the hand-cannon, but he figured it was better to have one on him just in case he needed to put a real big hole in something in a hurry.

‘Flowey’s in for a real bad time if he thinks I’m still carrying just a toy pop-gun.’

Clover patted his new heavy-duty satchel and belt pouches, confirming the contents to reassure himself. In the pouches, plenty of spare ammunition, speed loaders for his revolvers, rubber bullets for nonlethal solutions, and blank rounds. In the satchel, a few bottles of water, a lighter, a matchbook, a lantern with a bottle of spare lantern fuel, cleaning oil with brushes and a cloth for gun maintenance along with a few other tools, a pack of dynamite, a medical kit, a harmonica, a grappling hook, another length of rope tied up as a lasso, a russet poncho with white patterning, some rations, and two bags of gunpowder – for snacking purposes, of course.

Confident in his preparations, Clover walked towards the edge of the cliff, and… immediately slipped and fell as the ground underneath him gave way, sending him tumbling into the Underground, and scattering his gear everywhere. “OH SHHOOO-”

~

Pain flared across the cowboy’s body as he regained consciousness. “God damnit…” he groaned as he sat up, rubbing the back of his head. He reached for his satchel, only to realize… it was not there. Nor was almost any of his other gear. Patting himself down, the only things he had left on him, along with his precious hat, were a single .45 cal revolver, his hunting knife, and his ammo. “Welp. Better than nothing.”

As Clover stood up, he heard frogs croaking behind him. He turned around to face a horde of Froggits, all ribbiting in chorus. One of the toads had his satchel stuck on their head. Clover squinted at this, instinctively reaching for his revolver, but stopping himself before he drew. He instead approached the Froggits to retrieve his bag. “Hey pard, can I have my things back please?”

The Froggits shot out a swarm of flies at Clover, and started hopping around chaotically. This might have been a problem for a child, but the adult cowboy just gently pushed his way past the flies and amphibians, retrieving his satchel. “Thanks bud.”

However, this didn’t stop the frogs from continuing their attack on him, and as feeble as it was, the flies and frogs jumping at him was still annoying. Clover drew his revolver.

The gunslinger reached into one of his ammo pouches, loaded his gun with a blank, and turned the barrel skyward.

*BANG.*

The steel thunderclap scared off all of the frogs.

Holstering his gun, Clover rubbed his left arm, still a bit banged up from the fall. He sat down, then pulled out one of the gunpowder bags from his satchel, opened it up, and ate a pinch of the forbidden spice.

* Tastes like explosions. Clover’s health was restored.

“Mmm. That’s better.” Clover was too busy enjoying himself to notice the goat lady who had just walked in and witnessed him eat the stuff. Only after a few more seconds of chewing the danger pop rocks did Clover spot the goat, her mouth agape, brow furrowed, concern painted on her face.

A moment of awkward silence passed between the two. Clover paused chewing, taking on the same expression a child caught by their elders might wear. A bead of sweat rolled down the side of his head.

The goat lady cleared her throat, opening her mouth to speak, but before she could say anything, a loud cracking noise reverberated throughout the room. The floor underneath Clover crumbled, and he fell into the lower ruins. He let out a storm of cussing as he fell down once again.

- - -

Chapter Text

Clover laid flat on his back, staring up at the hole in the ceiling he had just dropped through. He sighed, pushing off the ground, yellow flowers flattening beneath him, he kipped up to his feet and got moving. He was not bothering to wait around for the goat lady. Clover had things he needed to get done.

Striding through the purple ruins, Clover felt his gut clench when he found that the spot that once held the first save point was now empty. He touched the cold stone where the point had once been. “Guess I've only got one shot this time 'round. No second chances...” '...Back to how life oughta be, I suppose.'

Steeling himself, Clover moved on to the next room. Between a pair of green vines, three yellow levers poked out of the brick wall before him, and to his right was a row of knee-high spikes, preventing passage… to children. The big cowboy carefully stepped around the spikes and kept moving. As he walked, Clover pulled out a couple of coins from his pockets with his left hand and began idly bouncing them between his fingers.

Clover pressed on, finding the ruins to have been fairly quiet so far aside from a few minor monsters he either simply walked around or spared without much fuss. There was no reason for him to get particularly violent at this point. Entering another room with levers and a long row of taller spikes, without breaking his stride he flicked a coin into the air and shot it, causing the rubber bullet to ricochet off the coin and hit the lever, activating it and lowering the spikes.

As Clover walked into the next room, he was suddenly met with a glob of sizzling green acid flying towards his face. Combat instincts kicking in, he slid under the projectile and snapped his vision toward where it came from.

Slithering out of the ground at the far end of the hallway was a flower, as big as a horse, with what looked like a fibrous dinosaur-esque muzzle sprouting out of the center, acid dripping from its mouth. The bricks splashed by the acid were rapidly dissolving, leaving only dark craters where they struck. The monstrous flower roared at him. Clover gulped, a bead of sweat rolling down his forehead.

“There’s only one monster that could have possibly made this thing.” Weaving between acid shots from the ugly flower, Clover ejected the leftover rubber ammo from his revolver, and pulled out a speed-loader with real bullets, slamming it into the cylinder. The monstrous flower continued to spit acid at him for an arduous amount of time, but Clover waited patiently for an opening, making his way through the shots to take cover behind a nearby wall.

Eventually, one presented itself – the acid-spitting flower stuck its face into a nearby puddle to recharge its liquids, and Clover would be damned if he didn’t capitalize on it. Jumping out of cover, he snapped into a shooting stance, right foot behind his forward foot, pelvis turned forty-five degrees to his target, torso straight and elbows bent, Clover gritted his teeth and rapidly unloaded all six bullets into the flower’s stem in just under nine-tenths of a second.

*BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG.*

The burning metal howl of the Real Gun reverberated throughout the Ruins.

* Clover embraced his Second Amendment rights.

The beast let out one last howl before its stem snapped in half from the ballistic trauma, wilting as its petals hit the floor.

Though it was dead, it did not turn to dust.

“Yeah!” Clover did a little self-congratulatory fist pump, before suddenly feeling a bit embarrassed for some reason.

An idea struck him. Clover pulled out one of his water bottles, dumped its contents, and scooped up some of the flower’s acid. He stared at the bottle of acid for just a moment, fighting off intrusive thoughts. Safely tucking it away, he readjusted his hat, and moved on after reloading his gun and speed-loader.

~

A fuming animate yellow flower seethed from just around a brick corner, out of sight and out of earshot of the gunslinger. "What... the hell... was THAT?!... That damn cowboy is more than twice the size they were before! What's up with their moves?!? How are they so much faster?! Is there really that big of a gap between a kid and an adult human? And where'd they get that gun?! That thing ain't no toy, and it makes Blackjack's old 'Wild' pea-shooters look like a joke!... Shit!"

Flowey shuddered with fury and frustration as he slithered away, slinking off to rethink his approach.  

- - -

Chapter Text

Past the flower corpse, Clover rolled up to a broken stone bridge with a small gap in the middle. Beyond it, a hooded figure with horns was mumbling to themselves about something. Clover called out to the figure. “Hey, pard!”

Startled, the cloaked figure hops in place, before nervously turning around to look in Clover’s direction. Upon spotting him, the figure immediately fled. “Wh - hey! Get back here!”

Clover took a running leap, and jumped straight over the hole in the broken bridge, chasing after the mysterious figure. ‘Not taking the long way around this time!’

“Stop runnin’! I just want to talk!” Clover kept running after the fleeing figure, rounding several corners, going through many rooms, jumping over various puzzles and traps to keep up with them. One room was strangely filled with a field of corn, which Clover noticed was wilting for some reason. He didn’t have time to dwell on it though.

Eventually, Clover cornered the hooded figure in a room filled with water, split only by a solitary stretch of brick road down the middle.

“You’re not even real… Just, just leave me alone!” The figure removed their hood to reveal a purple-faced man with fangs & horns. Terror gripped their face. The vampire grabbed his head with his hands, wincing in pain. Then he shook his head, and spread his arms outwards. Electricity began to crackle in the air around the vampire.

‘I remember this…’ Clover stopped short, tensing up as the vampire raised a hand towards him. Numerous streaks of lightning forked out of his palm at Clover, but the cowboy was able to predict and evade every bolt with minimal effort.

“Pull in your darn horns! I ain’t a hallucination!” Clover called out to the vampire, but the only response he got was more lightning bolts being shot at him. The gunslinger began to reach for his revolver, but he thought better of it and suddenly got a different idea as another bolt whizzed past his head.

Clover pulled a coin out of one of his pockets, and flicked it directly in the path of one of the vampire’s lightning bolts. The electricity crackled and ricocheted off the coin, returning straight to its original sender.

Zapped, the vampire lit up like a christmas tree for a moment, and Clover swore he could see the vampire’s skeleton for half a second. “Yeeeoowch!” The vampire cried out in pain, and fell flat on the ground with a thud.

Clover blinked. “Oh. Oh, crap. That… wasn’t what I thought would happen. Hey, are you okay?” This definitely wasn’t how he wanted his second chance at things to go. ‘Please don’t be dead.’ He ran over to the vampire, and knelt down to shake him. …No response.

Clover tried checking the vampire’s pulse.

…

……

………

No response.

Clover took a second to think about what he was doing.

‘...Oh. Right. He’s undead. He wouldn’t have a pulse.’ A bit embarrassed, Clover pushed his palm into his face.

‘Well, he hasn’t turned into dust, so he’s probably fine.’ Clover picked up the purple vampire and slung him over his shoulder, walking into the room at the end of the bridge. Inside was a quaint gothic room with basic home amenities strewn about the place, an oval purple rug lying in the center. Sconces decorated the walls, brightening the room with small flickering flames. Two hallways extended out of the room, one was short with a door in the wall to the right, and the other stretched opposite of the door Clover had just entered, with a boarded up door at the end.

Clover went down the hallway to the right, and opened a door on his left, entering a bedroom. A phonograph stood on a stand in the near corner to his left, a piano laid in the far back left corner, a wooden desk with some papers and writing utensils strewn on it with a chair was in the far right corner, and a bed with purple blankets laid in between them.

Clover dropped the unconscious vampire on the bed, and stretched his arms a bit. Walking over to the desk in the corner, he picked up a pen and a blank piece of paper, and wrote a message for the vampire on it.

Sorry for scaring you & shocking you with your own lightning, partner. I hope you aren’t hurt too badly. I really was just trying to talk to you. I hope you don’t mind me removing the boards from your door, but I gotta keep moving.

–Clover, a passing through Cowboy

Satisfied, Clover left the note on the desk, and headed to the boarded up door. He gripped each plank with his gloved hands and ripped them off the door without much trouble. When he reached for the door handle, the door made a low creaking sound, and unceremoniously fell over in front of him. “...Oops. Sorry…”

Clover left the Ruins, and headed into the cold lands of Snowdin.

- - - 

Chapter Text

Soft snow crunched underneath Clover’s feet as he walked through Snowdin, snowflakes gently drifting down around him. The cowboy adjusted his scarf, pulling it tighter in an attempt to stay warm. Exhaling, he could see his breath in front of him in the cold air. Clover decided now was as good a time as any to don the poncho he’d put in his satchel, and did so.

Clover came across a large rock the size of a house in the snow. Carved into its face was a suspicious symbol, two wings around a sphere above three triangles. A glint of metal coming from the top of the rock caught his eye. His missing .45 cal revolver was sitting on top of the rock.

“How in tarnation did that get there?” Clover narrowed his eyes at the rock’s peak, contemplating how he was going to retrieve his missing iron. He looked around the rock for a way to climb up it, but as soon as he touched the rock he realized it was far too icy and slippery for climbing to be a safe approach.

Thinking, Clover tapped his left foot against the ground for a few moments, before rifling through his satchel and retrieving his lasso. He spun the rope around his head and tossed the loop towards the top of the rock, snaring the revolver. Clover yanked the rope gently and carefully caught the gun as it fell.

The gunslinger checked his retrieved revolver’s condition, he flicked a latch on the left side of the gun to open up the cylinder to give it a once over. He closely examined the hammer and barrel as well. In total, there were a few minor scratches on the grip, but no other visible damage.

“Looks like it’s no worse for wear. Lucky me.” Clover breathed a sigh of relief. After making sure the revolver was unloaded first, Clover retrieved his gun maintenance kit from his satchel, and gave his iron some tender love and care.

Using a set of thin brushes, a small cable with a cloth attached to one end, and some cleaning solution, Clover cleaned out the bore, cylinder and each individual chamber carefully by pulling the cable through each part and scrubbing them with the brushes, dislodging some snow from the gun in the process. After that, he used a cloth to wipe down the revolver gently. While he was at it, he repeated the same process for his other revolver as well.

Some monsters passed by Clover while he was working on his guns, staring at him for a few moments before moving on. None of them had any idea what this weirdly dressed human was doing with those oddly shaped pieces of metal, but they weren’t sticking around to find out. Clover was so engrossed in his gun care work, he never noticed any of them walking by.

Once he was finished, he could see a bit of his reflection in his polished guns. A small smile spread on his face. The gunslinger loaded one revolver with rubber bullets and the other with real bullets, pushed the cylinders back into place, and spun the guns around his index fingers as he slid them back into the holsters where they belonged.

Satisfied with his maintenance work, Clover moved on through Snowdin. The cowboy retrieved his harmonica from his satchel, and practiced playing it as he walked. His musical skill was okay, he was dropping notes here and there, but he was slowly getting better.

A few monsters encountered Clover as he made his way through the cold streets, but none of them were particularly threatening to him in his current state. Most of the monsters were either easily placated, or scared off with a blank round. When Clover came across Mo, the slick-talking businessman raccoon monster, Clover bought out Mo’s entire stock of chocolate pops and kept moving.

Along the way, he played a tune on his harmonica for a few Frostermits which made them dance with joy. Eventually, with his music he attracted enough Frostmerits to form a whole conga line of the igloo crabs following him around, though they left after a while, but not before giving Clover a few tips in gold coins. A sentinel of silence, Clover was not.

Clover came across an odd looking contraption attached to a gate that was blocking his path, a few blue feathers strewn about the place. He stared at the wooden construction quizzically for a while, contemplating what the purpose of it could even be, then walked up to the wooden locked gate. The gunslinger drew his revolver and blasted the gate open with a hot bullet. The grown man proceeded onwards without having to use his brain much for the time being.

After a good while of walking, Clover pulled up to a resort inn, adorned with a smiling wooden bear face just above the main door. Warm, yellow light shone through the windows from the inside, accompanied by the smell of pastry batter, beckoning him closer. A sign next to the building proclaimed ‘Welcome to the Honeydew Resort!’. To the side of the building, there was a campfire a handful of monsters were huddled around, and a sleeping bear with jars of honey strapped to its back laid to the other side of the resort.

Pushing open the door, Clover entered the building, glad to get out of the cold for a bit. Inside, a cozy scene laid before him. Several yellow tables with honeycomb patterns laid out with stools dominated the center of the space, to the right was a bar counter being run by a pink bear monster with several cafe supplies behind her, and in the very back a band was playing a jaunty tune next a cooler filled with what seemed to be honey.

Grabbing one of the stools, Clover pulled some gold coins out of his pocket and turned to the bear monster running the place. “Can I bother ya for a plate of whatever’s making that nice smell?”

“Sure thing!” The pink bear monster turned around, and poured batter onto a frying pan atop a stove. In short order, a stack of pancakes topped with some strawberries was placed in front of Clover.

“Appreciate it.” Clover paid the bear, and began to dig in.

While eating his food, with nothing better to do, Clover’s mind wandered through his memories and he recalled one of the visions he saw after his last confrontation with Flowey. The lab in Hotland, the isolated room deep within it, and the sobbing person stranded in a blue inferno. As if by reflex, the same dull ache pervaded his SOUL once more. ‘Why does my chest hurt when I think about this?... I guess there’s only one way to find out.’

Without realizing it, Clover had been clenching his left fist hard in his pocket. Abruptly, Clover stood up. “Thanks for the grub.” he said while placing a few extra gold coins on the counter as a tip. “It’s time I hit the trail.”

“Take care!” the bear called out, before looking down at the coins. She picked them up, raising an eyebrow at some of the bent coins.

Clover was already walking out the door before she could say anything else.

- - -

Chapter Text

Trudging through the cold snow once more, Clover strode forward with intent, pace hurried, but steady. The cowboy longed for a steed to ride through the snow. He daydreamed about a thoroughbred mare carrying him through the lands, swift as the wind and strong as an ox, galloping freely.

Regardless, he had a clear destination in mind, and was determined to get there. He whistled a somber tone as he walked.

After a bit of a trek, Clover came across a wooden rope bridge with some very interesting, if impractical, features. Some of the boards were swinging to the left & right rapidly, making traversing the bridge normally hazardous. This bridge would certainly fail a safety inspection.

Clover spotted a pressure plate on the ground on the other side of the bridge, next to a handful of blue feathers. He squinted at the entire mess before him. ‘Who in their right mind would build something like this?’

Nonchalantly flicking a coin into the air towards a high point above the middle of the bridge, Clover shot it at just the right angle to ricochet his bullet off the coin and into the pressure plate. The boards stopped swinging back and forth, and Clover kept moving.

Clover was tense. He was expecting Flowey to have sent something particularly nasty his way again by this point, but nothing had popped out at him so far. It was a bit unnerving for the gunslinger. He gripped his russet poncho tightly and proceeded.

It wasn’t long before the cowboy came across a lone wooden booth in the middle of the chilly woods. A blue bird monster with long hair and a yellow beak seemed to be dozing off at the booth, a bell and book lying on the counter. A chill went down Clover’s spine for some reason. His instincts once again screamed at him to draw his gun, and his right hand shot towards his revolver, but he stopped himself by grabbing his wrist with his left hand.

An image of the blue bird, bleeding, bruised and beaten flashed through his mind’s eye. Clover remembered her running from his wrath fearfully from this very spot, and later harshly scolding him in a desert. ‘...Not again.’ The cowboy stared at the bird for a long moment before slowly approaching.

The cowboy somehow made it all the way up to directly in front of the bird monster’s counter without waking them up. He raised an eyebrow. He expected the monster would’ve woken up by now, so Clover smacked a gloved hand on the bell, causing it to ring out loudly. “Hey, wake up!”

The blue bird let out a squawk and fell backwards onto the snow.

“Pfft… Hahahaha!” Clover was unable to suppress his laughter at the sight.

“Sorry, you okay down there Miss Bird?” Clover looked over the counter down at the blue bird, who was making impromptu snow angels on the ground.

“I, uhm, yes, hello!” the bird spoke as she rose to her feet. “Sorry, sorry, I was having a very nice dream about… uh, woodworking.”

“...Pardon?” Clover just gave her a blank stare in response, not sure what to make of a bird dreaming about carpentry of all things.

“It was a whole thing, I was coming up with a new puzzle for Snowdin in my sleep and… Wait a minute… Are you a human?” The bird rambled on for a moment before taking a better look at Clover.

“I sure am.” The cowboy refused to hide his identity. ‘I won’t lie about who I am, even if it makes me everyone’s enemy. A just man doesn’t hide behind false faces.’

“Wow! I didn’t know they could grow to be so big! This is so exciting! Anyways, uh…” The bird began to flip through her book, searching for something. Clover rested his hands on his belt, waiting for her to finish whatever it is she was doing. The bird’s face lit up when she finally found the page she was looking for.

“According to my Royal Guard Guidebook, I’m supposed to fight and apprehend you! So I’ll do just that!” The bird lady cheerfully proclaimed, seemingly unaware of the potential consequences.

“...Miss, are you certain you want to do that?” Clover narrowed his eyes, gaze locked on the blue bird, nonchalantly placing a hand on one of his revolvers.

“Yep! Here we go! Martlet of the Royal Guard has encountered a human! Prepare to be apprehended!” she flipped to another page, feathers fluttering. “Protocol one, be courteous and allow your opponent the first attack!” she smiled proudly after reciting the lines from her handbook.

The scent of bird-seed filled the air.

Clover slowly raised an eyebrow at the blue bird, not sure if she was serious or not about that last line. He waited around for a few moments, before giving Martlet a long, hard look. The cowboy uttered one word in response. “No.”

“Whaddya mean, no? What am I supposed to do now then?” Martlet asked, confused.

The cowboy said nothing in response. Clover simply stood in place, watching the blue bird.

“Uh… I - okay, h-hold on, let me just…” the bird stammered, flipping through her book. Her face lit up when she reached the page she was looking for. “Ah! Here we go! ‘Royal Guards are to proceed to the next step without hesitation!’ Protocol two, my attack!”

Martlet excitedly flapped her wings, shooting several feathers at the cowboy. However, each shot was rather slow and predictable to the gunslinger. Clover felt no killing intent behind her attacks, so he slowly danced around the projectile feathers, playing along, shooting down a handful of the feathers with rubber bullets. After a couple minutes into this dance, one feather grazed Clover’s hat, slicing a shallow cut into the brim.

The cowboy frowned. Clover adjusted his hat, draping his eyes in shadow. Far faster than Martlet could track, the gunslinger’s iron sprang out of its holster like a lunging snake, flaring to life in Clover’s hands in the blink of an eye.

*BANG.*

Hot lead whizzed past Martlet’s head and punched a hole in her royal guard book.

The screaming metal tore through the pages like a rabid animal, sending the book flying out of her hands. “My guidebook!” she squawked.

The scent of bird-seed was violently overridden by the stench of burning sulfur.

“Miss Martlet.” Spinning the smoking six-shooter around his finger, Clover slowly turned his gaze to meet the blue bird’s. He stared her dead in the eye to meet her flustered face with a stone cold expression. The gunslinger spoke with a grave chill in his voice, “This ain’t a game. Are you absolutely certain you want this fight?”

“I-Er-Uhm!” Martlet stuttered, sweating, feathers shaking. “No! Please put that thing away.”

The blue bird surrendered.

“Good.” Clover’s voice returned to its normal tone, and he spun his revolver around his finger as he slid it back into its holster. “I ain’t in the business of killin’ innocent folk anyways.” ‘...Not this time, at least. Ugh…’

“Oh, that’s a relief. I really didn’t know what to think after that attack you did.”

Martlet exhaled in relief. “My poor guidebook, though…” She whined a bit, looking down at the destroyed mess of papers on the floor.

“Sorry ‘bout that. But shouldn’t you be making your own calls instead of following a book anyways?” Clover shot the bird an inquisitive look.

“You don’t understand, those were the guidelines for my job! My actual career! And I was on probation! Now I’ll have to put in a notice that my handbook got destroyed, and I need a new one and I have to do a bunch of paperwork and go through so much red tape for both of those things. I’m so screwed…” Martlet’s spirits deflated with a sigh.

“Oh. Ohhh. Well shoot, I didn’t know it was that important to ya. Apologies.” Feeling a twinge of guilt, Clover rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

“Nah, it’s my fault for bringing the book into a fight. Hey, what’s your name? I never got it.” asked the blue bird.

“Call me Clover.” The cowboy extended an open hand towards her.

Martlet reached out and shook his hand with her wing. “Nice to meet you! I’m Martlet.”

“I know. You said it at the start of the fight, remember?” Clover gave a slight smile.

“Oh! Oops. My head’s been in the clouds a lot lately. So what are you doing in the Underground?” she asked.

“At first I was here lookin’ for the five missing tykes…” Clover pulled out the missing children poster and showed it to Martlet. “But after everything I’ve seen, I can only imagine that they’re... you know…” He shook his head, safely tucking the poster back into his satchel. “Gone.”

Martlet looked a bit pensive. “...Yeah. The King is safeguarding their SOULs, he needs seven in total to break the barrier. The rest of the royal guard will probably come after you, and they won’t be as nice as me. King Asgore… he’s really strong and can be scary sometimes, and he’ll definitely attack you for your SOUL.”

Clover didn’t look very surprised, his expression remaining neutral. “Right. So anyways, there’s someone else I’ve gotta find. Do you know where a fancy medical laboratory in Hotland might be?”

“A medical lab? I don’t think the Royal Scientist’s lab handles medical stuff, but it is in Hotland. But I do have a boat that I made that can take you straight to Hotland! The river just north of here leads straight to it.” Martlet beamed.

“Can I see it?” the cowboy asked.

“Sure thing, it’s not far. Follow me!” Martlet answered, walking north. Clover followed her.

It was a rather short journey north. The odd pair walked up to a makeshift dock on the side of a river. There was a wooden vessel tied to the dock, but of more immediate interest to Clover was a certain piece of metal lying on the dock. Clover walked up to it, and picked up his missing sawn-off shotgun, a bright smile on his face. “One of my missing pieces!” Clover immediately started cleaning the gun.

“Oh, that belongs to you? It fell here a little while ago. I didn’t really know what to do with it, so I kinda just left it there.” Martlet said.

“I’m just glad ya didn’t drop it in the water or something.” The gunslinger responded. He sat down, still focused on making sure his reclaimed shotgun was in working order.

“Well, while you’re working on fixing that, do you mind if I ask you some questions?” Martlet sat down on the dock.

“Shoot.” Clover said, wiping down the shotgun.

“What did you think of all the puzzles on the way here? I made them myself with my woodworking skills, you know. I guess I should thank my mentor for teaching me how. Chujin was his name. He’s… Not around anymore.” The blue bird said, not feeling a need to hold back on the details of death with the big cowboy.

Clover paused. “Passed on, huh? That’s a cryin’ shame.” he said, while checking the double chambers of his break action shotgun.

“As for the puzzles…” The cowboy rubbed the back of his head. “They might need some repairs. Sorry ‘bout that.” he said, not elaborating further, continuing to work on his gun.

“Oh, that’s not a problem, I can fix most of them up in a jiffy with just some lumber and nails!” Martlet responded, optimistic as ever.

Clover nodded, and worked on the shotgun for a while after that. About twenty minutes passed of Clover just working on his piece while Martlet blabbed at him about this and that before the cowboy was satisfied with his maintenance.

The gunslinger stood up, flicked the shotgun’s safety on, loaded two twelve-gauge shells into it, and closed the break. Clover walked over to some of the trees, and turned to Marlet. “Hey, do you know if any monsters live in these trees? There’s something dangerous I need to test.”

The blue bird got up, following Clover. “I don’t think any do, no. Whatcha doin’?”

Memories of an intense battle with a certain rectangle-headed robot were at the forefront of Clover’s mind. “I need to see if I can still do an old trick. And I need to see if this gun still functions. Cover your ears and keep your distance.” The gunslinger waited for Martlet to do so, before he turned around to face the trees.

Clover adjusted his stance, spreading his feet apart to about shoulder-width, slightly bent his knees, brought his left foot forward and leaned forward in the same direction. Clover flicked the safety off.

The gunslinger breathed deeply, focusing, thinking about that moment when the robot told him it was responsible for the death of a human, and the absolute rage that erupted from within him at that moment. His SOUL began to glow bright yellow, fizzling with power. The yellow sparks flowed through his veins from his SOUL, to his hands, and into the chamber of the shotgun. The air around him crackled with dangerous yellow energy.

Clover pulled the trigger.

The sound that burst forth from his shotgun was akin to thunder, fierce and unyielding.

A screaming blast of golden energy surrounding lead pellets rocketed out of the barrel, smashing through the trees before stopping about one hundred feet from where Clover stood. The eviscerated wood was charred black, as if it had been struck by lightning and burnt to a crisp. The recoil shoved Clover back ten feet, almost hitting Martlet, his boots digging a deep groove into the snow and dirt below, but he somehow kept steady.

Martlet’s eyes were as wide as dinner plates, and her jaw was on the floor. “What the heck was that?! Was that magic? Humans can use natural magic without any enchanted tools now?!” The blue bird was visibly shaking with excitement.

Clover reset his posture before answering, stretching his arms a bit. “Truth be told, I don’t know.” The gunslinger shrugged. “It’s just something I started doing instinctively not too long ago. I ain’t got a clue how it really works.”

“That’s totally magic! Goodness gracious, this is a huge discovery! Humans naturally using magic! I’ve gotta write about this!” Martlet pulled out a new handbook, one with a white cover and no title, and began writing in it.

Clover shrugged again, not entirely convinced that what he was using was definitely magic, but also not caring enough to dispute it. “Go ahead.” The gunslinger began to eject the two empty shells from the shotgun, but as he started to lean back, he stopped when he noticed the empty shells were jet black and giving off intense heat.

Squinting at this development, he tilted the gun to the side and shook the burned shells out, dropping them onto the ground. The snow around the shells melted, and the ground burned beneath sizzled for a while.

Clover flicked the safety on, loaded two new shells, closed the break and slid the sawn-off shotgun smoothly into his left thigh holster, back where it belonged.

“How about we check out that boat now?”

“Oh, right! Yeah, let’s!” Martlet had completely forgotten about the boat in all her excitement until just now. She energetically ran over to the wooden vessel and gestured towards it with her wings, face practically glowing. Clover followed her over to the dock.

“Behold! The UG Aviator! Well, whaddya think? Isn’t she great?” Martlet beamed at Clover.

The cowboy took a closer look at the boat. Memories of this exact same raft nearly getting him killed in his past life flashed before his eyes. He rubbed his eyes for a moment, and then resumed examining the boat.

The vessel resembled a square wooden box lid flipped upside down, with a rug in the center and a flag poking out of one corner. Clover saw no means of controlling the boat’s direction, nor a sail.

“Miss Martlet.” Clover turned to the blue bird.

“Yes?” she said, still smiling.

“This boat lacks a rudder, a sail, or even paddles. This is a raft without controls.” The cowboy stated.

“Uh huh?” Martlet’s smile still hadn’t dropped.

Clover gently placed a hand on her shoulder. “It’s going to get someone killed.” The mature gunslinger spoke plainly. “It looks pretty, but I’m not riding this.” He let go.

“Aww… Well, I can still show you the way to the lab if you want!” Martlet offered, flapping her wings a bit.

Clover shook his head. “Naw, that’s alright. I’m a human. You’d be in constant danger if you were with me. You said the river leads to Hotland, yeah?”

Martlet looked a bit worried, a slight frown on her face. “Yeah, it does, just follow it east. You’ll have to go through the Waterfall region first before you get to Hotland, though. You might run into Undyne there.”

“Undyne?” Clover raised an eyebrow. This was a new name to him.

“Yeah, Captain Undyne. She leads the Royal Guard, she’s terrifying with a spear, and she can even create and shoot a bunch of spears with her magic. She’s seriously strong.” Martlet blabbed on and on about Undyne, almost as if she were fangirling over the Captain.

“You sure you want to go alone though? I mean, I am a royal guard, I know I didn’t make the strongest impression earlier but I can handle myself if push comes to shove.” Martlet fussed again.

The cowboy gave her a thumbs up. “I’m sure. Seriously, it’s alright. I’ll be fine by myself.”

“Well… okay. You just be safe, alright? You’re the first nice human I’ve met, even if you can be a bit scary sometimes, so don’t go dying on me!”

Clover wasn’t entirely sure why, but having this blue bird monster worry about him gave him a strange case of deja vu. He gave a short laugh, then spoke. “I gotta mosey on now. Thanks for everything, Miss Martlet. Seeya around.” The cowboy gave her a two-finger salute into finger gun gesture, and then started walking east alongside the river.

“Byeee! Take care!” Martlet waved Clover off with one of her blue wings, watching him march into the distance towards the Waterfall region, until he faded from sight.

Unbeknownst to the cowboy, the blue bird launched into the air and followed him through the air, keeping her distance. She surveyed him from the skies for a long while...

...At some point on his way out of Snowdin, Clover found a cold plate of spaghetti just lying on the ground in the middle of the road, with a very obvious rope trap snare set up next to it. He sprinkled a pinch of gunpowder on the pasta and moved on...  

- - -

Chapter Text

Clover strode into the Waterfall region. Marine navy dirt paths and walls marked the region, lit by glowing sapphire and amethyst crystals dotting the walls. Rushing waters and flowing waterfalls were peppered throughout the area, as expected of the name.

Not far into his journey through Waterfall, Clover spotted a small cave hidden behind one of the waterfalls. There wasn't much inside the cave, aside from a few glowing mushrooms, and a white piece of clothing. Clover knelt down to take a better look at it. What he thought was a white piece of clothing was in reality a pink ballerina's tutu skirt, too small for an adult but just right for a child. The reason why he thought it was white initially was because the pink fabric could barely be seen underneath an extremely thick layer of white dust covering the skirt. The dust of dead monsters. It was no different from a skirt stained a crimson red, drenched in blood. Both reeked of death. The cowboy felt his gut twist, a swarm of conflicting emotions fighting for dominance rioting within his SOUL. Leaving the skirt where it was without touching it, he quickly departed the cave and got back to the road he was following earlier, heading deeper into Waterfall.

The temperature was much more agreeable here compared to Snowdin, so the cowboy removed his poncho, folded it up, and tucked it safely into his satchel. He retrieved his harmonica, and began practicing with the small metal instrument once again as he made his way through Waterfall. A few mermaid-like monsters swam through the water next to him as he played, and joined in his music with their own song for a while.

Eventually, Clover was alone once again, hopping gaps and crossing wooden bridges over the water. He rounded a corner, and found a field of glowing blue flowers spread out before him, shining in the dark. ‘This place… it’s really pretty.’ Clover couldn’t help but stop for a moment to appreciate the scenery, a slight smile on his face.

“I wish we could see the real stars someday…” a voice echoed from one of the flowers in front of him.

Clover jumped, startled, instinctively reaching for his revolver at the sight of a talking flower. The blue flower repeated the same words, over and over, before Clover eased up, realizing it wasn’t truly alive or a threat. The cowboy shook his head and moved on.

In the middle of the field of flowers, Clover noticed a figure clad in red plate armor from head to toe. Not entirely sure what to expect, Clover called out to the figure. “Hello?”

The red knight drew a greataxe with one hand, blade crashing onto the ground, kicking up dirt. The heavy metal figure turned and immediately started irregularly marching towards the cowboy, moving like a zombie.

“Woah, woah, hold up now!” Clover protested, putting up his hands as he backed up.

But it was no use. The knight raised its axe & slashed down at Clover, who sidestepped the blade by just a few inches. The greataxe cleaved the ground, sending dirt & blue petals flying.

“Well, if that’s how it’s gonna be…!” The gunslinger planted a foot on the greataxe still stuck in the ground, jumped off it and spun around, kicking the knight square in the face. Strangely, the horned helmet rang like a bell upon impact, and the knight didn’t react to the kick at all. A hard metal gauntlet punched Clover in the side, sending him tumbling.

The cowboy rolled away on the ground, grunting in pain. Clover quickly scrambled to his feet, grimacing. Something about the knight felt off to him. Clover cautiously circled the metal man, eyeing the armor-clad figure. The gunslinger whipped out his six-shooter and blasted a hole in the side of the red armor.

Green thorny vines sprang from the bullet hole in response, writhing underneath the metal surface. “Flowey’s handiwork. Should’ve known.” Clover grit his teeth, holstering his gun.

The vine puppet lurched at him with its axe again, but Clover kept his distance. The gunslinger backed up & drew his shotgun, flicked the safety off and began to charge it up with his SOUL. However, before he could finish, the knight swung at him once more with its axe, forcing Clover to abandon the charge attack to roll out of the way of the heavy axe blade.

“Guess that’s too slow.” The gunslinger flicked the shotgun’s safety back on and holstered it. Clover reached into his satchel, pulling out his bottle of spare lantern oil and matchbook. He walked around the red figure, waiting for an opportunity.

When the knight puppet swung its axe down once more, Clover seized his chance. He stepped out of the blade’s way, and stomped down on the greataxe, sinking it further into the ground. The cowboy ran up the handle and dunked the contents of the bottle straight into the opening on the helmet, soaking the vines in oil.

Jumping backwards, the gunslinger struck a match and tossed it straight through the helmet’s slot. The red puppet went up in flames, shaking violently for a few moments before the shrubbery within burnt to a crisp, the armor falling to pieces on the floor.

Clover exhaled, relieved that his improvised spur-of-the-moment plan worked. He fell backwards onto his rear, sitting down. He rubbed his side where he’d been punched, wincing in pain.

Clover pulled out one of the chocolate pops he bought from Mo and ate it, staring out at the field of blue flowers, taking the wondrous sight in during this moment of calm.

In the distance, a knight with a red plume decorating their helmet was watching Clover from the shadows. The cowboy didn’t notice them, and they slipped away into the darkness.

Once Clover felt better, he did some more maintenance on his firearms, taking just as much time with them as always, then got moving east once more.

The cowboy walked out of the flower field and onto a large wooden dock that stretched out quite far. He spotted some old plaques on the wall, ancient writing upon them. Clover took a closer look.

The power to take their SOULs.

This is the power that the humans feared.

This power has no counter.

Indeed, a human cannot take a monster's SOUL.

When a monster dies, its SOUL disappears.

And an incredible power would be needed to take the SOUL of a living monster.

There is only one exception.

The SOUL of a special species of monster called a "Boss Monster."

A Boss Monster's SOUL is strong enough to persist after death... If only for a few moments.

A human could absorb this SOUL.

But this has never happened. And now it never will.

The humans, afraid of our power, declared war on us.

They attacked suddenly, and without mercy.

The War of Humans and Monsters.

Why did the humans attack? Indeed, it seemed that they had nothing to fear.

Humans are unbelievably strong. It would take the SOUL of nearly every monster just to equal the power of a single human SOUL.

In the end, it could hardly be called a war.

United, the humans were too powerful, and us monsters, too weak. 

Not a single SOUL was taken, and countless monsters were turned to dust...

Hurt, beaten, and fearful for our lives, we surrendered to the humans.

Seven of their greatest magicians sealed us underground with a magic spell.

Anything can enter through the seal, but only beings with a powerful SOUL can leave.

If a huge power, equivalent to seven human SOULs, attacks the barrier... It will be destroyed.

But humans have one weakness. Ironically, it is the strength of their SOUL.

Its power allows it to persist outside the human body, even after death.

If a monster defeats a human, they can take its SOUL.

A monster with a human SOUL…

A horrible beast with unfathomable power.

The glyphs explained the events of how the monsters were forced Underground, how not a single human SOUL was taken during the war while countless monsters turned to dust, how the barrier around Mount Ebott was formed by seven human magicians, and how an enormous amount of power equivalent to seven human SOULs was required to break the barrier. 

Clover wasn’t entirely sure what to make of this. ‘Asgore’s got five human SOULs… If he’s already absorbed all of them, things might get real bad if I decide to face him.’ Clover scratched his head a bit and moved on.

The cowboy strode further down the dock to the east. Waves lapped at the wooden beams holding up the structure from below. Clover eventually walked up to some jagged rock hills, an entrance in the side of one. A faint seaweed smell hung in the air. As he walked towards the entrance, he was interrupted.

“HUMAN!!” a thunderous voice rang out from above.

Clover craned his neck upwards. ‘Heaven forbid I get a break…’ He was confronted by the sight of a knight clad in iron plate armor pointing a blue spear down at him from atop the hill. The wind howled. A red plume billowed in the wind from atop their helm, despite the impossibility of wind underground.

“Seven! Seven human SOULs! That’s how many the King needs to become a god and break the barrier! Yours will be the sixth!” The knight jumped down to face Clover. The ground quaked as the knight landed, cracks forming in the earth beneath her metal boots.

“I, Captain Undyne, head of the Royal Guard, will place my life on the line for the sake of monsterkind! Give me the pleasure of knowing your name before you die!” the warrior roared a challenge to the gunslinger, brandishing her blue spear towards him. She stabbed a second spear down into the ground in front of Clover, offering it to him.

Clover stood eye-to-eye with Undyne, not flinching from her intense gaze. “You’ve sure got a lot of guts and honor, huh?... I like it.” He clenched his fists, tensing up and widening his stance, steely eyes shining from beneath the shadow of his hat. “Name’s Clover, and I ain’t one to back down from a showdown.”

Clover picked up the spear with his left hand. He looked at it for a moment before shaking his head. “I’ll use this.” The gunslinger tossed the spear to the side and drew his hunting knife with his left hand, revolver in his right. For a split second, Clover's SOUL shone with an intense combination of ferocious orange and steadfast yellow light. “Bring it on!”

Clover couldn’t see her face, but he could somehow feel Undyne’s grin from beneath her helmet. “YES! You get what it’s all about! Here I come, human!! EN GARDE! NGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!”

Blazing tension flooded the air.

A red hot match was about to shake the Underground.

- - -

Chapter Text

Undyne was relentless with her spear, barraging Clover rapid thrusts, but the gunslinger faced the knight head-on, deflecting each attempt on his life with his hunting knife. Clover evaded most of Undyne’s magical spear projectiles, and shot down the rest that would’ve hit him if not for his six-shooter and fast hands. The two fighters were stuck in a deadlock.

Undyne was having the time of her life, thoroughly enjoying the battle. For many years, the only one equal to or stronger than her she’d had the pleasure of fighting was Asgore. Now this human had shown up out of the blue, one capable of standing toe-to-toe with her no less. Undyne’s heart was pounding, blood racing. As a warrior, this was everything she could’ve ever asked for, and yet…

Undyne couldn’t sense any killing intent behind Clover’s attacks. Frowning, she lunged at the cowboy again, spearpoint clashing against knife once more, but still cutting through his leather jacket sleeve and nicking his arm. “Hey! You better be taking this seriously!” she angrily shouted.

“I am!” The gunslinger responded, tossing his knife into the air to free his left hand. Clover popped open his revolver’s cylinder, swiftly reloaded it, and caught his knife as it fell.

“Then why aren’t you trying to kill me?!” Undyne stabbed at Clover with one hand, and shot magical spears at him with the other. She viciously shredded the cowboy’s clothes and skin with each hit, but was unable to land a death blow.

“Because that ain’t what I do, Captain! I ain’t killed anyone in cold blood down here, and I don’t plan on starting any time soon!” The gunslinger blocked what he could of Undyne’s thrusts with his knife, half of the thrusts tearing through his garb once again, and rolled out of the way of the projectile spears. Clover's body was covered in shallow cuts, bleeding. He was fully aware that he was going to lose if the fight kept going like this. 'Her guard's too tight, and her offense is relentless... I'm gonna bite the dust if I don't do something. I've gotta force an opening!' 

“Oh, spare me the self-righteous bullshit! THIS IS A FIGHT TO THE DEATH!!” she snarled, slamming the ground with her gauntleted hand. Magical power spread through the ground beneath Clover’s feet, angry simmering cyan puddles forming below.

Blue spears violently burst up from the earth, but the gunslinger jumped above the attack, avoiding being skewered by the skin of his teeth. Clover pulled out his shotgun and blasted Undyne in the chest with a rubber slug, simultaneously sending him backwards through the air and striking his opponent. The gunslinger rapidly reloaded as he landed.

“Urgh!” Undyne slid backwards a few feet from the blast, digging the end of her spear into the ground. “That’s more like it!” she shouted as she recklessly lunged at the gunslinger again. However, her posture was still compromised from the blast and her footwork was uneven, causing her to stumble.

Clover’s eyes flared to life with a burning yellow and orange zeal. This was the opportunity he’d been waiting for. Capitalizing on Undyne’s skewed balance, he flipped into the air and slammed his feet down on the royal captain’s spear with his full weight, forcing her to stagger forwards. The gunslinger bounced off the spear and spun through the air towards Undyne. Clover fired his shotgun to the side, explosively spiking his blazing momentum, and he lashed out with a fierce kick to the side of her head with his heavy boots.

The boot connected with a thunderous crash, leaving a deep dent in the helm. Undyne’s brain bounced around the inside of her skull from the impact, her body twisted to the side, and she began to fall over. “Those moves… Alphys was right… ANIME IS REAL!!” she spent the last of her energy to shout, crumpling to the floor with a loud thud from the heavy armor, out cold. With one decisive blow, the fight was over.

Clover let out a massive sigh of relief, wiping his brow. ‘That was way too close for comfort.’ His clothes were torn up pretty badly, and he was bleeding from several shallow cuts. But even so, he decided to prioritize Undyne’s well-being.

Clover took off her helmet to check on her, revealing Undyne’s blue skin and fins. “Huh. A fish monster… Well, she ain’t turning into dust, so she’ll probably be fine.” The cowboy pulled out a bottle of water and left it next to Undyne.

Clover ate another chocolate pop to magically repair his own wounds, and walked into the distance, doing maintenance on his guns as he went.

As he strode into Hotland, he wondered... 'What the hell is anime?’

- - -

Chapter Text

Clover was finally out of Waterfall and had just arrived in Hotland. He immediately noticed the temperature of the air shift up oppressively. “This is worse than a desert…” fanning himself, he looked down and spotted the lava just now. “Oh.” He decided now was as good a time as any to take off his leather jacket and store it in his satchel.

Moving forward, he spotted a tall white building with the word LAB spelled out on it in big red text, the front door hanging open. Not bothering to question how easy that was, he walked inside and was immediately buffeted with cold air conditioning. Shivering at the instant change in temperature, Clover quickly pulled his leather jacket back out of the satchel and reequipped it.

Walking further in, Clover saw a large TV screen, an incredibly messy desk full of food waste and empty takeout boxes, and a bathroom door to the left further ahead. He sniffed the air, and involuntarily took a step back from the smell. ‘Ugh, what’s that stench?... Wait…’ He sniffed his own jacket. ‘Oh. It’s me.’ He hadn’t had a chance to really wash up during his entire journey, and was rather filthy, especially after that fight with Undyne.

The dirty cowboy walked over to the bathroom door, opening it up. Not noticing it was particularly dark, he walked straight in, and… fell through an elevator shaft. "NOT AGAAII--"

~

Clover laid flat on his back at the bottom of the elevator shaft, staring up through the corridor he'd just plummeted through. “I am so sick of falling.” He groaned, and got up. The cowboy picked up his hat, and placed it back on his head where it belonged. He stretched, seemingly no worse for wear.

Clover climbed up out of the elevator shaft, onto the floor he had fallen down to. Before him stretched a dark, dingy long hallway. Dirty, worn out ceramic squares tiled the floors. The hall’s desaturated green walls had several cracks running through them here and there. Cold dim green lights shone from screens on the walls. Clover shivered a bit, but not because of the cold this time. He pulled out his lantern, lit it, and began moving.

The dull pain in his SOUL that appeared when a certain vision was on his mind had returned, and it was slowly getting stronger the deeper he got into this dreary den.

“I really don’t like this place…” Clover was a bit afraid, but he kept moving forwards in spite of his fear.

After turning several corners, Clover found a sink, much to his relief. He turned the knob, water flowed from the faucet, and he washed himself and his clothes off a bit. It was better than nothing, and he at least didn’t smell terrible anymore.

Suddenly, a strange, thick, pale substance flowed out of the faucet, filling the sink. Clover watched in horror as the pale goop formed into a dripping, slimy monster with ever-shifting features & proportions.

Fight or flight response kicking in, the gunslinger immediately tried firing a rubber bullet at it. The round sank into the goo, proving ineffective. Then he tried a real bullet. That didn’t work either. Both of the bullets were now shifting around inside of the gelatinous mass of the creature before him. A multitude of gooey eyes stared at him, and its face contorted into a disturbing smile. He felt a chill go down his spine. ‘Screw this. Time to burn the breeze!’ Clover slid both his guns back into their holsters and booked it.

An endless horde of these viscous slime monsters appeared as he ran, lunging at Clover as he fled. One looked like a bird with a disturbingly long neck, another seemed to be a mermaid with a giant pair of sharp teeth where its head ought to be, and another appeared as a faceless dog with far too many legs. Clover ran past dozens of these abominations, not slowing down or stopping for anything.

Clover dashed down what felt like hundreds of hallways, rounded an unreasonable amount of corners, and just kept running. Eventually, he had to stop due to exhaustion, bending over to try to catch his breath. “I really don’t like this place…” Clover wiped the sweat from his brow.

An invisible pain gripped his chest once more, far more intense than it had been earlier. Clover looked around, and saw an odd-looking grey door in front of him. He approached it, and the dull ache continued to worsen, causing him to slow. He pushed through the pain, and gripped the doorknob.

Clover opened the door and walked inside the dark room. Before him was an old hospital bed with peculiar machinery attached to it, and to something on the bed he couldn’t make out. Floating ghostly blue flames surrounded the hospital bed, swaying up and down in a hypnotic pattern. The air in the room felt unbelievably cold, colder than the blizzard he pushed through in Snowdin. Clover could see his breath. He tried to move closer, but the phantom pain assaulted him once more. Clover gripped his chest. He felt like he was suffocating. A part of him wanted to run, but he pushed that thought aside.

Clover moved forward, yet he faltered, almost falling over, but he righted himself, and powered through the pain to try and get closer. He could now make out the silhouette of a person on the bed, and tried calling out to them. “Hey! Are you okay?!”

Whoever it was could barely lift their arm in response, unable to respond verbally. But that was enough for Clover. He reached out, struggling forward, and clasped their hand with his own.

As their hands met, Clover’s vision went dark.

- - -

Chapter Text

When he opened his eyes once more, Clover found himself in a pit of unending darkness. He was awash in a sea of azure fire, the cruel flames consuming his flesh agonizingly slowly. An oppressive haunting melody pierced his mind, unbearably loud, attacking him from all sides.

Clover clasped his hands around his ears, but he still heard the hateful song at full force. The torturous rhythm invaded every part of him, stabbing into his being like a swarm of malignant needles.

‘My head! What the hell is this?!...’ He wanted to scream from the pain, but through his blurred sight, he saw a figure in the distance at the heart of the blue flames. Clover fought to focus his vision on them.

" ████ !"

Clover couldn't make out their words, but he felt their distress & instinctively recognized the sound of someone calling out for help.

Struggling to force his legs forward, he tried to reach them. Each step only amplified the pain, yet he kept fighting.

However, no matter how much Clover moved his legs, he couldn’t get any closer. The melody continued to blare at him, sending wave after wave of pain rippling through his core.

'This isn't getting me anywhere...' Between each pulse of suffering, Clover reevaluated the situation. ‘If music is what’s causing all of this, then…’

The cowboy drew his harmonica, brought it to his lips, and began to play. He listened to each note of the hateful song that choked this realm, and retaliated against it with his own music.

Clover matched the amplitude of every note, but struck against it with notes of inverted phase. Each note of his cracked the grip of the oppressive song, quieting it, until he smashed through all the way, completely silencing it. The pain began to fade.

An earthquake shook the dark realm to its core. The darkness around Clover retreated, revealing a theater stage with no exits.

The sea of violent blue fire rose into the air above Clover, like a burning geyser. The flames abruptly descended & began to swarm into a single spot in front of Clover, converging into one.

The azure inferno formed into a woman wearing a tutu & bladed ballet slippers, both items covered in dust.

The sight of clothes covered in dust - covered in the remains of monsters - was a hauntingly familiar thing to Clover. His stomach twisted. A volatile mixture of guilt, frustration and anger boiled within him.

The dancer stared down Clover, her pale face cold, lifeless as a corpse, devoid of any hint of emotion. The only thing that laid behind her charred black eyes was an empty abyss.

And yet, just by meeting the dancer's eyes with his own, Clover could feel her burning murderous intent. Her malice silently howled at him, choking the air, promising naught but bloodshed.

There was no need for words.

Violence was inevitable. 

Whatever the dancer was, be it a ghost, a lost spirit, a malevolent specter, or some other kind of remnant, she was standing in the way of a living person who needed help.

That’s all that mattered to Clover. He was absolutely determined to see this through.

Steeling his resolve, he focused his gaze on his adversary, placing his right hand on his revolver, and his left on his knife.

The dancer's body tensed up, muscular legs ready to pounce and strike without mercy. 

The two humans began to circle each other, two savage hunters facing off in the wild.

The air itself burned between a clash of malicious blue flames and furious yellow lightning.

Hesitation meant defeat in this fight, and Clover knew that damn well. He didn’t mess around with rubber bullets. Each shot he fired flung hot lead at his adversary, backed by the force of his burning SOUL. But the dancer evaded each shot and closed the distance, kicking him in the side. Clover barely managed to block her foot with his knife, but it still stung and sent him sliding.

The gunslinger growled in anger. Clover needed a way to stop the agile fighter from moving, and a cruel idea sprang to his mind. He sheathed his knife and drew his grappling hook, firing more shots at the dancer to force her to approach.

She dashed up on him and jumped, swinging a vertical kick down at the cowboy. Clover stepped to the side, and punished her whiff by violently slamming the metal hook into her gut, and hog-tied her with the rope all in one smooth motion. “You’re in my way!”

The dancer coughed up blood and struggled, but it was no use. She couldn’t get free. Clover drew a stick of dynamite from his pack, gripping it hard. His SOUL pulsed with yellow energy, power flowing into the dynamite. Clover tossed the charged dynamite at the dancer’s feet, jumping back. The gunslinger spun his revolver around, empowering it with his SOUL, and shot the dynamite with a burning bullet. He quickly shielded his face with his arms after the round left the chamber. 

A bright yellow explosion engulfed the stage, a small mushroom cloud forming from the blast. The dancer let out a horrific death scream.

Dazzling red motes of energy flew out of the dancer's corpse, sailing high up into the air, spinning around like crimson stars against a night sky. The specks of red light descended & spun around Clover, as if he were the center of a solar system for the little red stars. He reached a hand out and poked one of the stars. In response, the sea of red lights vibrated intensely for a moment before they all began to rocket towards Clover, flowing into his body. He felt his resolve strengthen, newfound power welling up from within.

The dancer and her stage both faded into nothingness, and Clover once again found himself in darkness.

“Who… Who are you?” A feminine voice called out from behind him.

Clover turned around. Sitting on the ground before him was a brunette kitsune woman. Long flowing hair tied in a ponytail, she wore a faded hibiscus kimono with wooden clogs. She was looking up at him with yellow eyes.

“My name’s Clover.” He reached out an open hand to her.

“I… I’m Kanako.” She accepted his hand, and he helped pull the kitsune to her feet.

As their hands met, Clover could see Kanako’s pale SOUL. It was badly splintered, chaotic fissures dividing it into pieces. Without even thinking about it, his own SOUL pulsed in response, shining brightly with power. Golden energy poured out of Clover’s SOUL and into the cracks of Kanako’s SOUL, melding the fragments back together, forging a strong bond.

The golden glow drove back the darkness as it intensified, enveloping the realm in a warm light.

- - -

Chapter Text

Kanako felt like she’d been asleep for an eternity, and was only starting to pierce the fog of her drowsiness now. She struggled to regain consciousness, thinking about what she'd just seen as she did so. ‘What a weird dream… Who was that man? He was a human, but he kinda dressed like Uncle Starlo. Was he fighting for me?...’ Her entire body felt much heavier than she remembered. ‘I… I can feel my arms? And… I’m not falling apart anymore?...’ She felt something touching her right hand.

“...ey!... Can… hear me?... Are you okay?” Kanako heard someone calling out to her, but it sounded like the voice was so far away. She struggled to rouse herself, opening her eyes and sitting up. The kitsune found herself lying in a bed within what seemed to be a dark hospital room. Strange machines dominated much of the space in the room. To her left was a desk with papers strewn across it, and a dimly glowing digital clock displaying the time & date.

Someone wearing a familiar brown hat was holding Kanako’s hand, standing next to her to the right of the bed. Her vision was a bit blurry, but she felt warmth from the hatted person’s hand. Tears began to well up in Kanako’s eyes. ‘I… I’m whole again…’ She couldn’t remember the last time she had feeling in her hands, or had felt another person’s touch. Overwhelmed, Kanako began to sob uncontrollably, tears flowing freely. She pushed her face into the hatted person’s chest.

Clover looked down at the fox girl crying into his chest. She was identical to the one he met in that strange spiritual realm. He was hesitant at first, not really sure how to handle this situation, but he instinctively put his arms around the kitsune in an attempt to comfort her. She wrapped her arms around him in response. He smelled faintly of gunpowder. The scent was nostalgic to Kanako, and it helped calm her down a bit.

The pair stayed like this for an entire hour.

Once her tears dried, they separated and Kanako took a better look at Clover, her vision no longer blurry. “You… You’re my dream boy.”

Clover blinked at her. “I'm sorry, what?” A slight blush rose to his cheeks, and he raised an eyebrow at her.

It took a few moments for Kanako to fully process what she had just said, and once she understood, her face turned beet red for a second. She hid her face behind her hands for a moment before stuttering, “N-No! Not like that! I, uhm. I saw you. In a dream. You fought a ballet dancer.”

“Ahaha…” Clover gave a short laugh, slightly tilting his hat backwards. “Right. I don’t think that was a dream, Kanako.”

“Eh? Wait, how do you know my name?” she replied, confused, ears twitching.

“You told me it, remember? I told you mine was Clover.” The cowboy shrugged at her, a slight smile on his face.

“Oh…” The kitsune ruminated on this briefly, trying to recall the details of the 'dream', before realizing there was something a bit more pressing that had been in front of her face this whole time.

“Wait, Clover, are… are you a human?” she asked nervously, backing up on the bed a little. Kanako’s eyes flitted between his face and the several firearms he was carrying, fluffy fox ears flattening against her head in fear.

Clover nonchalantly stuck his hands in his jacket pockets. “Yeah.” he spoke calmly.

Kanako was definitely afraid now, getting bad flashbacks to a certain incident in Snowdin. “Y-You’re not going to try to kill me?” she stammered.

Clover tilted his head to the side. “Why would I do that?”

“Because I’m a boss monster, and if you take my SOUL, you can cross the barrier?” She stared at him.

“Oh. Nah.” The cowboy shook his head.

“What? Why?” Kanako looked genuinely shocked.

Clover gave her a hard look. “I don’t kill innocents.” 'Wonder how many times I'm gonna have to tell people that...'

“Even monsters?” She asked tentatively, anxiety still shaking her voice.

“A person is a person. Doesn’t matter if they’re a monster or a human to me.” The cowboy crossed his arms, reaffirming his stance.

“Oh…” Kanako was having trouble processing the existence of the human before her. The last human she met was… not the kindest, or particularly peaceful. The man before her seemed almost impossible to Kanako.

“Anyways, can you walk?” Clover looked over at Kanako, who was still sitting on the bed.

“I think so?” Kanako got out of the bed, but when she tried to take a step she stumbled and began to fall over. “Eh? Ah!”

Clover caught her before she could hit the floor. “Woah there, you okay?” He gently righted her.

“Y, yeah, it’s just… I’m taller than I remember? How long have I been here?” Kanako was about as tall as Clover was. Looking over at a mirror to the side, she was starting to get increasingly concerned. Kanako was a lot bigger than she remembered, and her hair was longer. Her tail trailed behind her like a big fluffy pillow, bigger than the size of Clover’s entire body when he was still a child. Kanako was wearing a blue hospital gown instead of the usual kimono she remembered.

“You too, huh?” This was giving Clover a significant case of deja vu. Watching Kanako stumble, he felt a growing sense of sympathy for her.

“Did you get stuck in a coma for a really long time too?” she asked, giving him a quizzical look.

“Something like that, yeah. Let me give you a hand.” Clover spent a fair stretch of time helping the fox woman re-learn how to walk with her shifted center of balance. Fortunately her body somehow hadn’t atrophied, so it didn’t take too long.

While going through this short rehabilitation, they found some basic clothes tucked away in a drawer. Clover turned away to give Kanako some privacy. She took off the hospital gown, put on a hoodie, shorts, and a pair of sneakers.

Something else caught Clover’s eye while he was waiting. He looked at a few medical papers on a nearby desk, holding his lantern up to read them. “Uh, Kanako? I don’t mean to alarm ya, but it says here you were admitted to this place about ten years ago.”

“What?! Seriously?” She ran over to take a look for herself, confirming the details with her own eyes. It was true. Right next to her name, Kanako Ketsukane, on the admission form, the date written there was from ten years before the day displayed on the dimly glowing digital clock on the desk.

“Oh… Oh my god. My family… Mom… Everyone in the Dunes must think I’m dead.”

A wave of dread rolled over Kanako, gripping her throat. She stumbled backwards, almost falling over. “I… I need to see them.”

Clover was pretty close to the King's throne room now. Getting sidetracked and going all the way to the Dunes would set him back a considerable distance. He understood this, and yet in spite of it... 

“You want me to help you get there?” Clover offered.

“Wh - You’d do that for someone you just met?” Wide-eyed, Kanako looked over towards him, surprise evident in her tone.

“Sure. Just make sure you’re ready first. Outside of this room there are some… weird… unfriendly goop monsters.” Clover cast a somewhat worried look towards the door, before returning his gaze to the kitsune. “Can you fight? Or at least defend yourself?”

Kanako rubbed the side of her head. “I think so? I was learning fire and protective magic from my mother before I… came here. Let me see if I can still do it.” She focused, extending her hands.

A diamond shaped crystal shield appeared around Kanako. She poked the shield a few times, and it disappeared. “Okay, I can still do that at least. Let’s try fire now.” She raised her hands once more, concentrating.

After a moment, a paintbrush and an eastern scroll appeared in Kanako’s hands with a puff of smoke. Bafflement covered her face. “What the heck is this?”

“That’s not normal, is it?” Clover asked, cocking his head to the side, a bit perplexed.

“Definitely not. I, uh, I’ll just try again.” Kanako placed the painting tools down on the bed. She then raised her hands, focusing once more, but the brush & scroll disappeared from the bed and reappeared in her hands again as she did so.

“What is going on?” Frowning, the fox’s ears drooped. She flailed a bit more, but still couldn’t manage to manifest any fire.

“I don’t really know how magic works, but maybe you should try using the artsy stuff ya keep making appear?” Clover shrugged at her, genuinely attempting to be helpful despite not knowing anything about the subject.

“I guess it's worth a shot. Okay.” Kanako picked up the scroll and the brush. Facing Clover, she drew a spiral shape on the scroll, just to see what would happen.

The spiral shone with a bright green light, then faded from the paper. As it vanished, a sudden intense gust of air began to push Clover back, flinging his hat against the wall. “Woah nelly!” The gale would have thrown the cowboy into the wall if he hadn’t braced himself in time.

Kanako’s eyes sparkled with curiosity. “Oh, that’s new.” She couldn't help but smile a little bit.

“I’m glad ya figured it out.” Clover said, picking his hat up and dusting it off before placing it back on his head. “So do you think you can use this?”

The kitsune gave him a nod. “Yeah, as long as it works how I think it does. My magic must have mutated while I was asleep or something, but I think I can work with this.” Kanako dismissed the scroll & brush, the art tools fading with a sparkle of light.

“Hey, as long as you’re confident. Mentality is a pretty darn big part of combat. Think you’re ready to go then?” Clover checked his firearms quickly.

“About as ready as I’ll ever be. Let’s get out of here, I’ve had enough of this creepy hospital.” Kanako nodded, twirling her brush around two fingers.

“Okay then.” Clover walked over to the door, lantern in hand.

Opening the door, the cowboy cautiously poked his head through the doorway. His new companion looked over his shoulder, standing right behind him. Clover’s lantern illuminated the dark hallways, thankfully empty of the abominations he saw earlier. Clover looked back at Kanako. “You wouldn’t happen to know a way out of here, would you?”

She shook her head. “Er…No. I don’t even really know where we are to begin with. I’ve been meaning to ask you.”

“Some kind of lab beneath Hotland, as far as I know.” Clover replied, scanning the hallways. “I fell down an empty elevator shaft when I got here, so… There has to be stairs or a working elevator around here somewhere.”

Kanako stared at the cowboy for a moment. ‘How the heck did he survive that?’ She shook her head. There were more important things to worry about. “We should start looking for one.”

“Right, follow me.” Clover led her down the hallways of the laboratory. The pair of them kept their eyes peeled as they went deeper into the dark depths.

As they rounded a corner, they were suddenly face-to-face with a trio of giant melting heads, with far too many eyes in each skull. Their gelatinous eyes lethargically swiveled to face the duo, casting an eerie gaze their way.

“Aw, hell!” Clover drew his knife and protectively stood in front of Kanako, placing himself between her and the oozing skulls. A bead of sweat rolled down the side of his head. He was afraid because his standard weaponry had proven ineffective against these abominations before, and the only thing his instincts were telling him to do was to protect the one he’d given his word to.

"Wh-What's wrong? You can't deal with these things?" the fox asked, voice shaking with anxiety. 

"Yeah, my gear's no good against them..." The cowboy grit his teeth, bracing himself for the worst.

The abominations were almost upon them, slowly drawing closer to the hapless pair. Desperation provoked a flight or fight response, but for Kanako, it sparked her imagination. 

“Hold on, I’ve got an idea." Kanako drew her scroll & brush, and quickly traced a spiral on the paper. Her scroll shone with bright green power, and a sudden gale shoved the slimy heads against the wall.

"Let's get outta here!" She grabbed Clover's hand and sprinted past the stunned anomalies, her legs pounding hard against the floor, almost as hard as her nervous pounding heart. 

Escaping, the two ran down several dark halls in a panic without stopping. Eventually, they found an elevator with softly glowing buttons. Its floor and walls were much cleaner than the rest of the building.

They tumbled into it and Clover mashed the 'Close Doors' button. Once the doors shut, they both paused to catch their breath, panting badly.

The cowboy wiped the sweat from his brow. “Looks like we found our way out. But I don’t recognize any of the name labels on these buttons, do you?” Clover looked to Kanako for input, rubbing the back of his head.

“Uh... Ah, no, sorry. How about we just hit the one with the highest number?” she said, pointing at one of the buttons.

The cowboy shrugged. “Makes sense to me.” Clover pushed the button. The doors slid shut, an overhead light flickered on inside the elevator, and the box began to rise. The both of them stretched their limbs and sat down, thankful for a chance to rest.

Kanako’s gaze wandered over to him, and she noticed his clothes. They were ripped up pretty badly. “Hey, Clover? What happened to your clothes? What did you get into on your way here?”

“Huh? Oh.” Clover looked over his clothes. He hadn’t really noticed his clothes getting shredded in the heat of the moment earlier. He had been more worried about the bleeding.

“Damn, I didn’t realize just how bad my duds had gotten. I got in a scrap with Undyne, and a fair few other monsters. But it was mostly Undyne’s spears that did this.”

“Undyne? As in the captain of the Royal Guard?” Kanako’s eyes widened.

“That’s the one.” Clover pulled out two of his water bottles, offering one to Kanako.

“How’d you get away from her?” She took the water bottle, removed the cap, and took small sips.

“I kicked her in the head and knocked her out.” He said, then took a big swig from the bottle. Clover then screwed the cap back on the bottle and tucked it away in his satchel. 

Kanako stared at the human for a moment. "You're kinda ridiculous, y'know that?" 

He laughed. "I'm just a guy. Your magic is the most ridiculous thing I've seen down here so far."

She summoned her brush and spun it around, staring at it for a moment before dismissing it. "You really think so?"

Clover nodded. "Yeah, for sure. Your paintbrush magic, it dealt with some ghost-things I couldn't even touch. You really saved my bacon back there." 

Kanako’s mouth spread into a small smile, and she twirled a lock of hair around her finger. "If you say so."

Interrupting their conversation with a ding, the elevator came to a halt, and the metal doors slid open. The odd duo stepped out onto grey brick streets, into a new part of the Underground...

- - -

Chapter Text

Clover & Kanako stepped out onto a grey balcony overlooking a bustling city of twinkling electric lights, taking in the sight. Warm lamp poles dotted the stone urban roads below, lighting the way for a crowd of monsters making their way around the city. The sounds of their hustle & bustle echoed from the streets, simple everday mundane conversations between monsters, merchants plying their wares, and some monsters arguing amongst one another.

The cowboy leaned on a railing, surveying the city. “Wow. This place… it’s massive. Just how many people live down here?”

“A bit over ten thousand, I think? Not all in this city, but in the Underground as a whole, last I heard. My knowledge might be a bit outdated, though.” Kanako said from Clover’s side, fluffy ears twitching a bit in response to the noise.

“That’s way more than I was expecting…” Clover reflected on the bustling monster city stretching out into the distance before them. ‘I’ve barely met a fraction of that number… There’s way more people down here than I ever realized. So many individuals, all living their own lives, rushing around to get things done… It really isn’t so different from human society.’

A cold breeze passed through and tickled the pair, giving Clover an icy reminder about the state of his clothes. He involuntarily shivered from the chill.

“...Are you cold? Maybe we should replace those messed up clothes? I could use something else to wear too, to be honest.” Kanako poked her finger through one of the several holes on Clover’s torn-up leather jacket, touching his exposed skin.

“Hey, that tickles. But yeah, sure, sounds like a plan to me.” The cowboy readjusted his tattered coat, though it didn’t make a huge difference.

“Er… I know I just suggested that, but I don’t have any money on me.” The kitsune sheepishly shrugged at him.

“It’s okay, I think I’ve got enough coin.” Clover opened the pocket on his satchel he’d dedicated to being a pseudo-wallet. A good chunk of gold coins glinted back at him.

“Jeez, where’d you even get all that?” Kanako peered down at the wealth of sparkling coins in his bag.

“Some monsters gave me cash when I played my mouth-harp for them as I was travelling. Some mermaid-like monsters sang with me too for a bit when I went through Waterfall.” Clover pulled the chromatic harmonica out of his satchel to show it to Kanako.

She gently took it into her hands, tenderly turning it over to inspect the instrument. The harmonica was well worn, yet also well taken care of. Clear grooves from repeated polishing marked the instrument in several spots. “Wow, you really care for this thing, huh? It reminds me of the shakuhachi I used to have.”

“Shaku-what now?” This was a new word to the westerner.

“It’s a flute made of bamboo. My father carved one for me when I was younger, but he's… gone.” Kanako’s fox ears flattened against her head, and her gaze met the ground as she handed the harmonica back to Clover, her soft hands meeting the cowboy’s leather gloves for a brief moment.

Clover winced as he slid the harmonica back into his satchel. “Ah… Sorry, I didn’t mean to open old wounds.”

Kanako shook her head. “No, it’s not your fault. I’d love to hear you play sometime, and maybe we could also play together if I can find another shakuhachi?” She gave a weary smile, attempting to bury her pain.

“That’d be fun, but we should go find a tailor shop or something now, yeah?” Clover tipped his hat back a bit with a finger.

“Right, yeah. I think I might know a place that’s nearby, if it’s still open. Come on, follow me.” Kanako led Clover down a flight of stairs and into the thriving city proper, making their way to the market district.

Warm yellow lights illuminated the streets, flickering from the tall street lamps and shining through the glass windows of surrounding buildings. A small handful of gardens poked out from the alleyways between the buildings, most brimming with blooming flowers. Colorful posters showing off several different wares decorated the walls, advertising everything from strangely-shaped toothbrushes for monsters with odd mouths to hydra-shaped vacuum cleaners with eight nozzles.

A strange pale-skinned short salesman with a greasy haircut wearing peculiar glasses was energetically plying his wares next to a dumpster, a pink briefcase full of gaudy bowties and dubious-looking potions presented on a table in front of him. Some of the bottles lay on the brick ground next to the table, their contents spilled out onto the ground, a foul odor rising from the peculiar liquid. The cowboy & kitsune duo passed by the odd salesman without stopping.

The pair walked through the grey brick roads of New Home, making their way through the mobs of various monsters, dodging merchants with goods they weren’t interested in. They caught a few stray curious glances, but thankfully nobody stopped them. The cowboy kept his hat pulled low to obscure his face as he followed the kitsune through the streets. After all, as a human, he was still considered an outlaw. A few royal guards clad in black armor stood watch at some of the street corners. The pair gave the knights a wide berth and avoided their gaze, blending into the chaotic crowd of diverse monsters.

Hiding from the authorities responsible for the deaths of five children didn’t sit right with Clover, but the cowboy also knew if he were to confront them in such a public space filled with pedestrians, innocent lives would inevitably be lost. With his current mindset, the loss of innocent lives was not something he could accept. Swallowing his pride, he avoided the royal guards and kept moving with Kanako.

After a while of walking through the mess of a metropolis known as New Home, Kanako eventually led Clover to a store with several monster-shaped mannequins adorned in a myriad of clothes displayed past large glass windows. A large fake plastic roll of thread decorated the store’s sign, titled Universal Threads & Treads.

“Is this the place?” Clover tipped his hat up to look at the sign.

“Yep, looks a bit different from how I remember though.” Kanako pushed open the door, entering the store with Clover.

As they entered, a bell attached to the doorway rang, announcing their presence.

“Welcome.” A monster lazily called out to them from behind a counter. The monster working the counter had a sewing machine for a body, four arms made of scissors & needles connected with thread, and a face made of multi-colored buttons. Their pointy thumb intermittently tapped against the screen of a smartphone as they yawned, seemingly uninterested in the new customers.

Within the store lay a massive variety of different apparel displayed on mannequins and clothing racks alike, with clothes meant for monsters with multiple appendages labelled appropriately. The store had an incredible diversity of clothing styles on sale, featuring typical modern casual wear, strange rubber & chrome outfits that would fit right into a sci-fi movie, eyepatches & peg legs, traditional eastern culture garb, classy formal wear, and even rustic western clothing, which, of course, immediately grabbed Clover’s attention. There were trousers & shorts with multiple legs and flaps for extra limbs, and upper wear with matching features.

Clover tried on a leather jacket to see if it would make a good replacement for his shredded one, only to realize the coat had six extra sleeves once he had it on. The kitsune giggled at the sight of the cowboy flailing around like a sandy octopus. Clover playfully stuck his tongue out at Kanako in defiance, but this just tickled her funny bone even more. He found her laugh infectious, and he couldn’t help but laugh along with her.

“There sure are a lotta different odd duds here, huh?” A slight smile on his face, Clover put the jacket back on the rack, then started browsing the racks again, looking for something that would actually fit him.

“It’s because there’s a ton of different monster body shapes & sizes. Can’t exactly make anything a ‘one-size-fits-all’ sort of deal. Monster physiology is super different from human physiology, right?” Kanako leafed through a rack of eastern robes, picking out a few different silk kimonos and comparing them.

“That’s right. You won’t see any humans with more than two arms and two legs, unless they’re a mutant or somethin’. Guess we’ve got it easier when it comes to making stuff to wear. But our bodies don’t turn into dust when we bite it. We rot, like spoiled food. It’s… not pleasant.” Clover’s eyes were obscured by the shadow of his hat as his gaze shifted downwards. Unwelcome memories clawed at the edges of his mind, freezing him in place.

Kanako’s ears twitched. The cowboy’s body language made it clear to her that something was off. She tilted her head towards him and called out in concern. “Um… Clover? You okay there?”

He shook his head, dragging himself back to reality. “What? Oh, yeah, sorry. Anyways, what do you think about this, Kanako?” Clover reached into the clothing rack and pulled out a poncho without looking at it first. He held up a gaudy poncho dyed a blindingly bright lime green with cherry pink stripes, decorated with an overwhelmingly excessive amount of glitter and patterned with cutesy cartoonish sheep & bunny drawings.

“Snrk… Ahahaha!” The kitsune snorted, and then launched into a full-blown fit of laughter at the sight of the ridiculous poncho, immediately dispelling the tension in the air.

Clover did a double-take and only just now took a good look at the amazingly hideous poncho, causing his serious face to dissolve into laughter. The two spent a long time playing around, finding goofier & goofier outfits and showing them off to each other, trying to outdo the last with even funnier looking clothes.

After a while of tomfoolery, the store clerk monster made of sewing tools gave them a sour look. “Hey, can you guys just buy something already?” They huffed at the pair.

Clover & Kanako had forgotten the shopkeeper had even existed in the midst of their antics. A bit embarrassed, Clover replied for the both of them. “Sorry, sorry. We’ll get out of your hair soon.” The pair looked at one another and shared a quiet chuckle one more time before they started seriously looking for new clothes again. The living sewing machine rolled their button eyes.

Clover had more than enough money, so neither of them held back on getting new stuff. Kanako picked out a magenta kimono along with matching pants, a pair of geta, and an obi with a cherry blossom pattern. The kimono was decorated with black & yellow trim and had a shorter skirt, allowing for greater freedom of movement than one with a long skirt.

Clover grabbed a brown duster coat, another leather jacket to replace his currently torn up one, and a vest. The cowboy picked up a dress shirt and a yellow tie to go with the rest of his ensemble. He didn’t bother looking for a new hat. Clover was far too attached to the one he was already wearing, even with the slight tear in the brim from one of Martlet’s feather attacks.

The cowboy then went to go check out the different backpacks, satchels & bags. His old satchel was starting to wear a bit thin. Out of curiosity, he stuck his hand into one of the satchels to feel around the insides. His eyes bulged and he stumbled forward a bit when his arm went deeper into the bag than what should’ve been physically possible. “Woah, what in blazes? Is this thing magic?”

“Huh? Lemme see?” Kanako walked over to Clover, carrying her new clothes, and took a closer look at the price tags & labels tied to the bags. “Woah, these are expensive… Oh! This is a dimensional satchel. It can hold way more stuff than its appearance suggests. I think it uses spatial magic to compress the contents and stores it in an external dimension.”

“Wow, that’s really handy. Definitely gonna grab one of these.” Clover picked up one of the magic bags, looking it over. It was a finely made leather satchel with metal clasps.

‘This will do.’ Satisfied with his choice, he turned to the kitsune and asked “D’ you want one too?”

“Sure!” Kanako took a similar leather bag, slinging it over her shoulder, tail wagging.

The odd pair brought their purchases to the counter, and Clover paid a hefty sum of gold coins to the tailoring machine monster. “Thanks for your patronage, come again.” they said dryly as they accepted the cash into the register.

Kanako & Clover used the changing rooms to get into their new clothes. Clover tucked his old ragged jacket into his satchel, and put on the vest with the duster coat on top of it, ensuring everything fit together comfortably without restraining his movement too much. The cowboy finished changing first, and waited for the kitsune outside of the changing rooms, leaning against one of the walls.

Compared to the unending bloodshed and nonstop proceeding of his past life, to Clover, it felt like this was the first truly normal thing he’d been allowed to do in forever. Just walking around town, shopping for something as mundane as clothes and playing around with a friend. He was grateful for the chance to rest, especially after so many hours of constant solitary travel, and the company had brought him unexpected comfort. A single involuntary tear rolled down Clover’s cheek. He wiped it away, quietly wondering where it came from…

Kanako stored the clothes from the hospital into her bag, and equipped her new kimono ensemble, tying it together neatly with the obi. She spun around in front of a mirror to get a better look at herself, examining all angles. A small smile graced the kitsune’s lips, glad to be wearing something familiar again.

Feeling refreshed, Kanako picked up the rest of her belongings and walked out of the changing room, just as Clover was wiping his face. “Clover? You okay?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Clover fidgeted with his hat a bit before taking a better look at the kitsune. “Ya look good.”

Concern gave way to bashfulness as a slight tinge of red rose to Kanako’s cheeks, fluffy tail fluttering. “T-thanks. You too.”

A low growl sounded from Clover’s gut, interrupting the moment. It was the cowboy’s turn to be flustered, futilely hiding his embarrassment beneath his hat in the face of the fox girl’s laughter.

“That’s what I get for goin’ without a proper meal for–” Clover checked his watch. The metal hands marked the time as half past seven at night, and he knew he entered the Underground at some point in the morning. “–about twelve hours? Damn, I really didn’t realize it’s been that long since I jumped down here.” The fatigue built up from an entire day of running around and fighting had only begun to hit him just now, and he let out a long sigh.

“Well, cowboy, the food district’s not far from here if you wanna get something to eat, and I know a few places.” she suggested, pointing an arm cloaked in magenta fabric towards the door.

“That’d be swell.” Clover readjusted his coat, and the two headed out of the clothing store together.

~

A few hours earlier, a little while after the cowboy had already departed, a certain blue bird monster touched down in Waterfall. Jagged peaks & rushing rapids marked the scenery around the bird, and a particular fish knight was lying unconscious on the ground in front of her. The knight’s helmet sat on the ground next to the fish along with a bottle of water.

“Captain Undyne? Hey, Captain? Are you okay?” Martlet knelt down next to the Captain, patting her face with her feathers for a moment, before uncorking the water bottle and pouring its contents onto the face of the aquatic royal captain.

“NGAAAAAAHHH!! HUMAN!” Undyne suddenly jolted to her feet with a ferocious roar, knocking Martlet onto her rear in the process. The poor bird let out a yelp in surprise.

“Um, they’re already gone, Captain.” The bird responded meekly from the ground.

The Captain stomped the ground in place, cracking the earth beneath her armored boot. “Well, what are you still standing around here for, soldier?! Go find the human! My pride, my honor - no, my SOUL itself demands that I must have a rematch with that warrior!”

Undyne grabbed her helmet & spear and immediately marched off, not bothering to wait around for any sort of response from the blue bird royal guard.

Martlet let out a long sigh. “Oh, bother. What am I gonna do now?” She took off and flew into the distance, but not in the same direction as the way the captain went.

~

“It’s just a bit to the south, this way.” Kanako led Clover through New Home, and into a vibrant section of the city overflowing with different smells. The area was a massive melting pot of different cultures, comprised entirely of restaurants, grocery stores, and food carts. Bistros lined one wall, an assortment of asian restaurants waited to one side, bakeries showing off their pastries behind glass displays stood in a corner, and waiting further in were pizza, barbecue & other various grill-featuring restaurants, and so on.

Tangy scents mixed from the multitude of food carts and restaurants wafted through the air, tickling noses with the promise of fresh hot dogs, dumplings, tacos, fruit smoothies, pastries, steak, pasta, chicken wraps, some kind of odd-looking fried meat unfamiliar to Clover, and noodles served in a bowl of hot meat broth. A wide selection of fresh produce lined the displays in front of the grocery stores as well. The myriad of dining options was frankly overwhelming to the cowboy, and it made him feel like he’d only ever known a tiny corner of the world in comparison.

“...A few places, huh?” Clover ripped his gaze away from the conglomerate of restaurants to look to Kanako.

“Yeah. I’ve only been to a handful of the places here, silly. My family isn’t that well off.” She stuck her tongue out at Clover for a second, eliciting a snicker from him in response.

“We came up here to celebrate sometimes, usually for birthdays or whenever Dad got a raise… Didn’t happen too often, but it was nice when it did. We usually went to one of those places.” Kanako gestured towards the asian diners.

Clover looked up at the nameplates above the restaurants. They were all written in a completely foreign language to him, the lettering looked more like runes than anything else to the cowboy. “Uh… I can’t read this, but do you wanna go to one of these dives anyways, Kanako?”

Kanako rubbed her chin, taking a moment. “Ehh… Nah. You’re the one buying, so you should pick, goofball.” A playful smirk danced across her face.

Clover shrugged. “A’ight, I can try and find somethin’. Lessee here…” The cowboy looked around for a while amongst all the chaos, until he caught a whiff of a particularly familiar scent and followed the smell to its source.

Clover had led the pair straight to an old-fashioned burger joint. Black & white tiles marked the floor of the small interior, and blue plastic fans with lights lazily spun overhead. A handful of empty tables sat around the edges of the place, a few directly next to the bar. A neat row of stools occupied by a couple of monsters surrounded a bar in front of a plain kitchen, puffs of hot steam rising from the sizzling grill. Quiet jazz echoed from the jukebox in the corner. A pair of skeleton monsters, one tall & one short, sat at the far end of the bar chatting about something. The shorter skeleton seemed to be drinking out of a bottle of ketchup, and for some reason, the taller one had some soot on its skull-face. A monster with an orange inverted pyramid-shaped head & a curly mustache was flipping patties in the back of the kitchen, while another monster with a fishbowl for a head wearing sunglasses manned the counter.

The two sat down at a table, making themselves comfortable. “This place kinda reminds me of Dina’s saloon. Is this where you want to eat?” Kanako looked around the place, curiosity shimmering in her yellow eyes.

“Yup. I’m hoping it’s like the eateries I’ve been to top-side. I just followed the smell I liked the most to get here.” The cowboy said, looking over at the grill.

“Wha–? Jeez Clover, you’re more of an animal than I am.” Kanako was starting to doubt the guy in front of her was really even a human to begin with.

“Hah, I’ll take that as a compliment.” A cheeky grin spread across the cowboy’s face, drawing a petite giggle out of the kitsune. “Anyways, you don’t have any allergies, do you Kanako?... Wait, can monsters even get allergies?”

Kanako shook her head. “They can, but I don’t have any as far as I know.”

Clover nodded. “Good, glad that ain’t a problem.”

“G’ evening folks, what can I get ya tonight?” The fishbowl-head waiter slid some menus their way. Clover took a look at it, relieved to see the food wasn’t too different from what he was used to… except for one particular dish, the house special burger. It featured a certain unusual ingredient. 

“Who the heck puts pineapple on a burger?” The cowboy squinted at the paper.

“‘Ey mate, don’t knock it til ya try it.” The waiter replied, tapping a pen against their bowl-head, before continuing to explain. “The pineapple’s sliced into rings, then drained and grilled. Pairs well with the homemade sauce we use on the patty. Trust me, it’s better than ya might think.”

“Alright, sure, why not. I’ll take one with a side of fries. Water’s fine.” Clover’s curiosity had gotten the better of him, and he closed the menu, placing his order.

“I’ll just have a regular cheeseburger, water for me too.” Kanako passed her menu back to the waiter.

The waiter jotted down their orders on small slips of paper. “Comin’ right up, folks.” The fishbowl-head waiter slid the menus back into a shelf under the counter, and clipped two paper notes to a string hanging near the kitchen. The chef gave them a thumbs-up, and after half a minute the waiter brought the cowboy and the kitsune two glasses of water before moving back to the counter once more.

Clover & Kanako had a moment to themselves while their meal was being prepared. “So… Clover?” Kanako tapped her two index fingers together.

“Yeah?” The cowboy leaned back into the sofa seat.

“Earlier, you mentioned having gone through something similar to my situation in the lab? Did you also lose ten years of your life?”

“Oh… Yeah.” ‘How in the world am I supposed to explain this without sounding like I’m outta my damn gourd?...’ Clover took a sip of cold water, fidgeting with the glass, trying to figure out how to word his story without sounding like a complete lunatic. “This is gonna sound real damn crazy, but bear with me. I swear on my life the whole thing’s true.”

Clover took a deep breath, and then began to recount what had happened to him. “When I first came to the Underground, there was this… weird, talking yellow magic flower. He could move through the Underground by burrowing into the dirt and popping out wherever. Now that I think about it, it’s a bit scary how he can get around with no issue just like that. Anyways, he called himself Flowey. Real original name, I know. Not that I’m one to talk.”

A sassy smile formed on Kanako’s lips. “Alright, Flower-boy. Go on.”

Clover rolled his eyes, grinning. “Okay, Fluffy-buns.” She snorted in response.

“So anyways, I was still a little tyke when I was going through the Underground with Flowey. He had some kinda real special magic that let him rewind time or somethin’ every time I screwed up and died. I felt the pain every time I died and remembered it, but I don’t think he knew that for whatever reason. Along the way, some… really terrible things happened.”

The faces of everyone Clover had murdered in his past life – the purple horned vampire, a man with a star-shaped head, a red-headed kitsune, a mountain of robots and countless others – flashed before his eyes, twisting his gut into a knot and forcing him to wince. He didn’t know any of their names, but the guilt slammed into his conscience like a raging wrecking ball all the same. There was no way he could ever tell anyone about the particulars, even if it continued to eat away at him from within.

“Clover?” The sound of Kanako’s concerned voice snapped him out of the trance.

He shook his head. “Sorry, where was I? Oh, right. Some really horrible things happened on that journey. I won’t burden you with the details. When I was starting to get close to King Asgore’s throne room, I got into a fight with Flowey in Hotland. Somethin’ blew up in the middle of the fight, and I got stuck in a dark void without a body for what felt like forever.”

Clover took a deep gulp of water from the glass before continuing. “Being stuck in there with only my own thoughts fer company was not a great time. But after a while, I got booted out and somehow wound up back in the forest outside of Mount Ebott, ‘cept everything that had happened on my journey has been undone, about ten years had passed, and I was suddenly a fully grown man, muscles n’ all. I don’t think Flowey can mess with time anymore, otherwise he’d probably have turned back the clock to before any of this happened. Pretty certain he’s trying to kill me for whatever reason now too, to boot. I’ve already tangoed with some nasty critters that were probably his creations.” His internal voice of caution rang out with a warning in his mind, ‘And I get the feeling he’s only going to send even nastier beasts at me from now on too…’

“Wow… Huh…” Kanako sat back, letting the whole story soak in for a moment. “You weren’t kidding, that sounds crazy as all hell. But I believe you.”

Clover’s mouth hung open for a moment, taken aback. “Really? I wouldn’t believe myself. Why?”

A genuine smile spread across her face. “Yeah, really. To me, you don’t seem like the kinda guy who can lie to save their life.”

“Th… Thanks? I guess?” Clover shrugged, unsure if that was a compliment or not.

“Anyways, I guess we really are kinda the same, we’ve both just completely lost out on a whole decade of our lives. But… wait, hold on, if you got out, why’d you come back? Didn’t you die a bunch?” Kanako tilted her head to the side, giving the cowboy a curious look.

Clover took a deep breath. “Yeah, I did. But… I couldn’t just leave things here after what I’d seen, and what I’d done. The awful things that had happened in that last life, they were my fault. Even if it really has all been undone, if I didn’t return to the Underground and at least try to make things better down here, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.”

“Oh… Sounds like you’ve got a lot weighing you down.” The kitsune’s ears drooped against her head. A certain realization came to her, causing her ears to twitch and perk up again as she asked, “So does that make you a time traveler? Do you already know what’s gonna happen in the future?”

Clover blinked. “Uh… I guess I kinda am? I certainly don’t feel like I know enough to really be considered a time traveler though. And like I said, about a decade’s passed compared to that last life. I can’t really predict what’s gonna happen or anything, ‘cuz a lot of stuff has already been very different for me so far. For one, I never met you last time.”

Kanako nodded. “Well, I’m glad it happened. I’d probably still be stuck in that horrid lab if it weren’t for you, so, thank you.” Her earnest smile shone like the sun itself.

The cowboy hid his rapidly reddening cheeks beneath his hat’s shadow. “Y’ can thank me once you’re safe & sound back home.”

A handful of plates were suddenly placed in front of the pair, interrupting their conversation. “ ‘Ey, order up, folks.” Their food had arrived, and the waiter had set down two burgers on plates padded with checkered paper and a basket of fries. Little toothpicks with vibrant flags held the burgers together. The waiter tipped their bowl head, and returned to the counter.

The kitsune bit into the hamburger, savoring the first real meal she’d had in over ten years. “This food really does remind me of my hometown… Though honestly, this burger is a lot better than the little sliders Dina served at the saloon.” Kanako reminisced a bit.

“I’m glad we found this place then.” Clover picked up his burger, staring at the yellow slices of pineapple nestled between a verdant roof of lettuce and a red base of tomatoes atop a still-sizzling patty, crowned with a melting blanket of cheese between two buns. ‘Nothing ventured, nothing gained I guess.’ He bit into the burger.

A vast rainbow of flavors met Clover’s tongue. Most were familiar to him, but the burst of juice from the grilled pineapple was not quite as overpoweringly sweet as he had expected. It played decently well in tune with the rest of the ingredients.

“How is it?” his companion asked, partway through her own meal.

After wiping his mouth first, Clover looked up at Kanako. “The pineapple burger? It’s certainly unique. It’s not bad, but it ain’t like it’s mind-bogglingly fantastic either. It’s pretty good.” The hunger built up from an entire day of adventuring without much rest took over, and Clover wolfed down most of the rest of the burger in under a minute.

“Jeez cowboy, you sure you weren’t absolutely in love with it?” Kanako snickered.

Clover looked down at his hands covered in sauce and grease. “This is just what hunger does to a guy, I guess.” The pair laughed, and he cleaned himself up with a napkin. They enjoyed the rest of the meal together with a much more carefree atmosphere than their earlier conversation.

The cowboy paid for the food, and the duo departed from the diner. Clover stopped to stretch for a moment just outside the door. “Man, I’m beat.”

“Same here. Let’s go find somewhere to crash, c’mon.” Kanako led the cowboy around the city once more, heading towards the eastern districts and out of the diner area.

~

Kanako & Clover eventually found a modest-looking urban hotel. The grey brick building was dotted by windows shining with a soft orange glow, stretching up for a few stories towards the ceiling of the underground. A pair of vibrant flags bearing a rose motif fluttered just above the entrance.

The pair walked through the glass front doors together. A faded red carpet covered the floor of the Victorian-styled interior, polished marble walls gleamed at them, and a grand piano sat in the corner, echoing with a somber song played by a monster in formal wear with a hawk’s head. The reception desk was manned by a well-dressed monster with an ever-shifting sheet of paper for a head, constantly folding into different shapes to display emotion.

The paper monster opened an old leather-bound book on the desk as the two approached. “Good evening. One room for a pair of lovers, I presume?”

Metaphorical steam rose from their heads, a bright shade of red rising to their flustered faces briefly once more. “Er - Ah. No, we’re not together like that.” Clover spoke for the two of them, while Kanako turned her head to the side and coughed a bit.

“Do you have two rooms available?” The cowboy asked.

The paper monster’s face folded into a set of ellipses for a moment, and they started flipping through the book. “Terribly sorry, but we only have one unreserved room available. It’s ninety gold pieces for the night if you want it.”

“Seriously?... Whatever, I’ll just sleep on the couch, it’s alright. We’ll take it.” Clover put a sack of coins on the counter. The receptionist took the sack and counted out the coins swiftly. They then placed two keys on the counter, a tag labelled ‘12-9’ on both, which Clover took & handed one to Kanako.

“Clover, no. I’ll take the couch. You’ve been paying for everything already.” The kitsune protested as they walked to the room, but Clover shook his head.

“It’s fine. It’s still better accommodations than what I’m used to anyways.” The cowboy flipped the key through his fingers on one hand as they walked, not elaborating further despite the concerned & confused look Kanako shot his way.

Clover slid the key into the lock, pushed open the door, and stood to the side to let the fox lady go in first before he followed. The walls were built of polished dark wood, a plush multicolored textured carpet padded the floors underfoot, and a queen-sized bed stood in the back-center of the room underneath a chandelier. Two small tables with lamps flanked the bed's sides, an oaken coat-hanger stood in the corner, and scattered around the edges of the room were cushioned chairs and a large sofa. A faint scent of lavender hung in the air. A door to the left led to a marble bathroom with a large tub and showerhead, with the appropriate amenities of soap, shampoo and some bottles of other peculiar liquids that the pair didn’t recognize.

Kanako immediately dove onto the bed, throwing her bag aside & sandals off at the same time. An adorable purr of relief rose from her core as she hugged the soft mattress. Snuggling up to the pillows, she threw one to Clover, and he set it down on the sofa.

Clover placed his satchel down on the floor next to the couch, then took off his bandoliers & holstered guns and set them down carefully next to his bag. He collapsed onto the cushy sofa, the sum total of exhaustion from the day’s events finally catching up to him…

And yet, Clover could not stop himself from checking up on his guns one last time for the day. He picked up his bag, retrieved his maintenance kit, and gently went over his firearms with his tools.

Kanako watched Clover closely, fascinated by the gunslinger’s practiced hands deftly giving his irons some tender love & care. Utterly flying in the face of his exhaustion, Clover’s technique was immaculate, each movement with his tools refined and precise. A strange, fuzzy yet warm feeling rose in her chest from watching the gunslinger work. “You sure love those guns, huh?... I think you’re better at caring for them than Uncle Starlo ever was.” she mused.

“Who’s Starlo?” Clover perked up, pausing his work for a moment.

“Oh, he’s one of my Mom’s old friends. He dresses like you. He’s got a big ol’ yellow star for a head and he likes to run around the Wild East and play pretend, calling himself ‘North Star,’ wearing a sheriff costume and all that with his posse of four. Starlo’s kind of just a big dweeb underneath it all, though.” Kanako's fluffy tail waved back and forth in the air as she reminisced.

Foul memories of ruthlessly executing the monster Kanako was talking about bubbled to the surface of Clover’s mind, along with recollections of the bloody battle with the red-headed fox monster he’d gunned down shortly after. The cowboy moved his hat in front of his face for a moment to hide his reaction, grimacing beneath the leather.

Kanako raised an eyebrow at him. “You okay over there?”

Clover wrestled his face into submission, returning his expression to neutral, before raising his hat back up to his head. “Yeah. That Starlo fella sounds like a fun guy.” The gunslinger went back to working on his firearms.

“He sure is.” The kitsune wasn’t daft. She could tell something was off with Clover’s reaction, but decided not to press him at the moment. Kanako rolled over on the bed, clutching one of the pillows to her chest, watching Clover tinker with his guns long into the night.

Eventually, Kanako fell asleep in a rather awkward looking pose. Clover wrapped up his maintenance work, put his guns away, and then noticed the snoozing kitsune hanging halfway off the bed. He picked her up and gently tucked her into the bed properly. Ready to retire for the day, Clover removed his boots, placed his hat and duster on the coat-hanger, and finally collapsed onto the sofa himself to finally catch some shut-eye. Fatigue dragging him down like leaden weights, he fell asleep mercifully quickly.

~

Clover awoke in a realm of unending waters, eerily still, absent of any waves. Strangely, he could stand on this ocean without sinking. Clover could see a perfect reflection of himself in the shimmering waters belows. Pale blue skies broken up only by scattered clouds reigned above. The endless crystal clear waters stretched on into eternity in all directions, the surface reflecting the simple blue skies above.

One thing stood out from the waters. A tiny island made of pure white sand, marked by a proud cedar tree bearing golden leaves. The vast majority of the gold leaves had fallen from the branches and now covered the sands surrounding the tree. Clover walked to it without thinking, placing a hand on the cold bark. ‘Where am I?...’

He left the island, walking forwards on the crystalline waters for a while, until...

Clover felt a menacing chill grip his spine.

The clouds vanished from the skies above.

The hairs on the back of his neck stood up.

He looked down at the waters below his feet.

Clover’s reflection was no longer there.

- - -

Chapter Text

The chill in the air around Clover intensified.

His breath caught in his throat.

He could feel someone standing behind him.

“███, ██████…”

He heard a voice, but couldn’t understand their words.

A hand as pale as death itself grasped his shoulder.

Clover turned around…

~

…And rolled off of the couch, planting his face straight into the carpeted floor. A muffled “Ow.” wheezed from his lungs. Kanako felt a dull pain & winced in her sleep when the cowboy hit the floor, not that he was in a position to notice it. Clover rolled onto his back, looked up at the white hotel ceiling, and took a second to realize that he was awake in the real world again. ‘Weird dream…’

The cowboy pulled himself to his feet, groggily rubbing his eyes. A yawn escaped from his throat as he looked around. Clover was back where he was supposed to be, in the plush hotel room. Kanako was still peacefully snoozing in the big bed.

Clover checked his watch. It was six in the morning. He stretched for a few minutes, some of his sore joints popping, then walked into the bathroom and shut the door behind him.

Sitting on the sink was a mug stacked with various oddly-shaped toothbrushes, presumably for different monster dental types. Clover dug through the variety of toothbrushes, setting aside a brush shaped like a screwdriver, one with a U-shaped head, and another that was just a giant ball bearing bristles in every direction, until he found a toothbrush that was close enough to what the cowboy was used to using.

Clover drowsily grabbed the toothpaste tube, spreading some of the paste onto the bristles. He moved the brush to his teeth, but suddenly recoiled from the taste, pulling the brush out of his mouth and almost throwing it into the sink. “What the hell, why is the toothpaste butterscotch flavored?” He was certainly awake now thanks to that nasty surprise. The cowboy sighed, proceeding to scrub his teeth clean with the weird toothpaste and spat into the sink afterwards.

Next, the cowboy had to search for a shaving razor appropriate for his human face and skin. Sifting through the drawers, Clover found several unusual shaving implements designed for monsters, and no regular ones stuck out to him immediately, much to his annoyance. One ‘razor’ had a bright pink handle and was essentially a piece of sandpaper on a stick, another looked like a plunger with blades on the inside, and one was no different from a rolling pizza cutter. Eventually, Clover found a normal razor and shaved all of his unwelcome facial hair away. He managed to avoid cutting himself in the process, thankfully. With the scruffy stubble defeated, his face was now completely clean shaven. He disrobed, got into the shower and began to wash up.

Kanako stirred awake in response to the sound of running water. She blearily rolled around on the bed for a bit before she finally sat up, rubbing her eyes. Once Kanako's vision focused, she saw her disheveled reflection in a mirror adorning a wardrobe. ‘Wow, I look like a mess.’ The kitsune hopped out of bed, and checked the drawers. She found a hairbrush in one of the compartments, took it, and sat back down on the bed, waiting for Clover to come out of the shower so she could wash herself first before she used the hairbrush.

Clover turned the shower’s glass knob, shutting off the water. He grabbed a towel and quickly dried himself off, then wrapped the towel around his waist. Clover picked his clothes up off of the floor and walked out of the bathroom, noticing Kanako was up. “Hey, shower’s free.”

“Oh, tha-…” Her eyes wandered over to Clover’s well-built glistening half-naked body. Kanako’s gaze was fixated on him for a solid fifteen seconds, gaze stuck on his torso - ‘Oh my god, you could grind meat on that!’ - as her face rapidly heated into a bright shade of red.

“Is there somethin’ on my face?” Perplexed by her long stare, Clover scratched the side of his head with his index finger.

“N-nope! Th-thanks for letting me know the shower’s open!” Kanako sputtered as she scurried past Clover into the bathroom and shut the door, leaving the somewhat dense cowboy confused.

Completely oblivious to what had just happened, Clover shrugged and got dressed, gearing up. Looking out the window for lack of a better thing to do while getting ready, he spotted the odd short salesman with greasy hair from the other day down at ground level, seemingly in the middle of a big argument with a raccoon monster wearing a blue suit & hat. They were fighting over some weird products labelled as ‘kitchen guns’ & ‘toilet grenades.’ “Man, business folk sure are bizarre in these parts.” Clover remarked as he watched their nonsense unfold for a bit. He shook his head, and went back to getting ready for the day.

In the bathroom, the flustered Kanako’s internal thoughts were a complete mess. She took a somewhat-jittery shower, and tended to the rest of her hygiene needs. The normality of the morning routine helped her cool off from the earlier ‘gun show’.

After she was done in the shower, the kitsune used a hairdryer in addition to a towel to dry herself off. The hot gust from the device was quite pleasant to the touch, though it made all of her fur puff up like a demented hedgehog. Kanako spent a good while combing her hair & fur down with the hairbrush, and tied her long hair together into a ponytail. She got dressed before leaving the bathroom, unlike a certain cowboy.

Clover was spinning his hat around on one finger, having a bit of fun. He flipped it back onto his head where it belonged once the kitsune walked in. The cowboy was all geared up and ready to go, duster coat on with vest underneath and all. “You ready to head to the Dunes? I reckon the fastest way from here is through the Steamworks.”

Kanako put on her geta and picked up her bag, then remembered it was practically empty right now aside from the other clothes she’d put in it. “Do you mind if we head to the shopping district again first? I just realized I don’t have any gear for rough terrain or anything that would help us get through where my father used to work.”

Clover was juggling a coin between his fingers, but paused. “Wait, your father worked at the Steamworks? Does that mean you know some shortcuts through there?”

She shook her head. “No, not really. Dad never brought me there when I was a kid.”

“Oh, and, I also need to pick up some basic hygiene supplies too, like a toothbrush, deodorant, that kinda thing. We can’t keep the stuff from the hotel. Actually, that reminds me, do you have anything to keep yourself clean in your bag, Clover?” She looked at him with a touch of concern.

The cowboy blinked. He hadn’t thought to pack any of that when he first set out. “Uhhh… No? Do I really need that stuff?”

Kanako huffed. “Yes, yes you do. C’mon.” She grabbed Clover’s hand and led him out of the hotel, and into the grey streets of the capital city of New Home, heading towards the shopping district.

~

The duo made their way through the city together, and along the way a certain kid yelling above the din of the crowds caught Clover’s attention.

“Extra, extra! Read all about it! First ever adult human invades the Underground! Human K.O.s Captain of the Royal Guard in a head-on fight! Captain seeks Revenge Match!” the blue lizard monster paperboy yelled, waving around newspapers. A somewhat blurry black & white photo of Clover kicking Undyne in the head was plastered on the front page.

Not wanting to risk being seen and causing an outrage, the eastern & western pair quickly got out of the area and made their way into a nearby pharmacy. The walls & flooring of the store were painted a stark, sterilized white, and several shelves filled with everyday products dominated the space. They ducked into one of the corners.

“So… We’re not really in trouble or anything thanks to that photo’s terrible quality, but, how’s it feel to be a big shot, cowboy?” A silly smirk spreading on her face, Kanako couldn’t resist teasing him.

“I’m thinkin’ fame’s not all it’s cracked up to be. I really don’t like being caught on camera. Maybe you’ll be in the headlines next time, huh?” Clover shot back, a bemused look on his face.

“Oh, please. Like that will ever happen. It’s not like there’s cameras everywhere down here, right?... Right?” She ran her fingers through her hair. “I - wait a minute…” Clover paused. A few cogs began to turn in his head. “Nobody else was around when I was fighting the Captain as far as I know, so… Maybe there is? Damn.”

“What? Seriously? Well, even if there are a bunch of cameras surveilling public spots, I don’t think it really matters since the image quality seems to be awful. Maybe we should get you a disguise, though? How do you feel about masks? I can make & paint one for you myself if we get the right materials.” Kanako rubbed her chin, picturing Clover wearing a fox mask in her mind.

The cowboy shook his head. “I mean, If you wanna make me one just for fun, go ahead, but I won’t be usin’ it to hide. I ain’t the kinda guy to intentionally deceive people.”

The kitsune shot him a quizzical look, raising an eyebrow. “What? Why not?”

Clover shrugged. “It just doesn’t sit right with me. ‘Sides, you said it yourself, I suck at lying.”

“Aww… If you say so. Anyways, let’s go get what we came here for.” Kanako led Clover around the pharmacy to pick out some items to help keep the wild cowboy & herself clean.

They wound up purchasing toothbrushes, toothpaste, deodorant, perfume for Kanako, a journal & a pen for her to write in, a hand mirror, antibiotics, isopropyl alcohol, painkillers, a few razors for Clover, and other medical supplies & necessities.

They also stopped by a few other general shops & sporting goods stores to pick up a few more adventuring utility items for Kanako as well, such as a flashlight, a water flask, rations, and some rope because Clover convinced her that it was always useful to have rope on hand, along with a grappling hook. Kanako also picked up a pair of boots, and Clover grabbed two sets of climbing gear, one for each of them, just in case. The weightless dimensional bags made carrying lots of items a non-issue. Clover’s wallet was feeling pretty light by the end of the shopping trip.

Kanako packed the supplies into her own dimensional bag, securing the metal clasp. “Alright, that should do it. Let’s go.”

“Shouldn’t we get you somethin’ to defend yourself with first? I know you’ve got your magic and all, but still.” Clover interjected.

The kitsune shook her head. “I don’t really need a weapon. Besides, I don’t think we could find one I actually know how to use around here. Not anything that isn’t just a knockoff, anyways.”

“Suit yourself.” The cowboy pushed open the door of the store, letting Kanako step out first before following her into the bustling streets. The pair headed to the eastern outskirts of the city, towards the Steamworks.

~

Starlo was lying atop his constellation-patterned bed, head resting atop an image of the big dipper, staring up at the glittery ceiling. A chaotic swirl of thoughts and emotions churned through his mind. Rumors of a grown human making their way through the Underground had been spreading as of late, a man running around with guns and a harmonica, wearing a cowboy hat.

It wasn’t until a couple of hours ago that the rumors had been confirmed as true, when a member of the royal guard, a blue bird monster named Martlet, flew into the Dunes. She had warned the remaining residents of the presence of the adult human and encouraged them to be cordial with said human, or to at least try to not be hostile. Reportedly, the human was powerful yet not interested in bloodshed.

Starlo’s self-imposed sense of responsibility weighed on him like a sack of bricks. The former lawman got up and walked over to his desk, sliding open an old drawer. His old sheriff costume and wild revolver winked back at him from within. The colors of his poncho had faded with time, and the revolver had a small touch of rust clinging to its metal.

Starlo picked up the gear and laid it down on his desk, releasing a long sigh from his core. The mere sight of his old apparel caused a deep melancholy to grip his heart. The last time he’d even touched his old gear felt like ancient history to him. Starlo sat down on the wooden chair next to the desk, staring at his old personal memorabilia. “What should I do?...”

After a long while, the former sheriff walked out of his room and over to a window overlooking the quiet ghost town of the Wild East. Starlo pulled an old faded photo out of his wallet, the faces of four unique monsters posing with his past self smiling back at him. “God, I miss y’all.”

He took one more look at his old sheriff gear, before closing the door and heading out to help his parents tend the corn fields for the day.

~

As Kanako & Clover approached the eastern exit, they noticed a crowd gathered around a big stage about ten feet tall right in front of the gate, blocking the way out. A couple camera stands were pointed towards the center of the stage, and an inert disco ball hung above the stage. Unlit spotlights were placed in the rafters, along with a few large speakers. A bunch of gaudy purple posters showing off some sort of goofy rectangular robot with arms holding a mic under a spotlight were plastered all over the walls in the area.

Off to the side a decent bit away from the commotion, the same short greasy haired salesman from earlier was selling salami at a half price discount. Clover went over and bought a few sticks of salami. The salesman babbled about ‘kromer’ for a bit, whatever that was. After Clover made the exchange, he rejoined Kanako to check out the main attraction of the venue.

“Soooo, what’s going on here?” Clover stared at the big stage setup with curiosity. He had never seen anything like this in person before in his life.

“I have no idea.” Kanako was just as confused as him. Her gaze darted around the place, looking for some sort of clue.

Suddenly, the spotlights flared on, bathing the center of the stage in bright light.

“LADIES, GENTLEMEN, AND THE GLAMOROUS AND WONDERFUL SPECTRUM IN-BETWEEN AND OUTSIDE! WEEEEEEEEELCOME!! TO! A MTT LIVE SPECIAL! WITH ME, EVERYONE’S FAVORITE HOST AND NUMBER ONE CELEBRITY OF THE UNDERGROUND, METTATON!” A flamboyant mechanical voice rang out from the center of the stage. An obnoxious music track began blaring from the speakers, and the disco balls lowered, splashing colorful bits of light everywhere, followed by a rain of confetti. A box-shaped robot with two arms and a divided grid of television screens for a face rolled into the spotlights of the stage, holding a mic in one hand and waving to the crowd. A handful of knobs and dials decorated the space just below its screens, and it wobbled back and forth on a single tired-wheel keeping it upright.

‘Wow. What a disappointingly basic piece of scrap.’ Clover recalled the robot he had encountered and obliterated in his last life. It at least had a more sophisticated design than this living calculator.

“HEY, HEY, HEY! GIVE IT UP FOR OUR TWO LOVELY GUESTS! FEATURING! THE ONE EVERYONE HAS BEEN TALKING ABOUT LATELY (WHO I AM DEFINITELY NOT ENVIOUS OF)! THE BIG HUUUUMAAAAN, AND THEIR FUZZY GIRLFRIEND!” The robot spun around and suddenly pointed a white gloved finger towards the duo.

More spotlights lit up, striking Kanako & Clover with harsh beams of stark light. Flinching, they both reflexively shielded their eyes.

“What the f—” Clover was suddenly cut off by a loud beep from the speakers.

“WHOOPS! CAN’T SAY THAT ON LIVE TELEVISION.” Mettaton wagged a finger at the camera, the audience rumbling with laughter.

The ground the pair were standing on suddenly sprang forwards, a large metal spring uncoiling beneath the platform, launching them onto the stage. Kanako let out a yelp in surprise, and Clover was still too baffled by the entire situation to even have a verbal response, though that didn’t impede his reaction time. He righted himself in the air with a flip, caught the kitsune mid-air, landed on his feet, and set her down gently on the colorful stage covered with pieces of confetti.

“Th-thanks.” Kanako stood up, readjusted her clothes, and shot the odd show host an apprehensive look, her brow furrowed.

“Don’t mention it.” The cowboy straightened his posture, and he also stared at the strange metal creature. He rested his right hand on his six-shooter, wary of the mechanical blabbermouth.

“WOW!! WHAT SUBLIME REFLEXES!!! SEEMS I MIGHT OWE A CERTAIN FRIEND 20 G, ANIME MAY TRULY BE REAL. LET’S ALL GIVE THESE TWO A HAND, FOLKS!!” The robot clapped ecstatically, and the rest of the audience followed suit, applause echoing in the area punctuated by a few whistles.

“SO GUESTS, ARE YOU READY?!” The robot pointed his free hand at the pair. Another batch of rainbow confetti rained down on the cowboy & kitsune, and two flashy podiums with buttons rose from the ground in front of them. Blinking cameras swivelled towards the pair.

Clover put a hand in front of his face to obscure the cameras’ view, immediately uncomfortable with the whole situation. He really didn’t like being caught on camera. “Guess there’s no getting out of this one… Ugh, why’d it have to be something like this?”

Kanako began to protest, “Look mister, we just want to get through here, so can you please just–”

“YES YES, YOU CAN GO FREE AFTER YOU PLAY MY LITTLE GAME, SWEETHEART!” Mettaton rudely cut her off.

Blinking screens flipped open on the front of each podium. “ALRIGHT BEAUTIES, FIRST WE’LL NEED YOUR NAMES! JUST THREE LETTERS EACH, THOUGH. WE DIDN’T HAVE THE BUDGET TO SPARE FOR MORE.”

Clover stared at the overdone glitzy mess before him for a moment, before turning to his companion. “Good lord… I’m totally lost at sea here. Are we really playin’ along with this guy’s dance?”

The kitsune shrugged to the cowboy. “I guess? He hasn’t really tried to attack us yet, so I don’t see the harm in it.”

Clover sighed. ‘Things were much simpler in the last life. I woulda just blasted this clown into spare parts and moved on.’ He shook his head, pushing the intrusive thought away. “Fine.” He punched three letters into the buttons before him, and Kanako followed suit. The displays lit up with the letters they chose.

“‘GUN’ AND ‘KAN’! SUCH BEAUTIFUL NAMES. ONE THING’S FOR SURE, THIS ‘GUN’ IS PACKING IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE! AND I THOUGHT I WAS THE ONLY TIN ‘KAN’ AROUND HERE!” Most members of the monster audience chuckled, and a few groaned. Kanako facepalmed, and Clover just gave the annoying robot a deadpan stare.

Mettaton twirled around on his wheel, wagging a white finger in the air. “SO! FIRST QUESTION FOR OUR LOVELY GUESTS, SOMETHING I’M SURE ALL OUR FANS HAVE BEEN WONDERING SINCE SEEING YOU TWO FROLIC AROUND TOWN TOGETHER! HOW LONG HAVE YOU TWO BEEN DATING, MISS ‘KAN’?” The robot’s arm holding the microphone stretched towards Kanako’s steaming face, catching her off guard.

“W-we’re not like that! Besides, that sort of thing is personal!” The kitsune shoved Mettaton’s stretching arm away, much to the audience’s giggling amusement. Clover let out a heavy sigh.

The monitors on the robot’s face lit up to form a smirking face. “IF YOU SAY SO, DARLING!" Mettaton’s arm extended to the cowboy this time. “NEXT QUESTION! MISTER ‘GUN’, IF YOU TWO AREN’T TOGETHER, THEN WHAT IS SHE TO YOU?”

“Buddy, I really don’t see how our relationship is any of your business.” he growled. Clover booted Mettaton’s arm away, causing the audience to devolve into a fit of laughter once again. Kanako hid her face behind the cowboy’s back in embarrassment. Clover was really, really getting sick of this.‘This guy makes me wish I was fighting Undyne again instead. Or the crazy orange fox with the staff. Or even that one other bot from the Steamworks.’

The metal show host shrugged in response to the cowboy’s dismissive reply. “ALRIGHT THEN, KEEP YOUR SECRETS, HOTSHOT. UP NEEEEEXT,” Mettaton paused, pulling out a paper card to read from. “OH, THIS ONE’S GETTING REAL. MISTER ‘GUN’, ARE YOU HERE TO SLAY KING ASGORE AND SNUFF OUT ALL OF MONSTERKINDS’ HOPES & DREAMS OF SEEING THE SURFACE?” Mettaton’s microphone shot towards the cowboy once more.

“No.” The crowd gasped at the human’s response, but Clover’s voice held no excitement. His hands were tightly clenched into hard fists. The cowboy really didn’t want to be here, and his irritation was growing with every passing second.

Mettaton’s arm retracted, and he slapped his hands to the upper sides of his box in a display of shock. “FASCINATING!! DEFINITELY UNEXPECTED. THIS HUMAN MAY REALLY HAVE A HEART! NOW THEN, NEXT QUESTION IS JUST FROM ME! MISS ‘KAN’, WHAT DO YOU THINK OF MY WONDERFUL SHOW?”

Completely out of her element, Kanako nervously twirled a lock of hair around one of her fingers before giving an answer. “I, uh. I’m sorry, I don’t even really know who you are.”

The robotic box practically fell over in shock, reeling backwards from the savage blow to his ego. “WHAAAAAAAAAT? HOW COULD ANYONE POSSIBLY NOT KNOW WHO I AM? I’M THE UNDERGROUND’S NUMBER ONE CELEBRITY! YO–”

Breaking into the robot’s egotistical tantrum, a phone built into him rang from Mettaton’s side. “SORRY DARLINGS, I HAVE TO TAKE THIS. ONE MOMENT.” The robot swiveled around on his wheel, rolling to the back of the stage. Mettaton blabbed on for a while to the person on the other end of his call. “WHAT? HER? THE FOX GIRL? YOU’RE SURE SHE’S ONE OF YOURS? UNBELIEVABLE! THIS WILL MAKE FOR THE STORY OF THE CENTURY! OKAY, WILL DO. TA-TA FOR NOW.”

Kanako & Clover exchanged a curious look as the flamboyant robot rolled over to them.

“I’M TERRIBLE SORRY EVERYONE, BUT IT SEEMS WE’LL HAVE TO CUT THIS SHOW SHORT. MISS ‘KAN’, YOUR PRESENCE IS REQUIRED AT DOCTOR ALPHYS’ LAB. DON’T WORRY, I WILL GRACIOUSLY ESCORT YOU THERE MYSELF! WHAT AN HONOR FOR YOU!” The fridge-sized metallic menace slowly approached the fox girl.

“The lab?... N-no, no, no! I’m not going back there!” Torturous memories of the agony she'd endured flashed through Kanako’s mind at the thought of being forced back to that awful place. Terror gripped her heart, violently drumming it against her chest. Trembling, the kitsune backpedalled away from the robot, face twisted in fear.

The cowboy flinched as if he’d been punched. ‘The hell?!’ Clover felt a sudden spike of fleeting pain in his chest when extreme emotion overwhelmed Kanako, though he didn’t comprehend why. But he did understand that it was time for the clown to bow out. Time for a show of force.

The gunslinger hopped back a few feet before breaking into a blistering sprint straight at Mettaton, crashing into the robot’s glass screen face with a furious full force dropkick. The recoil from the strike caused Clover’s hat to fly off of his head, sailing through the air to land right on Kanako’s head, hanging off of one of her fluffy ears.

The crowd roared as the robot flew into the back of the stage with a loud crash, many of the robot’s monitors shattering from the brutal impact. Clover leapt back up to his feet and ran over to Kanako to check on her. She was still shaking on the floor, eyes watering & clouded by haunting visions of the past.

“Hey! HEY! Kanako, get it together!” Clover knelt down and clapped his hands to her face, trying to bring her back to the present. “This ain’t the time to space out!”

“Whuh?” Kanako blinked a few times, her vision refocused, and she met Clover’s hands with her own in confusion. “R, right! Sorry! Oh, uh, this belongs to you.” The kitsune returned the cowboy’s hat, rising to her feet with his help. They turned to face their metal foe.

The miffed Mettaton, half of his screens jagged and completely shattered from Clover’s earlier kick, had been waiting for them with his arms crossed. Angry puffs of steam spewed from his sockets. “HAD YOUR LITTLE HEART TO HEART, DARLINGS? ALL DONE? SWELL! ALRIGHT, TIME FOR MISS ‘KAN’ TO COME WITH ME!”

The duo squared off against their robotic adversary. Kanako manifested her scroll & paintbrush, and Clover drew his revolver, brandishing it at Mettaton.“You’re not taking her anywhere, you overgrown bucket of bolts! Back off, now!”

Mettaton spread his arms wide, openly inviting the challenge. “OOOOHHH, YOU WANT TO PLAY ROUGH WITH ME, DO YOU?! GOOD! I WAS HOPING FOR THIS! LET’S HAVE SOME FUN!! FOLKS, THE SHOW IS BACK ON! LIGHTS! CAMERA! GRATUITOUS VIOLENCE!!” The metal plating on the robot’s sides slid open, and a square pack of diminutive cannons extended from each end.

Miniature bombs rocketed forth from each shot of the cannons, raining blast after blast down onto the stage, each bomb only exploding once when they made contact with any surface. The audience cheered in delight at the premium life-and-death entertainment on display, completely eating it up, seemingly oblivious to the danger.

The pair scrambled and dove out of the way, weaving through the explosions. One bomb caught Clover in the middle of a sliding maneuver and nearly struck the cowboy dead-on, but the kitsune clapped her hands together, summoning a barrier to shield him from harm, deflecting the explosion. “Thanks!”

The gunslinger returned the favor by nailing any bombs that were sent Kanako’s way with his iron, blasting them out of the air before they could get close. A piece of shrapnel flew by and slightly scratched Clover’s face, and Kanako felt a sudden tiny jolt of pain from a seemingly invisible source, though she did see Clover get hit at the same time.

Mettaton clapped his mechanical hands together, and a cutesy ‘Awww’ sound effect played from the speakers. “HOW SWEET! THEY TRULY DO CARE FOR EACH OTHER! LET’S RAMP THINGS UP A BIT, SHALL WE?” The metal menace loosed another barrage of bombs at the couple, a torrent of explosions flying their way.

However, some of the shots went askew, heading towards the audience. Kanako noticed and called out to her companion, making her own move simultaneously. “Clover! The bombs!” The kitsune swiftly drew a spiral of ink in one fluid motion, summoning a gale to throw the bombs high into the air. The gunslinger drew both of his revolvers and fired high, each bullet drilling into its mark without fail. The struck bombs detonated with a brilliant flash far above the stage, lighting the area up with a spectacular flare, almost like fireworks.

Half of the audience screamed & fled from the bombs, realizing they were in real danger, but some of the more bizarre die-hard fans stuck around anyways.

“What in blazes is wrong with you?! Are you tryin’ to get innocent people killed?!” The gunslinger whipped around towards Mettaton, calling him out. Clover didn’t think it was possible for the robot to make him any angrier than he was earlier, but Mettaton was certainly proving that wrong right now. The gunslinger used the pause between attacks to rapidly reload both of his six-shooters, his hands moving with just as much uncanny speed & precision as ever.

Mettaton retracted the cannons back into his body with a snap, the metal flaps twisting shut. “WHOOPS, NO NO NO, OF COURSE NOT. THESE BABIES MUST NOT BE PROPERLY CALIBRATED, APOLOGIES! THANKS FOR MAKING SURE NOBODY GOT HURT! FOLKS, YOU MIGHT WANT TO BACK UP TO MAKE SURE YOU’RE NOT IN THE SPLASH ZONE!”

“I genuinely cannot tell if this blockhead doesn’t care about anyone around him, or if he’s just an idiot.” Kanako muttered as she moved to Clover’s side, preparing her art tools.

The cowboy could only shake his head in response. “Might be both. I have no idea what he’s thinkin’. What I do know is that he likes to wobble his jaw way, way too much. And that he's fulla mustard.”

Some members of the remaining audience began to boo and pelt Mettaton with plastic bottles, cardboard boxes, soda cans and other random bits of trash. “HOW RUDE! MY ADORING FANS, YOU WOUND ME. BUT I’LL ENDURE ANYTHING YOU SEND MY WAY BECAUSE I LOVE YOU ALL!” Mettaton spun around towards the crowd and twisted his gloved hands into a heart shape, his remaining functional monitors lighting up with animated images of smiling pink hearts. A handful of people threw flowers to Mettaton in response to his appeal.

One more bottle bounced off of Mettaton’s forehead before he turned back to the duo. “ANYWAYS, TIME FOR PLAN B. I PROMISE YOU, YOU’RE IN FOR QUITE THE SHOCK!” A copper rod bearing two rings and a sphere at the end extended from the top of his head, the new appendage crackling with electricity. Nobody bothered to dignify the metal clown’s bland joke with a response.

“SHOW ME HOW YOU DANCE, SWEETHEARTS!” Mettaton pointed finger guns at the duo just for effect. The copper rod atop his box head sparked wildly and fired a storm of lightning bolts at the pair’s feet, forcing them into evasive maneuvers.

The kitsune's imagination sparked as she rolled out of the way of the electricity, and she called out to her companion. “Clover, cover me for a second!” Kanako gripped her scroll & brush tightly.

“Okay!” ‘Think, think! What’s the best way to get this narcissist’s attention?’ The cowboy jumped over another bolt, and out of the corner of his eye he noticed the video cameras blinking with red lights on stage. ‘Got it!’ He dashed to place himself directly in front of the cameras & his metal foe.

The cowboy struck a menacing pose, pointing his finger right at the robot. “Hey, you big ugly box! Your design is so basic and lame, I bet your mother was a toaster!” Still a bit of a child at heart, Clover then extended both of his middle fingers into the air in Mettaton’s direction.

Steam whistled like a boiling kettle out of Mettaton’s sockets. Sufficiently provoked, he furiously flailed his arms around. “CUT! CUT! SOMEONE BLUR HIS HANDS! DARLING, HOW DARE YOU!? DO YOU KNOW JUST HOW MUCH EFFORT WENT INTO MAKING THIS AMAZING BODY?! OOOOOOOHHH, I’M GOING TO ████ING ZAP THE ████ OUT OF YOU, SWEETHEART!” Mettaton’s voice box automatically censored his own profanity-filled retort. The taunted robot intensified his electric assault, focusing entirely on the offending cowboy.

Clover sprinted around the stage, avoiding every sparking shot Mettaton flung his way, serving as an effective distraction. Meanwhile, Kanako had been busy drawing up a storm. “Okay, here goes nothing!” She finished the last stroke and flicked the brush towards the robot. A comically large paper bomb adorned with cherry blossoms appeared in a puff of smoke behind Mettaton, a hissing fuse rapidly burning down atop it. The rest of the audience that still remained took this as their cue to flee, emptying the stands completely. Clover grabbed Kanako in a rush and dove behind the podiums to take cover.

Mettaton whirled around to see what the hissing noise coming from behind him was. “DARLING, WHAT THE F—”

KABOOM.

The bomb went off in the robot’s face, furiously rocking the whole stage, enveloping it in smoke and sending sakura petals flying everywhere, like a vibrant tornado of flowers.

Kanako coughed a few times, fanning the air with her hand in an attempt to blow away the smoke. “Did we get him?”

“Don’t know.” Clover coughed a bit himself, and the pair walked out from behind the podiums to look for the robot. The smoke from the blast was beginning to clear up, and they saw a familiar rectangular silhouette rolling towards them through the mist. The cowboy grinded his teeth together. “Oh, for the love of... You’ve gotta be kiddin’ me.”

Mettaton waggled one formerly-gloved finger at the two. His white cartoony glove had been decimated by the blast, and now his grey mechanical exoskeleton poked through from beneath. Mettaton was missing his left arm, wires exposed at the joint where it used to be, and all but two of his monitors were smashed to pieces.

“TUT-TUT. DID YOU REALLY THINK THAT WOULD STOP ME? AFTER ALL, AS THEY SAY, THE SHOW MUST GO ON!” Mettaton fired a blast of electricity before either of them could react, striking Kanako and knocking her off of her feet. The kitsune cried out as she fell over.

“Kana– Ugh!” At the same time, Clover felt an invisible pain pierce his chest, forcing him to recoil as if he was the one that took the blow.

After Mettaton fired, the copper rod atop his head sparked weakly a few times, and then sputtered out. However, the robot didn’t notice this, as the mechanical menace’s attention was on something else entirely. His two remaining screens lit up with green question mark symbols.

“HOW PECULIAR. I SHOT MISS ‘KAN’ WITH MY STUN BLAST, NOT YOU, MISTER ‘GUN’. SUCH AN EMPATHETIC REACTION, ARE YOU SURE YOU TWO AREN’T SOULMATES? IT WOULD MAKE FOR EXCELLENT CONTENT, REALLY BOOST OUR SHOW’S RATINGS!” Mettaton made a grand flourish with his remaining arm, still gripping a microphone with his last hand despite everything.

The cowboy forced his body to stand upright. “The hell are you yappin’ on about? Are… Are you seriously doing this just to get people to watch you?! It’s not just a bit?!”

Kanako began to stir behind Clover, she sat upright but was still dizzy from the surprise attack.

“THAT’S CORRECT, SWEETHEART!” The damaged robot immediately and enthusiastically replied. “YOU FINALLY GET WHAT THIS HAS ALL BEEN ABOUT! IT’S ALWAYS BEEN ALL ABOUT SHOWBIZ TO ME, BABY!”

The gunslinger went dead silent, offering no verbal response. Without a trace of hesitation, he drew his shotgun in the blink of an eye and blasted Mettaton with a screaming metal hailstorm.

But it had no real effect. “OH, DARLING, DARLING, DARLING. I’M NOT AFRAID OF YOUR SILLY LITTLE METAL PELLETS! I MAY AS WELL BE PRACTICALLY INVINCIBLE!” The calculator on a wheel blustered at the cowboy, bullets dropping to the floor in front of him with barely a scratch.

Clover tilted his hat down, cloaking his eyes in darkness. The gunslinger slowly slid his shotgun back into its holster. He uttered only a single word in response to Mettaton’s boast. “...Okay.”

Clover quietly strode straight up to Mettaton, getting in his metal face. The robot attempted to shoot him with an electric blast as he approached, but Mettaton realized far too late that his weaponry was on the fritz. The gunslinger’s SOUL shone with a cold glow, bursts of vicious light piercing Clover’s arms and seeping deep into his very bones.

He grabbed Mettaton’s copper rod with a gloved fist and snapped it off as if it were no more than a fragile twig, tossing it to the side like the piece of trash it was. Clover then clapped a hand on the robot’s remaining shoulder, death grip fracturing the metal plating.

Fear wormed its way into Mettaton’s voice. “WAIT - WHAT ARE YOU-”

“You said you’re invincible, right?” Clover grappled Mettaton and with a grunt of effort, the gunslinger hoisted the robot into the air above his head.

“SWEETHEART, THIS IS EXTREMELY UNPROFESSIONAL!! PUT ME DOWN!!!” Mettaton spluttered, helplessly flailing his single arm around in the air.

“Clover?!” Kanako pulled herself up to her feet, just in time to see the cowboy standing tall with the robot over his head.

“Wish granted!” Clover leapt into the air and pile-drived the robot into the ground with a calamitous slam, shaking the entire stage and firmly embedding Mettaton’s metal body into the floor. The sheer force caused fractures to spread out in the ground from the impact point like a spiderweb, prey included. The metal box’s single wheel spun uselessly in place, pointed up towards the sky.

Considering the fight to be over and done with, Clover walked over to Kanako to check on her. “You alright?”

The kitsune blinked. Her gaze had been purely focused on the sight of the heavy robot callously smashed into the ground as if it was nothing more than a child’s toy. “Eh? Yeah, I’m fine, but we should probably scram.”

Somehow still not discouraged even when completely stuck in the ground, Mettaton continued to spout off nonsense at Clover. “THIS IS NOT OVER! DARLING, WHEN I GET OUT OF HERE, I WILL TAKE YOUR SOUL AND MAKE YOUR DEATH THE MOST SPECTACULAR THING EVER SEEN ON LIVE TV, I PROMISE!”

The gunslinger turned around, looking down at the helpless robot. Darkness encroached Clover’s mind, invoking old vices and drawing out his cruelest side. ‘I could kill him. I could kill him right now, right here, and he’d never bother anyone else ever again. This clown is completely at my mercy. It’d be so damn easy to just shove a pack of dynamite into his scrap body, light the fuse, and leave. I could–’

“Clover? Hey! Clover!” Kanako grabbed his face with her hands, moving in front of him and staring into his distant eyes. It was her turn to snap him back to reality.

“Eh?” Clover was dragged out of his intrusive thoughts by the touch of the kitsune’s soft hands on his face. “Oh. Sorry.” He shook his head, clearing his mind.

“C’mon, let’s get out of here, yeah?” Kanako took Clover’s hand into her own, leading him away from the robot and towards the eastern gate. The pair jumped off the stage together and sprinted out of the city. Mettaton attempted to curse at them as they left, but his voice box censored all of his profanity with beeping sounds again.

~

Once the pair were a safe distance away from the city, they slowed down, and Clover took a moment to check up on his companion. “Hey, Kanako, are you sure you’re fine? I thought you got hit pretty hard back there.”

“Thanks, but I’m okay, really. It did hurt pretty badly, but it didn’t leave any lasting damage as far as I can tell. You’ve got a cut on your face though, Clover.” Kanako placed one hand on his shoulder, and pointed a finger at the shallow cut just above his nose from the earlier shrapnel.

“Huh?” The cowboy hadn’t really felt the hit earlier in the heat of things. Clover touched the cut with his fingers to check if it was really there, and sure enough, when he looked at his hand he saw a bit of blood stained on his gloves. “Oh.”

“Here, I’ll take care of it for you. Hold still.” Kanako pulled out the medical supplies she got in town, and disinfected the cut with a topical solution. “It’s the strangest thing… Earlier, I could’ve sworn I got hit at the same time you got this cut, but I’m not bleeding from my face, am I?”

“No? Doesn’t look like it to me.” Clover stood still while she cleaned up the cut. “That is strange, though. I also felt like I was hit when you got zapped by the robot.”

“Really? Weird…” Kanako placed a bandaid on Clover’s cut, and the two looked into each other’s eyes for a solid minute. Gears started to turn into place in their heads.

Clover broke the silence with a ridiculous request. “Punch me.”

Kanako gave him an incredulous stare. “What?”

“Seriously, hit me. I want to see if it happens again. I can take it.” he insisted.

She hesitated, concern crossing her face. “Are you sure? Really?”

“Yeah. Do it.” Clover took a deep breath, bracing himself.

“Okay, if you say so.” Kanako wound up, and… hit Clover with the slowest, weakest and softest, and altogether most pathetic punch he’d ever seen.

He slowly raised an eyebrow at her. “What are you doing?”

“Clover, I don’t really want to hurt you.” Kanako wrung her hands.

“Well I don’t wanna hit you either. Look, between the two of us, I’m pretty sure I can take a hit better, right?” Clover tried to rationalize it to her.

“Probably? I don’t know, how am I supposed to guess something like that?” she fretted.

“Look, please just hit me, I won’t get mad or anything, okay?” Clover placed his hands on her shoulders in an attempt to reassure her.

Kanako’s face twisted in frustration for a few moments before she finally gave in. “Fine, fine! God, this is so stupid.” The kitsune took a deep breath.

“Alright, whenever you’re re–AGH.” Kanako slugged the cowboy in the gut, cutting his words short. The hit was strong enough to knock the wind out of Clover, the pain arced to Kanako like electricity, and she felt the full force of her own punch. The two ‘geniuses’ crumpled to the ground together, falling on top of one another.

“I… Owww… I think it’s safe to say we share pain...” The kitsune wheezed out.

“Uh huh… You’re a lot stronger than I expected for someone who was stuck in a hospital bed for ten whole years… By the way, not that this is unpleasant or anything, but can you get off of me, please?” The cowboy said, his voice a bit muffled because Kanako’s massive fluffy tail had landed directly on top of his face when they fell.

“S-sorry.” She rolled off of him, and they both sat up. “So… Do you have any idea how this happened, Clover?” she asked.

“Uhh…” Clover rubbed his chin, thinking back to last night. “It probably had something to do with what went down in the lab.”

Kanako tilted her head to the side. “You mean when you fought that dancer?”

Memories of the battle with the spirit played out in Clover’s mind. “Yeah. When I found you, your SOUL was busted up really badly, so I reached out to you, and, well… some things that I don’t really understand just sorta happened on their own. We might be connected through that somehow.”

Kanako stood up with a small smile on her face, offering her hand to Clover to help him up. “For what it’s worth, I’m glad I’m stuck with you instead of anyone else.”

Clover took her hand, rising to his feet. “Really? Why me?”

“I - er, well…” Kanako racked her brain, searching for a more rational excuse to give instead of the emotional impulses she was truly following. “Everything that happened in the last half hour, the fight with that robot that wanted to kidnap me, remember? Even if you do sometimes get your head lost in the clouds, you just proved I can count on you in a pinch.” ‘Yep. That’s definitely the real reason I feel this way. Not because he was kind to me, or because he made me laugh, or because he has a really nice bo–’ She stopped that train of thought before it went any further.

The cowboy shrugged. "Fair enough. Let’s get goin’. Gotta get you home first, then we can figure out what to do from there.”

The pair made their way through the city outskirts and into the dry regions of Hotland. The air was thick with the smell of oil and rusted metal, and perhaps also intolerably hot for aquatic monsters. Clover unequipped his duster coat and stored it in his dimensional satchel as they entered the area. Kanako took off her wooden geta, placed it in her own bag, and put on the boots she had picked up earlier.

Approaching the Steamworks from above, Clover had returned to where this bizarre adventure had first started, the spot where he’d fought Flowey and blasted the glowing star the plant called a save point. Clover’s gaze wandered to where the save point used to be, but the only thing there was scorch marks burned into the ground and some metal scrap.

The rest of the Steamworks did not look like what Clover remembered. The entire place was filthy, practically ruined. Bits of rust and erosion covered innumerable spots across the entire structure. Most pipes were bent, twisted or broken, and many of the lights were smashed, cracked edges of glass protruding from their sockets. Hazard signs and other warnings to stay out of the area marked the place. Scrap debris laid across the walkways, and the bridge leading to the main entryway was full of holes. Black and yellow caution tape was plastered all over the metal door, and a heavy padlock held it shut tight. The sight of a few green thorny vines hanging directly to the sides of the door caught Clover's eye, drawing a frown out of the cowboy.  

Clover pointed a finger at the plants. "Hey, you see those vines?"

Kanako turned her gaze towards where he was pointing. "Yeah? What about them?"

"I don't know for sure, but I get the feeling that Flowey is either here, or that he left something nasty for me here. Those vines are usually a tell-tale sign of his presence, so keep your guard up."  

"Alright, I'll keep it in mind. Let's move, but watch your step." Kanako started to cross the bridge, taking each step slowly and methodically.

“Yeah, I saw the holes, don't worry. This place is a lot more run-down than it was the last time I was here.” Clover remarked as they carefully made their way across the treacherous bridge together.

“Did the other engineers really just abandon this place after my dad quit? The Steamworks is a real mess… I don’t suppose you know how to pick a lock, do you?” Kanako pointed at the padlock on the door.

“Naw, but I’ve got my own workaround. Stand back.” The gunslinger waited for the kitsune to get behind him before he drew his shotgun. Once she was a safe distance away, he sharpened his focus. Clover’s SOUL began to pulse brightly, but he only let it charge up for half a second before he blasted the lock with a hot storm of empowered lead. Even with the limited amount of SOUL power put into the shot, the destructive blast melted a big hole through the steel door, turning the entire padlock into molten scrap in the process.

"Holy..." Kanako stared at the wreckage for a second in shock, then blinked and cocked an eyebrow at the gunslinger. “Wait, why didn’t you use that earlier against the robot?”

Clover shook his head, reloading the shotgun and sliding the firearm back into its holster. “Didn’t want to kill him. I don’t have the most precise control over this power, whatever it is. Sometimes it just kinda happens on its own without me thinking about it." He sighed. "…I’m a bit afraid of it, honestly.”

“Oh… I see.” Kanako pressed her fingers together in thought. "Your power almost looks like some kind of specialized fire magic to me."

Clover shrugged. "That so? I ain't trained in spellcraft or anything like that, but I guess you'd know better than me." He wasn't too concerned with figuring out the exact details of this power. 

She raised a finger and opened her mouth as if she were about to say something, but paused, and then shook her head while lowering her hand. "I'm definitely no expert, like I mentioned earlier, I never got to finish my magic lessons. I don't even know what my own new magic can do exactly yet either. So just take it with a grain of salt, I guess." 

"Fair enough. Let's move." He trudged over to the entrance of the facility. 

Clover forced the damaged door open with a kick, revealing a yawning chasm of darkness inside. The mechanical facility’s inner workings could barely be seen through the shadows, lit only by the molten lava below. The Derelict Steamworks awaited.

Despite there being no sign of power running through the facility, the human & monster duo heard a faint rhythm of mechanical clanking echoing from within the darkness...  

- - -

Chapter Text

Some time earlier, in the morning of the Dunes, a certain red-headed fox monster was lounging in her dilapidated home, lying on a ragged worn out couch, a few springs poking out of the sofa here & there. Despite her miserable lifestyle, Ceroba had at least retained a decent sleep schedule over the years. Attempting to ignore a wailing hangover, she flicked a button on a remote, pointing at an old CRT TV.

But the remote did nothing, no matter how many times she mashed the button. Ceroba growled and flung the remote against the couch, and struggled to rise to her feet. The red-headed kitsune walked over to the CRT to switch it on manually, inevitably kicking around several empty cans of beer scattered on the old wooden floorboards as she went.

Ceroba pressed the power button on the television, switching it on, only to receive fuzzy static from the screen. She callously smacked the side of the television a few times until it cleared up to show one of the few channels the Underground had, and then lazily collapsed back onto the sofa.

Mettaton was hosting another dumb interview with two random ‘lucky’ guests. Ceroba rolled her eyes, reaching for one of the unopened blue beer cans on a low table. Mettaton blabbed incessantly on the screen, reaching his mic over to the first guest. A young man apparently named ‘GUN’ who dressed the same way Starlo used to when he was playing pretend some years ago. ‘Oh, it’s that human people have been talking about. Huh. Thought there was only one starry-eyed dweeb out there who liked that kind of western… cowboy… thing. Whatever.’

The second guest was a young lady, a kitsune with yellow eyes, brunette hair, and well-groomed brown fur. She wore a kimono dyed a vibrant magenta with black & yellow trim, and the name displayed on the podium in front of her read ‘KAN’. She looked a bit familiar to Ceroba, though she couldn’t quite piece together why at the moment. The red-headed kitsune stared at the image of the young lady on the screen for a good while, a feeling of unease creeping into her SOUL.

On the television screen, the brunette fox backed away from the robot show host in distinct fear as he approached, Mettaton proclaiming he was going to take her to a lab somewhere. The cowboy suddenly ran in front of the brunette fox girl in her defense, and violently drop-kicked the robot, sending Mettaton flying off-screen. The cowboy then helped the brunette kitsune get back to her feet. The red-headed fox chuckled at the sight of the robot getting his just desserts.

Ceroba stared at the brunette fox on screen for a while longer, unable to shake the sensation of a growing sense of familiarity. She cracked open the beer can, and began to take a sip when the dots suddenly connected in her head, jolting her wide awake like a bolt of lightning. The ginger fox immediately spat out her drink and rushed over to the TV to get a better look, dropping the can in the process.

There was no doubt. That was her daughter, Kanako, alive & well, and grown up, seemingly back from the dead. A chaotic storm of thoughts asking ‘How? When? Why? Where?’ swirled through her head, and her eyes began to water. On screen, Mettaton began to launch bombs at the cowboy & her daughter. Ceroba let out a howling scream loud enough to scare away the crows all the way over in Sunnyside Farm on the opposite end of town, and snapped to her feet.

In spite of her hangover and degraded health, the galvanized mother immediately bolted out the door, making a mad dash east towards the derelict Steamworks, not stopping for anyone or anything, though she did stagger & almost tripped a few times. If that damn robot hurt even a single hair on her daughter’s head, she would grind Mettaton into dust with her bare hands.

A man with a star-shaped head called out to Ceroba from the farm as she passed, and a certain elderly tortoise monster gave her an odd look, but she paid them no heed. She had far more important things to deal with. She left clouds of dust in her wake as she hurtled towards the rusted vault door that led to the derelict Steamworks.

Ceroba reached the entrance and began to frantically mash codes into the keypad, the haze & ache from her hangover not helping, until she realized nothing was happening. She smashed her fist into the keypad in frustration, shattering it. The red-headed kitsune wasn’t out of options yet though. She moved in front of the door.

Ceroba manifested her staff adorned with a crest, a bright yellow bell in the center of a red bow. She began to furiously focus on the mana within her, the mana particles in the air, and whatever drops of magic energy remained in the region’s land & vegetation. She drew all of it in, concentrating every last drop of mana into the tip of her staff, pointing it at the door. Her eyes flared with red light as she unleashed an enormous beam of burning magic into the door, violently melting through the steel, leaving behind only molten scrap in its wake.

Headache still pounding from her hangover and feeling drained from the strenuous spell, Ceroba clutched her head and took a short breather. Shaking it off, she leapt through the hole she had just blasted open, tapped her staff against the ground & summoned a magical sphere of light that slowly orbited her to help her see through the shadows, and dashed into the dark depths of the derelict Steamworks.

~

Captain Undyne of the Royal Guard had just arrived at the site where the human warrior had last been seen, though unfortunately for her, she was a good deal late to the scene of the fight due to having been preoccupied with her own search for the human warrior in another area far from here. A catastrophic mess of a stage spread out before her. Shattered spotlights surrounded by broken glass marked the edges of the stage, cameras were thrown about on the floor, and a fractured disco ball rested next to toppled speakers in the back. The place looked like it had been hit by a vicious earthquake, even without the deep fissures running across the entire floor and the busted up robot stuck in the center of it.

The Captain walked onto the stage, baffled by the level of destruction on display, and slapped the side of the robot’s box. “Oi, Mettaton, what in the goddamn name of the King happened here?”

“THE HUMAN, DEAR CAPTAIN. THE HUMAN AND THEIR FOXY GIRLFRIEND HAPPENED HERE. THE HUMAN TOSSED ME WITH A MOVE NOT UNLIKE THOSE SUPLEXES YOU DO SO LOVE TO PERFORM.” Mettaton attempted to make some sort of flamboyant gesture, but he only had one arm remaining and was still stuck in the ground from the human’s monstrous show of strength. “NOW CAN YOU PLEASE GET ME OUT OF HERE, DARLING?”

“This guy… if he juggled your heavy metal ass around, then there is no longer even a trace of doubt in my mind. He really is a worthy foe! RAAAAAAGH!” Undyne grabbed Mettaton by the empty space next to his switch and yanked him free of the ground in one swift motion. The robot made a loud popping sound like the cork of a champagne bottle as he was pulled out, and he was sent tumbling into the air. The force of the throw caused the metal monster to flip around in the air a few times until he landed on his wheel behind Undyne.

“LITTLE ROUGH, DON’T YOU THINK, DEAR CAPTAIN? ANYWAYS, YOU HAVE MY DEEPEST GRATITUDE SWEETHEART! NOW I CAN GO AND GET DOLLED UP AND PREPARED FOR MY NEXT PERFORMANCE AT THE GOOD DOCTOR’S BOUTIQUE.” Mettaton gave the Captain as much of a bow as he could in his damaged state, and then began to roll off.

Undyne grabbed Mettaton’s box chassis with a firm hand before the robot could roll away, turning him around to face her. “Hold up. Aren’t you forgetting something?”

If robots could sweat, a drop would be rolling down the side of Mettaton’s ‘head’ right now. “OH, APOLOGIES DARLING. IT SLIPPED MY MIND COMPLETELY. THE HUMAN AND HIS FUZZY GIRLFRIEND RAN OUT THE EAST GATE. DON’T KNOW WHICH WAY AFTER THAT, BUT IT’S NOT LIKE THERE’S A TON OF DIRECTIONS THEY CAN GO IN THROUGH THERE. IF YOU’RE GOING TO PURSUE THEM, WHICH OF COURSE YOU ARE, WHO AM I KIDDING, MISS ALPHYS WOULD LIKE THE FOX LADY DELIVERED TO HER ALIVE AND UNHARMED, IDEALLY. SEEMS LIKE SHE’S THE KEY TO SOME SORT OF EXPERIMENT THE DOCTOR HAS HAD NO LUCK WITH UP UNTIL HER APPEARANCE.”

The robot raised a finger. “OH, AND ONE MORE THING. APPARENTLY THE HUMAN ISN’T INTERESTED IN ESCAPING FROM THE UNDERGROUND OR FIGHTING THE KING. ANYWAYS, THAT’S ALL I’VE GOT. NEED ANYTHING ELSE?”

The Captain released her hold on the robot, brow furrowing at the mention of the human warrior’s lack of intent to escape the Underground. “Huh… No, that’s it, thanks. Get outta here, you look like shit.” Undyne hopped down off of the stage and swiftly marched out of the east gate, not bothering to wait for a response from Mettaton. The Captain was absolutely determined to have her honor-bound rematch with the human warrior, and there was not a god damn thing in the world that could stop her. Undyne would have her fight, and only a fair fight, nothing else was acceptable. Woe to any who dared stand in her way.

“BIT RUDE. TA-TA, DARLING.” Mettaton swivelled around on his wheel and left in a huff, in desperate need of repairs, heading straight to Doctor Alphys’ lab.

And yet… the human warrior, Clover, Undyne remembered his name from earlier, had not killed any monsters, nor did he intend to confront the King or take any sort of revenge on monsterkind. ‘If he’s not here for retribution, what could he possibly want in the Underground? What did he come here for?’ Those questions consumed her mind as she sought out the human warrior for answers.

~

Kanako & Clover entered the derelict Steamworks together, walking into the first room at the top of the building, where, based on Clover’s memory, there should have been a long bridge above pools of lava feeding into a furnace. The room where he had mercilessly destroyed the robot that had confessed to murdering a human, without even giving it a chance to explain. The cowboy pushed that thought out of his mind for now, and took a look into the room in reality.

The room was lit only by the glow from the lava beneath his feet, the furnace was deactivated, all of the lightbulbs in the building were either smashed or switched off, but what really concerned Clover was the fact that the bridge was gone. There was no way across. When he looked down, he saw smashed up parts of the bridge sticking up out of the molten lava below.

Clover turned to his companion for input. “I don’t see a way to get further in. Any bright ideas, Kanako?”

Kanako manifested her eastern paintbrush & scroll with a small flash of magical light. “I could try drawing something.”

“Sure, go for it.” The cowboy didn’t have any better ideas.

The kitsune held up the scroll in front of her, and drew two connecting points between the broken ends of the bridge. The scroll glowed for a moment, and a black bridge, seemingly made of ink, materialized before the pair.

Kanako poked the inky bridge with her foot to test it, and it wobbled a bit. “I’m not entirely sure if this is safe, but…”

She turned to face Clover, only to find that he was no longer there. “Wha - Clover? Where’d you go?” She whipped around wildly to look for him, not finding him to her side nor behind her from where they came. A cold sweat ran down her neck.

“Hey! What are you waiting for?” The cowboy was already halfway across the bridge, waving & calling out to her.

“What the f-… God, Clover, just how reckless can you be?” Kanako ran across the inky bridge to join him.

Clover rubbed the back of his head, not really seeing the problem. “What? It’s fine, isn’t it? Your magic worked.”

“I just told you earlier I wasn’t sure how my magic works, you could’ve fallen through it and gotten hurt!” The kitsune pointed a finger at his face and pouted, her cheeks puffing up slightly.

Clover gave a nonchalant shrug. “Look, it turned out okay, right? Let’s just keep g…Oh, hell, Kanako, the bridge!” The cowboy frantically pointed behind her, and she quickly turned to look. “Huh? Oh. OH.”

The summoned bridge was beginning to dematerialize from the starting point, rapidly falling apart and threatening to throw them down into the lava. Clover immediately grabbed Kanako’s hand and the pair sprinted as quickly as they could to the far end, diving to clear the final stretch as the rest of the inky bridge vanished behind them.

“That… that was way too close.” Kanako panted, heart beating hard from the sudden adrenaline rush.

Clover picked himself up off of the floor, dusting off his coat. “ ‘Least we know a lil’ more about how your magic works now.”

“Yeah, guess you’re right. Looks like whatever I draw disappears after a bit, at least in this case.” The kitsune stood up and took a closer look at the oriental paintbrush in her hand, turning the delicately crafted tool over a few times. The brush disappeared with a small flash of light when she released her grip.

A metal double door, battered and bent, slightly ajar, stood in the duo’s way of progress. Clover reached in, and with some effort he pried the doors open with his hands, shoving them back into their slots in the walls. Ahead, a gloomy metal grate bridge awaited, barely lit by slowly creeping pools of molten lava far below.

Kanako retrieved her flashlight from her pack & flipped it on, and Clover lit his lantern, hooking it onto his belt. The odd pair carefully made their way across the old metal bridge, each step faintly rattling the grate. A giant dilapidated computer with multiple monitors stood tall on a platform marking the halfway point of the bridge. A few of the computer’s screens were shattered, and a quiet buzz hummed from its casing.

“Maybe we can use this?” Kanako pushed what looked like a power button on the console, but nothing happened. She tried pushing it again, and pressed several other random buttons just to see what would happen, but the computer didn’t respond. A disappointed sigh left her lips. “Or not…”

“I’d be surprised if anything worked in this place. This factory or whatever it is seems like a right mess.” Clover remarked as he examined the huge machine.

The kitsune gave up on the computer for now, and turned to her companion. “Hey, Clover? Did you go through the Steamworks in your past life? Do you know which way we should go?”

“...Yeah. But last time I entered from the bottom instead of the top. And I can’t rightly say I was payin’ the most attention to everything around me when I went through, because I… was in a rush.” He shook his head. The last time Clover had been through here, he hadn’t really taken the time to stop and take a closer look at things. He’d never given any of it much thought. The only thing Clover had been concerned with in his past life was hunting down the next enemy. He was starting to regret that even more now, because he knew a deeper understanding of how the facility worked would’ve definitely helped at this point.

“Anyways, we should probably head this way for now.” Clover pointed east, towards the other end of the bridge past the computer.

The pair moved together, heading to the far end of the metal grate bridge. According to Clover’s memory, an elevator was supposed to be here, but all they found was a doorless empty shaft devoid of light. Kanako pointed her flashlight into the dark shaft, illuminating thick elevator cables running up and down.

Clover peered down the dilapidated elevator shaft, spotting the elevator cab a good distance below them. A hatch on top of the box lay open. “Looks like we’re going to have to climb down. Are ya good with that?”

She looked down at the drop, rubbing her chin. “As long as you’re there for me, yeah. But that’s quite the distance regardless. We should tie a rope between our waists so in case one of us falls, the other can catch them.”

“Whatever makes ya feel better.” The cowboy shrugged, then pulled the rope out of his pack. The two of them tied themselves together by the waist, and carefully descended the gloomy elevator shaft. After they reached the elevator cab, they untied the rope & put it away.

Clover poked his head down through the hatch, holding his lantern in front of him, holding his breath for a tense moment, listening and looking for any signs of hostiles. Without the ambient glow from the molten lava, the unfamiliar territory they had entered was oppressively dark, creeping shadows playing tricks on the eyes and provoking a sense of paranoia. After a few moments, Clover exhaled and dropped down into the elevator cab properly. “Looks clear. C’mon.” He gave a thumbs up.

Kanako hesitantly jumped down and landed right in Clover’s arms, princess-carry style. “My hero.” Her voice carried a faint hint of playful sass and her fluffy tail wagged back & forth a bit, despite the all-encompassing gloom.

“Any time.” Clover gave her a slightly awkward smile and gently set Kanako upright.

The pair brandished their lights at the fore as they moved into the new room, driving back shadows to reveal a ruined office space. The floor was checkered with a purple & black pattern, and decrepit business cubicles housing old computers claimed the lion’s share of the room’s space. Yellowed papers were scattered over many of the desks, and one computer monitor was completely smashed in, as if someone had punched it in a fit of rage. Old cabinets lined one of the walls, folders full of documents poking out of the drawers.

“Nobody’s been here in ages, huh?...” The brunette fox whispered as she slowly swept her flashlight’s pale yellow beam through the darkness.

The cowboy nodded as he strode into the dark, bearing his lantern on his belt once more. “Yeah… Wonder what they were doing here.”

“Last I heard from my father, they were building security robots here. That was one of the last things he worked on before he passed on, along with…” Kanako paused, foul memories rising to the surface of her mind, recollections of a certain syringe filled with a deep blue liquid.

Clover raised an eyebrow at the frozen kitsune, his concern for her growing by the second. “...Along with what?”

Kanako shook her head, resurfacing into the real world, running from an ocean of regret. “It’s, uh. Something I probably shouldn’t get into while we’re in a dangerous place like this. Let’s keep going, yeah?”

The kitsune proceeded to the next room, cowboy following close behind her. Their lights revealed a quartet of crusty furnaces that had seen better days in the middle of the room, a rusty cart full of old minerals sunken into red dirt, and a faded green metal press. Rusted scraps of metal, bolts, wires and withered plant matter littered the ground. Clover’s foot accidentally smacked into something hard. He looked down, and saw a pulverized spherical robot head. “Huh?”

Kanako turned around at the sound of her companion’s voice. “What is it?”

“I think it’s the remains of one of the worker robots.” Clover picked up the battered robot head, presenting it to her. The glass that had once adorned the top of its head as a visor had been smashed, its mouthpiece was ripped apart, and several other components were missing.

The kitsune’s eyes widened a bit. “Oh… Maybe it can be repaired?”

“I kinda doubt that. I’m more concerned with figuring out what destroyed it to begin with. Whatever bashed this thing apart might still be here.” Clover set the robot head back down on the ground, and dusted off his hands.

“You’re probably right. We should be more cautious from here on out… Which means no more stunts like you running ahead on my unstable magic bridge, mister.” Kanako gave him a half-playful, half-serious poke in the side with her finger.

Clover put his hands up in front of him palms first, in a mock surrender gesture. “Whatever you say, ma’am.” he slightly smirked.

A faint sound of metal meeting metal echoed through the vents, interrupting their jovial conversation. Startled, the pair jumped a bit and frantically looked around.

“What was that?” Kanako swung her flashlight’s beam around, anxiously trying to find the source of the noise.

“Don’t know. Stick close.” The gunslinger drew one of his six-shooters, readying himself. ‘No lights besides our own, visibility’s real bad here… damn. Fighting is going to be a pain.’

A few moments of deafening silence passed. Despite the blisteringly hot locale, a chill ran down Kanako’s & Clover’s spines from the anticipation. The duo stood back-to-back, prepared for whatever may come.

An iron clank rang out from the hallway ahead of them. And then another, and another, becoming a constant rhythm, slowly approaching. A rusted steel hand reached out of the darkness, briefly gripping the corner of the hallway as a mechanical monstrosity pulled itself into view.

A hulking patchwork mess of a robot loomed over the duo. Its torso was made of a large smashed TV, bent gramophone horns were stuck to its disfigured iron face, broken headphones were attached to its knees, and most disturbingly, the entire frankenstein of a bot was held together by green, writhing thorny tendrils. It was an undead amalgamation of the robots Clover had destroyed in his past life, reanimated by a certain hateful flower’s animosity.

The gunslinger didn’t hesitate. The fierce flash of his revolver pierced the dark for a split second, hot lead drilling into the freakish robot’s metal skull. However, the shot didn’t seem to phase it at all, and it broke into a sprint towards the duo.

“Move!” Clover barked out an order, and the pair of them rolled to the side, out of the way of the metal hulk’s path. It ran right past them and crashed into the wall with a heavy shudder. The gunslinger fired a few more rounds into their foe’s back, though it still didn’t seem to be having any meaningful effect.

“That’s not working!” Kanako called out as the iron abomination pulled itself out of the wall and lunged towards the cowboy.

Clover ducked under the undead robot’s metal swing, then slid underneath its feet and dashed to put more space between himself and the bot, rapidly reloading his revolver as he moved. “I’m open to suggestions!”

“Keep it busy!” The kitsune whirled her flashlight around as she ran through the area, looking for certain resources that should be stocked in this particular room.

The cowboy had to keep moving, or else he’d be dead. But more importantly, if he got hurt, Kanako would also get hurt. And he couldn't let that happen. The vines on the metal puppet shuddered, and sharp thorns rocketed off of the plant through the air towards Clover. He dashed under most of the projectiles, and punched one thorn with the metal knuckles of his glove back at the robot, lodging it deep into its leg.

“Just be quick!” Clover yelled as he ran. The patchwork robot whipped around and threw another hard punch at the cowboy, thorned vine tendrils in its arm contracting & expanding like muscles. Clover nimbly ran up the wall, barely evading the punch, and flipped over the robot. The whiffed punch slammed into the wall, knocking chunks of drywall loose. The cowboy kicked it in the back of the head as he descended, rattling its iron skull.

“Where is… Aha!” Kanako grabbed a plastic gasoline can that was hiding behind one of the furnaces, and began to move.

The gunslinger slammed his boot into the back of the frankenstein robot’s impaled leg, causing it to stagger and fall to its knees. The kitsune dashed into the scene, popped open the lid of the gasoline can and dumped a generous serving of gas onto the robot. “Clover, use your fire attack!”

The duo hopped backwards away from their plant-puppeted metal foe, and the gunslinger blasted it with a SOUL-charged burning bullet. The robot was instantly consumed by an inferno, wildly flailing about as it burned. The flames ate away at the vines controlling the robot, turning them to ash as they chaotically writhed around in their last moments. With nothing left to control it, the patchwork robot fell to pieces, all the random bits of scrap that once made up its body scattering across the floor.

Kanako exhaled with relief, easing up. “Whew… So, that robot-plant thing. That was Flowey’s doing? The poor robots…” She sealed the gasoline can, pocketing what was left of it into her dimensional bag.

Clover reloaded his revolver, spun it around, and slipped the six-shooter back into its holster. He nodded, readjusting his hat. “Pretty sure it was one of his, yeah. Seems like he made it out of whatever was left of the droids runnin’ this place.”

The kitsune looked down at the broken robot parts, feeling a twinge of pity. “That’s cruel…”

The cowboy raised an eyebrow. “...Why? It’s not like they were really alive, right?”

She wrung her hands together, brow furrowed. “Well… My father used to talk about how some of the robots would glitch out and break their programming, he said they almost acted like they were real people, so…”

More leaden guilt piled onto Clover’s conscience. He flinched as if in pain before responding. “...I see. That’s a shame… Either way, this robot probably isn’t the only one Flowey has lurking around here, so keep your guard up.” Clover shook his head. “By the way, where’d you get the gas from?”

“This room’s full of stuff you’d use for some kind of smeltery, so I figured I could find something to burn the vines with if I looked around.” Kanako gestured toward the furnaces and the metal press.

Clover looked towards the machinery, reflecting on this for a moment. “Oh. That was some quick thinkin’, good job.”

“Thanks. C’mon, let’s move.” Her fluffy ears & tail fluttered as they moved further through the facility together, heading into the depths of the derelict Steamworks…

~

At Sunnyside Farms, the star-faced farmer had been left utterly bewildered by the red-headed kitsune’s mad dash past his crop fields. Starlo hadn’t seen Ceroba this worked up in ages, and the terrifying look on her face scared the daylights out of him.

Starlo had no idea what could have possibly made Ceroba that upset, or what had driven her towards the old derelict Steamworks. That place was extremely dangerous after years of neglect had worn it down, it was practically a death trap.

The farmer involuntarily jumped in place at the sound of a furious magical blast shredding metal apart. Sickle still in hand, Starlo slowly walked out of the corn fields and headed over to the Steamworks’ entrance to find a smoking crater where the vault door had once been. The roars of more explosions intermittently echoed from further in. “What in thunderation is goin’ on?” He nervously adjusted his hat and gulped.

Starlo slapped his hands to his face, trying to psych himself up. The details of whatever was going on were irrelevant. His childhood friend was in danger, and that was all that mattered. This was no time to hesitate or turn yellow-bellied. Starlo threw his sickle to the wayside and ran back to his family home to get his old gear.

The star-headed man dashed up the stairs and flung open the door to his bedroom, running over to his desk. Starlo ripped off his straw farmer hat & blue overalls, and donned his sheriff getup, hat, leather jacket, holster, poncho, badge, boots and all. He grabbed his old wild revolver, clumsily loaded it, stuck it in his holster, grabbed whatever spare ammo he had left and shoved it into one of his pockets. The once-retired sheriff jumped down the stairs and rushed out the door.

The sheriff ran up to the massive hole left in place of the door to the Steamworks and paused, taking a second to reaffirm his resolve. Another explosion from above rocked the Steamworks, sending chunks of the walls falling down, startling Starlo again. An anxious bead of sweat ran down the side of his head, but he pushed his fears to the side and steeled his resolve. He leapt through the door, running deeper into the facility to get to the bottom of whatever was going on.

~

Down in the lower levels of the facility, a scorching blast of scarlet magical fire devoured a vine-infested robot. The merciless flames left behind nothing but ashes in their wake. Ceroba retracted her staff, panting heavily. The fox was really starting to wish she’d kept in shape over the years, she knew she wouldn’t be getting so tired this quickly otherwise. But she had to keep going.

The red-headed kitsune struggled to force her legs forward, fighting through the exhaustion, denying her body rest. She had no other choice. To do otherwise meant giving up on her only remaining family, the last remaining glimmer of hope in her life.

With a burst of deep red flames, Ceroba blasted open the next metal door standing in her way, sending it flying off its hinges and into a mob of plant-puppeted undead droids. The malicious vines forced them to turn towards her, mechanical joints creaking unnaturally.

The mother staggered for a moment, and then bared her fangs, fiercely clenching her staff. The air around her burned. Ceroba raised an arcane barrier to protect herself, and charged into battle like a blazing meteor.

~

Back in the upper levels of the derelict Steamworks, the eastern & western duo opened a door into the next area, their lights striking into the darkness to illuminate a room filled with a black tar-like goop, pocked by tiny spots of pale vegetation. “What in tarnation is all this gunk? It’s so sticky, it’s hard to walk across.” Clover pulled his boot up, the black substance stretching up along with it, clinging to his sole.

“Oh, gross.” Kanako wrinkled her nose in disgust at the slime, and shone her flashlight further down the hallway, noticing the white plants scattered throughout the hallway. “My father once mentioned something about his co-workers attempting to make electricity-generating plants. Maybe this is the remains of that stuff?”

“Hell if I know.” The cowboy pulled his boot free of the tar and trudged forwards, until he heard the sound of something squelching in the goop ahead. The kitsune shone her flashlight forwards, revealing a horde of vine-choked robots rising from the muck.

“That’s… that’s way too many of them! What do we do?!” Kanako went pale, trying to backpedal away, but the black goop prevented her from making any meaningful movement.

This was definitely one of the worst case scenarios possible Clover could imagine. The slime impeded their movement greatly, making running and dodging not an option, and a ton of infested robots were slowly inching their way. He racked his brain for options, trying to formulate a plan.

Desperation presented an idea to the cowboy. There was only one way he could think of to get out of this. He didn’t want to have to use it, but there was no other choice.

“Kanako, how long can you keep your barrier spell up for?” Clover drew his twelve-gauge, hardening his resolve.

“It’ll last until it breaks, and I can concentrate to strengthen it, but it won’t hold up against too much strain!” The kitsune pressed her hands against her chest, as the vine-controlled robot horde slowly advanced on them through the dark goop.

“Stay behind me and hold a barrier on me for as long as you can!” The gunslinger raised his shotgun and took a deep breath, focusing his SOUL’s power.

“O-okay!” Kanako clasped her hands together and manifested a shining arcane barrier around Clover, and uttered a short prayer under her breath. Choosing to have faith in her partner, she closed her eyes and devoted all of her concentration to the spell.

The infested droid horde had reached them, and began to claw at the cowboy. Their attacks were repelled by the magic barrier for now, but small cracks formed in the shining shield with every blow.

Clover’s SOUL shone with a golden glow, power feeding into his firearm, but it wasn’t alone. Neither of the two could see it, but Kanako’s SOUL also manifested, shining with its own gold light. Her SOUL was connected to Clover’s with a brilliant red thread.

Their SOULs resonated with a shared focus, burning with a blindingly bright light unlike anything ever seen before, exponentially increasing their power. Vibrant motes of light flowed back & forth between their two SOULs. For a split second, they could feel each other’s thoughts.

Clover’s shotgun violently quaked with energy, the vibrations so intense he was barely able to hang on to it even with his enhanced strength. The vine-puppeted robots continued to strike at the barrier with cold metal hands, again and again, until it nearly shattered.

The gunslinger pulled the trigger.

The deafening howl that raged forth from the burning firearm roared louder than an entire storm’s worth of thunderclaps compressed into a single point.

The twelve-gauge’s barrels erupted with an enormous beam of light, far, far greater than the blast that had obliterated a certain robot the cowboy had fought in his past life. The beam completely annihilated anything that stood in its way. Every last undead vine-controlled robot in their path was instantly reduced to cinders, the black ooze on the ground was burned away, and the beam kept going. The dual-SOUL-empowered beam smashed a massive crater into the wall and punched through it, barreling through wall after wall, only stopping once it smashed its way out of the facility. ‘Sunlight’ from the swelterstones poured into the Steamworks through the huge holes in the walls of the building.

Kanako & Clover were flung backwards out of the room and onto their rears from the sheer force of the blast, dazed and in utter awe. The gunslinger had not expected his attack to be nearly this disastrously destructive.

The front end of his shotgun’s barrels were burning red hot, metal visibly glowing, black smoke pouring out of the chamber. Cracks ran through the metal of the barrels, likely caused by the absurd force of the big shot. Clover wouldn’t be using it again anytime soon.

“Holy…”

“...shit.”

Kanako finished Clover’s sentence for him, and the two exchanged a bewildered look.

They were left breathless for a few moments before the brunette fox broke the silence. “Gods above and below Clover, are you sure you can’t use magic?”

“Uhh… I thought I couldn’t, but now I have no idea what to think. I definitely didn’t mean to fire a blast that huge.” The cowboy shook his head, and then readjusted his hat.

“I’ve never pulled off a blast anywhere close to that massive before, even when I was trying to go all out. Did you use another spell on me or something back there?” Clover pulled himself to his feet, and offered Kanako a hand.

The kitsune took his hand, and rose to her feet. “No, I just prayed and focused on the barrier spell. I did feel a weird tingling sensation though. Either way, I’m just glad we’re still alive.” The fidgeting duo shared an awkward chuckle of relief.

The whirr of rapidly approaching servos cut their conversation short. A banged-up robot held together by duct tape and various scrap pieces welded to its body rolled into view, its two pink eyes sparking with electricity in the dark, bereft of any thorny vines.

One side of the robot’s box-shaped face was covered in electrical tape, and one of its two antennae was snapped in half. A piece of sheet metal secured with a bolt half-covered the broken glass black heart symbol on its chest, and its torso was supported by a single rotating wheel, not unlike Mettaton’s design. Some kind of slip-shod generator was attached to the robot’s back, puffing out steam. Old ragged white gloves covered its hands, and a metal trash can lid was attached to its side with a small magnet.

The robot pointed a wood-stock rifle at the pair. “AXIS MODEL NUMBER… I FORGET. [Backup Data Unavailable]. DOESN’T MATTER. I AM THE LAST OF MY KIND LEFT. READY TO APPREHEND INTRUDERS.”

The pair of them raised their hands in response. Clover recognized this robot immediately, even in its shoddy condition. The gunslinger also could instantly tell that Axis was holding his missing rifle by its build and make. ‘How the hell did my rifle end up all the way out here? And how did he get it? …Questions for another time.’ Knowing how dangerous this thing could be, he moved in front of Kanako protectively, so any shots fired would hit him first.

“Wait, hold up! We’re not intruders, we’re just trying to get back home! My father is Chujin Ketsukane, he was an engineer here!” The kitsune pleaded from behind the cowboy, trying to get the robot to calm down.

Axis rolled closer to the pair, almost within arm’s reach, still pointing the rifle at them. “YOU MENTIONED MY CREATOR?”

The robot turned around a few times as if to look for someone. “I DO NOT SEE HIM HERE. NOW STAND DOWN AND ALLOW YOURSELVES TO BE APPREHENDED OR I WILL FIRE.” Axis raised the rifle at them again.

Now that the robot was closer and Clover could get a better look, he realized something about the rifle was off. The gunslinger looked Axis in the eye, and dropped his hands. “You’re not gonna fire that piece.”

“WHAT. YES I WILL.” Axis wrapped his finger around the trigger, pointing the rifle at the cowboy.

“Clover, what the heck are you doing?!” Kanako whispered under her breath, distraught & confused by her partner’s sudden outburst.

Undaunted, Clover strode right up to the robot. Axis pulled the trigger a few times, only to be met with empty clicks. In one smooth motion, the gunslinger snatched the rifle out of the robot’s hands and elbowed him in the face, knocking Axis to the floor. “0W. WHAT THE [frick].”

“You can’t bluff me, friend. The gun ain’t loaded, and the safety’s still on, tin-head. ‘Sides, this belongs to me, not you.” The cowboy cranked the carbine's lever once just to make sure, and no bullet popped out of the rifle. He attached the rifle to his back sling, reclaiming what was his. Clover's brazen confidence stemmed from the fact that he had never loaded the rifle before he lost it, and seriously doubted the metal-head would've been able to find any ammo for it. He looked down at the floored robot, wondering what to do with him.

“MY HEAD IS NOT MADE OF TIN. IT IS MADE OF A COMPLEX ALLOY OF DIFFERENT METALS, THANK YOU VERY MUCH.” Axis sassed back at Clover from the floor. The cowboy just rolled his eyes in response.

“Hey, come on, go a little easier on him, Clover. He might be one of the last things my dad ever made, and he’s just doing his job.” Kanako walked over to his side, and knelt down next to Axis. “Can you help us get back down to the Dunes, please? We really do just want to get out of here.”

Axis scanned the pair of them, noting the power output readings from their SOULs, realizing they were the ones who had smashed several holes through the facility walls earlier. He weighed his options carefully. “...FINE. AS LONG AS IT GETS YOU [hooligans] OUT OF HERE FASTER. FOLLOW ME.” The robot stood up and began to roll down the hallway. Clover shook his head, and Kanako just shrugged back at him. The duo followed the robot deeper into the facility.

~

In the lower regions of the Steamworks, Ceroba slammed yet another infested robot into the ground with her staff, blasting it at point blank with intense scarlet flames. The droid was burnt into a black crisp, and went limp.

The kitsune’s once-proud white kimono was now stained with oil and torn all over, ragged edges allowing her tan fur to poke through, mirroring the state of her health. Struggling onwards, she used her staff as a walking cane to help propel herself forward.

An ear-splitting explosion rocked the building from above, knocking Ceroba onto her knees. She slammed the ground with a fist, drawing blood from the impact, and fought to rise to her feet.

The mother kept going, forcing the next iron door open by bashing into it with her shoulder. A swarm of malicious giant flowers turned to face her, their sharp maws dripping with acid.

Ceroba growled, and slammed her staff into the floor, burning with arcane fury. “I don’t have time for this!”

Red hot trails of mana erupted across the ground from her staff, splitting up and striking each flower’s base. Scarlet geysers of flame erupted from the ground beneath her enemies, devouring them in an all-consuming inferno, but not before one flower beast could spit a glob of acid at the kitsune, badly scorching her left leg.

Ceroba bit down, stifling a scream of agony. Ironically, the years of alcohol abuse had dulled her sense of pain, allowing her to ignore the shock and push on instead of passing out on the spot. It did no favors for her head though, which constantly ached, and her sense of balance was wobbly at best.

The mother’s fatigue was trying to pull her into a black abyss, and her vision was beginning to blur. She heard voices, but couldn’t make out their words, nor could she tell which direction they were coming from. In spite of everything, Ceroba continued to drag herself forwards.

~

Starlo was both horrified and amazed by the amount of destruction he’d seen as he slowly stalked through the run-down industrial corridors. Bits of scrap, oil and wire gore were splattered everywhere, almost entirely scorched into ash by raging arcane flames. Following Ceroba’s trail was not a difficult task, to say the least.

The sheriff’s body shone with natural starlight, guiding him through the darkness of the abandoned facility as he searched for his childhood friend. Starlo could only hope he could find Ceroba before it was too late, and hoped he could talk her out of whatever crazy thing she was pursuing. He stepped over more robotic remains and rounded the corner.

Starlo came face-to-face with a handful of infested robots, just like the ones Ceroba had faced. He prayed he still remembered how to use his old combat magic. The sheriff drew his wild revolver and cracked his whip, readying himself.

Evading a hail of thorny projectiles with a roll and a slide, the starry-eyed cowboy retaliated by manifesting a pack of arcane dynamite and lobbing it at the group with his whip. The dynamite erupted with a brilliant flash on impact, stunning his foes. Solar energy coursed through Starlo’s veins, and he directed it all to his six-shooter, empowering his bullets with burning energy. The sheriff let loose a barrage of surging bullets at his mechanical adversaries. Each round erupted with a miniature blast on impact, ripping apart the vine-puppeted robots. “Still got it!...”

A loud explosion rang out from deeper within the facility, interrupting Starlo’s moment of triumph and snapping him back to reality. Gritting his teeth, he reloaded his six-shooter and headed further into the derelict Steamworks…

~

“Hey, are we getting close yet?” Kanako prodded their robotic guide. She and Clover had been following Axis through irregular pathways for quite a while now. The cowboy himself hadn’t been down any of these roads before, and he felt like they were making pretty decent time, though he kept it to himself.

“NEARLY. NOT MUCH MORE LEFT TO GO.” Axis responded as he rolled forwards on a metal bridge, leading the duo to a set of stairs. As they descended, an explosion echoed out from the rooms ahead of them, followed by the unmistakable sounds of combat, metal clashing against metal. Whoever was fighting was going at it like their life depended on it, judging by the tone of their screams.

Kanako & Clover exchanged a momentary glance. Already on the same wavelength, they both dashed ahead, leaving Axis confused behind them. “WAIT. WHERE ARE YOU GOING??? ARE YOU TWO SERIOUSLY JUST GOING TO [fudge]ING RUSH AHEAD INTO UNKNOWN DANGER???” The robot’s words didn’t slow them down at all.

The duo kicked down a steel door together, entering a scorching boiler room. Metal grates made up the entirety of the flooring here, and molten lava flowed not far beneath. Orange embers rose from the burning pit, lighting up the room like a swarm of infernal fireflies. Scarlet magical flames danced around the center of the room, and in the eye of the storm, a red-headed kitsune was desperately fighting against a single gigantic vine-infested mechanical terror that was easily over four times the red fox’s size.

Kanako’s heart leapt out of her throat.

~

Ceroba blocked another titanic swipe from the mammoth of a machine with her staff, and was sent sliding across the room. She struggled to stay on her feet, even with her arcane barrier absorbing most of the damage. Sweat rolled down the kitsune’s brow. The exhaustion combined with her poor health had finally caught up with her, at the worst possible time.

Her ginormous foe, an amalgamation of countless other robots’ parts stitched together by massive thorned vines, flexed its green tendril muscles, firing a storm of thorns at Ceroba. She forced her body to move, ducking under most of the barrage and spinning her staff in front of her to deflect the rest. The red-headed kitsune mustered up whatever remained of her magical power, and retaliated with scarlet fire blasts of her own, striking the enormous robot’s joints, but it only seemed to chip away at the surface of the beast.

A metal door rocketed through the center of the room from Ceroba’s left, smashing into the wall. She turned to look where it had come from, but her blurry vision denied her any details. The red fox could only make out the presence of two roughly humanoid figures, before her thoughts were abruptly cut short by a surge of undeniable pain from below.

Ceroba slowly turned her gaze down. A cruel thorn, as thick as a spear, had been stabbed through her torso. Crimson blood spewed from her mouth. The last thing she heard before her vision faded was a familiar voice’s agonized cries.

- - -

Chapter Text

This silly little bit is a reference to a comic by @loz_017 I saw dubbed on YouTube by Gabaleth.

(The other sprites featured in this gag were made by @Deltavaren11, @neilregan316, the UTR+Y team, @PrismShrimp, and RennGote of course.)

Okay, enough silliness. Time to get back to the real story now.

CHAPTER 17

A BROKEN HOME

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

A huge thorn jutting out of her torso, the grievously wounded Ceroba fell to the floor before the towering vine-infested machine, and a terrible scream raged forth from her daughter’s throat.

Kanako’s body shuddered, her shaking hands clenched into fists, face wrenched itself into a desperate grimace, and white-hot tears streamed down her face. Sorrow, grief and fury eclipsed the daughter’s bleeding heart, an unyielding tsunami of volatile emotions erupted from the core of her very SOUL, and Clover was swept up into the storm along with her. He could feel every last drop of it, almost as if they were his own. The extreme feelings intensified the pulse of his own SOUL, sending ripples of power flowing between the two.

Kanako clapped her hands together and manifested a shining diamond barrier in front of the cruel robot, empowered and enlarged by their intertwined SOULs, but she wasn’t using it for defense. She thrust her palms forward, slamming the huge magical shield against the thirty-foot tall lumbering mechanical menace, knocking it down and temporarily trapping it against the wall of the facility. It began to angrily writhe against the arcane barrier.

Eyes burning with tears, Kanako rushed over to her mother’s side, Clover following close behind.

“No, no, NO!! Mom! MOM!! Please, wake up!” She cradled her bleeding mother in her arms, a torrent of tears cascading down her face, chest heaving with anguish. “Don’t leave me…”

The red-headed kitsune hadn’t turned to dust yet, so she was still alive as far as the cowboy could tell, but… Clover recognized her. This was the fox woman who killed him in a fit of revenge countless times in his previous life. ‘What if she just got up and immediately tore my head off? Or sliced me to ribbons with the razor-sharp petals she’d shredded me with a ton of times in my past life?’ He hesitated, wondering if he could really trust h - ‘This isn’t the time to worry about that. Calm down and ACT, NOW.’ One decisive inner voice overrode the paranoia of the rest.

Clover kicked into gear, and pulled a roll of gauze out of his medical kit. “Move. We need to stop the bleeding. Don’t remove the thorn for now, it’ll make the bleeding worse.” He first stabilized the foreign object, and dressed the wound, taking care to avoid pressure to the nasty thorn itself, and applied light pressure around the damaged area to slow the bleeding. Clover wrapped up the grisly wound as best he could, hoping it would be enough for the time being.

Irritated steam pumping out of his gaskets, Axis rolled into the room, finally catching up to the duo after they had run off without him, but his steaming mechanical expression of annoyance shortly turned to shock after he took in the scene before him. “HOLY [shortcakes]. WHAT IS GOING ON. WHO IS THIS UNCONSCIOUS WOMAN?”

Kanako turned to respond, but was suddenly cut off by the sound of glass shattering. The huge infested robot has broken through the barrier, and now loomed over them. A giant vine-twisted fist bristling with thorns flew their way, only to be interrupted by a translucent glowing train crashing into it, steam whistle shrilling with magic sparks and all. The train vanished on impact, but it still sent the hulking robot reeling backwards, stunning it.

The kitsune turned to see where that could have possibly come from. The sheriff with the star-shaped face had made his entrance. “Uncle Starlo?!”

Clover squinted at the sheriff for a moment, trying but failing to remember where he knew him from.

“What th– Kanako?! Aw, heck, this ain’t the time for this, get your mama out of here!” The sheriff fired a couple burning bullets at the massive infested droid, and cracked his whip. “Go!”

Panicked, Kanako scrambled to “Axis, please give us a hand! She’s my mother!” The kitsune pleaded with the robot.

“OH. SO SHE IS THE WIFE OF MY CREATOR. VERY WELL.” Axis helped the pair pick up Ceroba gently, and rolled towards the door with Kanako & Clover.

They hit the bricks fast, desperately scrambling out of the facility as quickly as they could. Kanako’s mother was at risk of dying at any moment, they couldn’t afford to waste time. After they frantically dashed around a few corners, they finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel - they had reached the main door leading out to the Dunes.

Clover stopped in his tracks, remembering the sheriff who had just bought them time. “You two keep going and get her to a hospital, I’m gonna double back and help that star guy!” He sprinted back into the Steamworks.

“Wha - Clover, wait!” Kanako called back as her companion ran back into the facility, but he kept going. Fear and concern for him gripped her heart, but she couldn’t go with him. She couldn’t just abandon her mother, and so she kept running with Axis, heading down the sandy roads and into the old town.

~

Starlo swung his whip around, deflecting the mechanical hulk’s thorny shots. He’d been able to stay alive so far, but he was being driven into a corner by this abomination’s overwhelming might, and he knew it. At this rate, the flame of his life would be snuffed out. He took solace in the fact that he’d at least helped ensure Ceroba’s safety first. ‘I’m sure she’d be lecturing the heck out of me right now if she was here and sober…’

The unmistakable sound of gunfire rang out, but it didn’t come from the sheriff’s iron. The hatted human from earlier had returned, brandishing a pair of six-shooters. The man truly looked exactly like he’d leapt straight out of the human movie tapes Starlo loved so much.

The human fired their revolvers at breakneck speeds, each shot drilling into the giant robot’s vine-infested leg joints with burning yellow energy, forcing it down to its knees. “Hey! Figured you could use a dance partner!”

Starlo grinned. Somehow, the real deal was even better than the movies. “That’s mighty kind of ya!”

The sheriff dashed out of the corner of the boiler room and into the center of the area, repositioning himself next to the human, who was reloading his guns incredibly quickly. Their massive foe rose from its knees, and turned to face them. The two cowboys stood back to back.

The human gunslinger pointed the barrel of one of his six-shooters at the mammoth-sized machine’s vine-controlled ankles, flicking a coin between the fingers of his free hand. “I’ve got a hunch the joints are its soft spots, pard. When it attacks, we split and hit the legs as hard as we can, got it?”

“I’m used to callin’ the shots, but alright. I’ll follow your lead this time. Let’s ride!” Starlo raised his own revolver. Despite the imminent life & death danger, the sheriff’s heart pounded with excitement. He couldn’t help himself.

The machine wound up, metal parts creaking from the strain of the vines, and slammed down at the wild pair. They rolled to opposite sides, evading the strike, and let loose with their irons and respective unique skills.

The human gunslinger flicked a handful of coins into the air, and blasted each one with burning shots. The scattered coins shattered into blazing fragments from the blasts, and each fiery piece ricocheted into the titanic machine’s ankles, severely wounding it.

With the machine’s attention on the human, Starlo took the opportunity to focus his astral magic. He charged his six-shooter with a vast amount of stellar energy, and unleashed a pinpoint piercing beam of white-hot solar power, punching a hole through the huge infested robot’s legs.

Reeling from the cowboy duo’s furious barrages of hot lead to its ankles, the massive metal abomination toppled over with a thunderous crash. “Nice!” Starlo fist-pumped.

However, the infested giant wasn’t down for good yet. Its vine-wrapped arms suddenly writhed & stretched out unnaturally far towards the western duo.

Starlo was struck by a mighty blow from its right fist, sending him flying into the wall, leaving a crater on impact, knocking the wind out of him and making the sheriff see stars, ironically. Twisting vines sprang like vicious snakes towards Clover, ensnaring the human cowboy and reeling him into the metallic terror’s left hand. It began to mercilessly crush him, forcing a wail of pain out of the human.

~

Most of the Wild East town’s services had shut down, with the exception of the Hospital, Blackjack’s shop, and Dina’s saloon. The place felt like a real ghost town, complete with tumbleweeds occasionally rolling through the streets. Ironically, the hospital seemed to be the only establishment that had radically grown over the years, due to the various government-mandated public healthcare improvements the King had approved in recent years. What was once a small humble clinic was now a modest white hospital building, staffed by a group of specialists who usually tended to the injuries the nearby miners suffered in their excavation expeditions. The dangerous yet lucrative mining operations and steady supply of produce from Sunnyside farm were the only things keeping the region financially afloat, if just barely.

Kanako sat just outside the operating theater within the hospital, curled up in a fetal position, hugging her own tail. Axis stood silent next to the door of the hospital room, most of his basic programming directives having been fried years ago and acting on his own volition, he felt some sense of obligation to at least stay and see this grim situation through.

However, he was effectively invisible to Kanako at the moment. The distraught kitsune wasn’t allowed inside while the doctors were operating on her mother. While her tears had dried, only dread filled her heart.

It wasn’t fair. Kanako had finally managed to get out of that horrid lab and reunite with her mother after ten years, only for Ceroba to be trapped in a hospital bed with no guarantee of survival.

‘If… If I hadn’t taken that stupid blue serum, this never would’ve happened. Mom’s gonna die, she’s gonna bleed out or have organ failure or internal bleeding or something horrible, and it’s all my fault!’ Kanako began to sink into a murky swamp of misery, suffocating herself with her own self-blame.

However, before she could fall much further into self-inflicted guilt, the agonizing sensation of something crushing her whole body flooded her nervous system for a few moments. Gasping for air, she clutched her chest in a futile attempt to slow her pounding heart. ‘This pain!?… Clover?!... They’re in trouble!?’

Kanako’s heart was cruelly torn in half by two separate emergencies competing for priority in her mind, pulling her in different directions. She clutched her head in pain. ‘Clover probably needs me, but I can’t just abandon Mom! What do I do? What should I do?!’

Starting to panic, the kitsune frantically looked back & forth between the hospital door and the road to the Steamworks. She had to make a decision, and fast. Kanako took a deep breath, and attempted to think rationally. ‘Mom’s still stuck in the operation room, I couldn’t help even if I wanted to because I’m not a doctor, nor do I know healing magic. But Clover… AAAARGH.’

Kanako bit her lip, making up her mind. “Sorry, Mom… Axis, please look out for her for me until I get back!”

“FINE. IT’S NOT LIKE I HAVE ANYTHING BETTER TO DO ANYWAYS.” The ability to emphasize sarcasm was not programmed into Axis, but he tried anyway. It didn’t come across clearly, of course.

Kanako hastily sprinted down the dirt roads, rushing back to the derelict Steamworks, praying she’d make it in time before more horrible things happened…

~

Back in the broiling boiler room on the first floor of the derelict Steamworks, the enormous vine-infested robot had Clover caught in its terrible grip. It began to clench its fist tighter, slowly and agonizingly crushing the life out of the cowboy, forcing a tortured howl out of his lungs. A certain yellow flower watched from the vents high above the action, his face twisted into a sadistic grin.

"OI!! What the hell are you doing, Clover?!” A harsh voice called out, followed by a hailstorm of shining blue spears rocketing out of the darkness. The spears viciously skewered the massive abomination’s hand clutching the human cowboy, forcing it to drop Clover. He rolled away from the infested giant, coughing in pain. After recovering, Clover turned to see who had just saved him.

“On your feet, soldier!” A piscine monster clad in knightly armor with a red ponytail and an eyepatch grabbed Clover’s shoulder, and roughly pulled him to his feet. “You beat me once, so you aren't allowed to lose to anyone else! You got that, punk?!” It was the Captain of the Royal Guard, Undyne, just as zealous and hot-blooded as ever.

Flowey, far away and high above the action, began to spit vile curses at the trio down below, throwing an entire childish tantrum, though they were well out of earshot of the flower’s profanity. “What the – oh, bullshit, bullshit, BULLSHIT!! Not fair! Undyne’s helping him!? Are you kidding me?!” Flowey would never have let this happen if he still had control over the timeline, but that obscene power would never grace him again.

Clover had no idea why she had saved him, but he was grateful for the save either way. Maybe their sense of honor and justice wasn’t so different after all. “Never thought I’d ever see you comin’ to my rescue. Thanks, I think.”

The cowboy was unsure how Undyne was resisting the scalding heat in this superheated boiler room, despite her being an aquatic monster and all. ‘Does she have some sort of magic to beat the heat? Some kinda gizmo? Guess it doesn’t really matter right now.’

Undyne spun her spear around, and brandished it at the hideous amalgamation of machinery and writhing vines before them. “Don’t thank me just yet! After I finish this freak off, we’re going to settle our score!”

“That’s fine by me.” Clover wiped his face, and prepared himself. He pulled his last chocolate pop out of his bag and hurriedly shoved it into his mouth. Strangely, the magic food only fixed his injuries by half as much as he expected. The cowboy noted it as something to worry about later.

Stirring awake, the sheriff pulled himself out of the cratered wall and joined them in squaring off against the wriggling mass of metal and vines. He blinked a few times, and then recognized exactly who was standing next to him. “As I live and breathe, is that the Cap’n? You sure are a popular one, partner.” He tipped his hat.

“Lucky me.” Clover quickly reloaded his revolvers and readjusted his own hat, ready to get back into the action.

The hulking machine’s vines twisted around and repaired its ankles, rising once again. The titanic abomination menacingly loomed over the ragtag crew.

“Break!” Undyne barked out the order and the trio scrambled, diving separate ways to avoid heavy metal slams from the huge robot.

Twisting vines from the abomination slithered Clover’s way once again, but this time he was ready. The human gunslinger drew his knife and sliced the vegetation to shreds with a flurry of slashes, then quickly circled around the robotic puppet’s main body to give himself some time to think. ‘Basic attacks don’t really seem to be doing that much. There’s gotta be some way to take this thing down for good.’

As the trio moved while avoiding thorn projectiles, grasping vines and huge limb strikes alike, Clover spotted a giant vegetative organ between some of the vines on the chest of the beast, pulsating like some kind of malformed green heart. He called out to the others. “Hey!! Between the plant crap on the chest there’s a big nasty heart, but I can’t reach it while it’s thrashin’ around like this!”

Undyne kicked off one of the walls, leaping high into the air to unleash a barrage of blue spears down onto the walking pile of robot corpses from above, brutally pinning its limbs to the ground. “Go!! Take this bastard out, now!”

The star-faced sheriff clenched his fist, focusing a big chunk of mana on a spell, starlight shining from his hand. “Pard! Use this!” He manifested a huge pack of magical dynamite with an angrily hissing fuse, and whipped it through the air towards Clover.

Clover leapt high, snatched the explosives out of the air, and dove towards the chest of their massive foe. Dynamite pack in one hand, sharp metal in the other, he hastily cut his way through the thorny vines and ripped a hole into the heart with his hunting knife. The human gunslinger slammed the magic dynamite into the deep wound he had just cut, and springboarded away off of the colossal machine.

The arcane bomb detonated as the human gunslinger leapt away, explosion tearing apart the vine-puppeted metal titan from within with a burning blast of astral power. The force of the explosion sent Clover sailing through the air, and he closed his eyes, bracing himself for a painful impact against the metal structure of the Steamworks.

“Clover!!”

Instead of the hard ground, the cowboy’s body flew into a certain soft ball of brown fluff. When Clover opened his eyes, he found himself in Kanako’s arms, being held princess-carry style. Their earlier roles had been reversed.

“Uhh… Thanks? Nice catch. Wait, what–” Clover was suddenly cut off, caught off guard by the kitsune suddenly standing him upright and pulling him into a tight hug.

Clover was a bit flustered, but he could still tell that she was under a lot of stress for obvious reasons. “I - Are you okay? Why’d you come back here?” He gently pressed a hand against the top of her head.

After a few prolonged moments of contact, Kanako let go of him and took an awkward step back, a bit embarrassed. “I, erm, I felt your pain, so I thought you were in trouble.”

“Oh. Sorry about that. I got a little careless…” Clover shook his head. “Is your mother okay?”

Kanako’s face contorted into a grimace. “No, I don’t know, they were still operating on her in the hospital when I left. I need to go back.”

“Oi. Clover.” The Captain, who had just been awkwardly watching this little moment go on for a bit, cleared her throat before speaking. “Look, I have absolutely no clue what’s going on between you and the little fox lady, and Alphys still wants me to bring her back to the lab. But if your mother is in the hospital…”

Undyne shook her head in frustration. “Ahh, to hell with all of it! I can’t do this shit if your mom’s on her deathbed or somethin’! That ain’t right.” She pointed an armored finger at the human cowboy. “One week. You get one week to lick your wounds, Clover. Then we’ll settle things in the town just outside of here at noon, sharp. Don’t you dare even think of running. Got it?”

“I wouldn’t even dream of runnin’. I’ll be there.” As brazen as ever, Clover replied without even a second of hesitation. This earned him a momentary side-eye glance of concern from Kanako.

“Good!” Captain Undyne stomped off after the confirmation of their duel, heading back into the upper levels of the Steamworks.

The sheriff walked over to the cowboy & kitsune duo as the Captain marched off. A low whistle escaped from his lips once she was gone. “Did you really just agree to a showdown with the Cap’n? Damn, look at the cojones on this guy.”

Clover gave a short chuckle in response, and Kanako ran over to the starry sheriff to give him a quick hug, eyes watering a bit despite the heat of the room. “Uncle Starlo!...”

Starlo stumbled back a bit before patting the fox on the back. “Woah, hey there, kiddo. Not so little anymore, huh? C’mon, we better go check on your mother. You can tell me ‘bout whatever kinda grand miracle brought you back from the dead later, eh?”

Kanako let go of the sheriff, wiped her eyes with her sleeves, and then pointed at the human cowboy. “Clover’s the ‘miracle’ that did it.”

Starlo blinked a few times and looked over at the human cowboy with an empty-headed expression. “Come again?”

Clover tipped his hat, and shrugged. “It’s a long story. We should make tracks before the cows come home.”

“Yer right. Let’s go.” The sheriff, his body still glowing with natural starlight in the dark, guided the pair out of the Steamworks and back to the Wild East.

~

A certain flower furiously writhed around in the vents high above where the big fight had taken place, having seen the entire thing. “God DAMNIT!! Stupid useless giant hunk of junk!”

Flowey angrily slammed his vines against the metal of the structure, denting it. “How?! How does that bastard keep getting so lucky?! This isn’t fair!! There’s gotta be some way to kill them, somewhere!!”

The flower raged on for a while alone, until a devious idea entered his mind. A wicked grin spread across his face, and he began to laugh maniacally. “Yeees, the former royal scientist’s private lab. The room that poor old Alphys is too scared of to even enter, there must be something fun there for me to play with if she’s kept it under such tight lock & key for so long!”

Flowey continued to laugh hysterically to himself as he slithered away from the derelict Steamworks…

~

Specks of quiet sand danced through the air as the two cowboys & the brunette kitsune trudged through the roads of the Wild East. Fear and anxiety hung onto their hearts like heavy anchors of dread. They entered the hospital, silently making their way through pale hallways to a particular room. Axis quietly rolled back to the Steamworks once they arrived.

Inside the hospital room, a monster wearing a plague doctor’s mask & a white coat atop a purple dress was jotting down notes on a clipboard to the side of the bed. A bloody thorn was placed on a metal tray atop a cart in the corner. Ceroba was lying still atop the hospital bed, dressed in a pale blue hospital gown. Her dirty, ragged blood-stained clothes were placed at the foot of the bed, folded neatly.

The red-headed kitsune’s torso was wrapped in stark white bandages, her chest slowly rising and falling. An oxygen mask covered her mouth, breath fogging up the transparent plastic. An intravenous bag atop a stand fed a solution into her veins through a slim tube, and a heart monitor beeped with a slow but steady rhythm.

The two cowboys stood a respectful distance away while Kanako timidly approached the doctor, clutching her hands to her chest, her eyes watering anew once more. She spoke the only question one could possibly ask in this terrible scenario. “Is my mom going to make it?”

The doctor set their pen down, attaching it to the clipboard. They turned to Kanako, their expression completely unreadable because of the mask. “She’s stable, yes. She’s surprisingly resilient for someone in her condition and with her drinking habits, to be frank. Optimistically, she should wake within the week. She will live. However…”

The doctor shook their head. “I’m sorry. There was damage to the spinal cord from the injury. She may not be able to walk for a while, if ever again. We did what we could, but the rest is up to her body and rehabilitation.”

Sparkling fragile tears set aglow by the cold overhead hospital lights gently drifted off of Kanako’s face. “I… I’m just glad she’s alive… Thank you…”

Starlo turned away from the scene, hiding his own weeping face with his musty old leather hat. However, he was unable to conceal his jittery breathing betraying his true feelings.

Clover could feel the bittersweet depths of their sorrow and relief. He felt like he should be shedding tears too, but his waterworks just refused to flow. He didn’t understand why, he could clearly feel sadness’ cold grip on his heart, and yet no tears came. The cowboy tipped his hat forward to veil his eyes in shadow, expressing his melancholy in his own way.

“I’ll give you all some time alone for now. A nurse will swing by to check in on things later.” Clipboard in hand, the doctor bowed their head, and left the room.

Kanako delicately clasped her mother’s hand with her own, and knelt by the side of the hospital bed, continuing to weep.

Clover gently placed a hand on the brunette kitsune’s shoulder, quietly standing with her in solidarity.

Starlo pulled up a chair at the opposite side of the bed, and sat down, leaning forwards with his hands held together. Within the sheriff’s own mind, he threw himself into a bottomless pit of self-loathing & despair, blaming himself for the entire situation, despite all of the factors he couldn’t have possibly known about or controlled. ‘…Damn it all to hell. If only I’d been able to catch up to her, Ceroba wouldn’t be lyin’ there. Or if I had stopped her when she ran past the farm. Or if I had just been with her when she saw the broadcast. I had so many chances, I blew them all, and now she might never be able to use her legs again. I’m such a damn screw-up. It should be me lying there, not Ceroba, damnit. It should’ve been me…’

Only the somber noise of the heartbeat monitor broke the silence of the next hour.

A nurse arrived to tend to the needs of the unconscious patient, and the three left the hospital room for now.

Standing just outside the door, Starlo pulled Kanako into a sympathetic hug to console her, breaking apart after a few moments. “So… you gonna stay here for now, Kanako?”

“Yeah… I don’t wanna leave mom’s side.” The kitsune wiped her eyes with her sleeves once more.

“I understand.” Starlo nodded.

The nurse quietly exited the room, and Kanako went back inside to be with her mother.

The sheriff turned to the human cowboy, hand on his hip. “I think it’s time we had a chat, pard. You look like you’re old enough to drink, so how about we mosey on over to the saloon? You can tell me your yarn there.”

Clover looked back towards the hospital room for a few moments, his gaze resting on the sight of Kanako resting on a chair at her mother’s bedside staring at her mother’s sleeping face.

The human cowboy turned back to the sheriff after a bit, and gestured towards the hallway leading out of the hospital. “Sure. I ain’t really in the mood for any hard stuff, though. Lead the way.”

“Fair ‘nough.” The sheriff led the cowboy out of the hospital, leaving the two kitsunes alone for now.

~

The rustic bar was quiet, the only real sounds piercing the silence coming from the clink of ice against the sides of glass cups. Dina, an armadillo monster lady with long red hair and a scarf made of friendly green snakes, ran the place as its barkeep. Blackjack, a monster with vibrant purple skin, a handlebar mustache and wearing rather formal attire was sitting at a corner table by himself, writing something out on a document. A certain elderly tortoise monster was enjoying a stiff drink and warm meal in the back by himself. The barkeep was idly polishing a glass as two customers walked in through the swinging wooden door-gate.

Dina raised an eyebrow as she recognized Starlo in his old sheriff costume. “Howdy, howdy. Well, there’s a getup I haven’t seen in years, Star. What’s the special occasion? Does it have something to do with all the commotion coming from the Steamworks earlier?”

The sheriff gave Dina a short wave. “Kanako’s back, Ceroba’s little tyke. Well, she ain’t so little anymore.”

Understandably shocked, Dina nearly dropped the glass she was polishing, haphazardly juggling it between her hands for a moment before she managed to catch it. “What?! You aren’t pulling my leg, are you, Starlo?”

“Dead serious, Dina. Kanako’s in the town hospital right now with her mother if you wanna go see her, but… she could probably use some alone time for now. Ceroba got hurt pretty bad tryin’ to find her in the Steamworks. ‘Least, I think that’s what was goin’ on.” Starlo took a seat on one of the stools at the bar. Clover followed suit and grabbed a stool.

“Gods almighty, Starlo… And who’s the new bloke you brought with you?” Dina turned towards Clover, and the green snakes making up Dina’s scarf stuck their tongues out at the human cowboy a few times.

“This guy’s the reason Kanako’s back from the beyond, apparently. I brought ‘em here so I could hear their story over a few rounds.” Starlo clapped Clover on the back, causing the human cowboy to involuntarily flinch a bit.

“I see… Wait, fella, are you that human everyone’s been talking about lately?” The armadillo lady cocked her head to the side, taking a closer look at the cowboy.

Clover, once again refusing to hide who he was, removed his hat to fully reveal his face, rough skin marked by the scars of the battles he’d endured so far. He placed his hat to the side on the counter. “My name is Clover. I jumped down into the Underground intentionally, and I am one hundred percent a human. Is that a problem?”

Starlo quietly observed the interaction between the two.

Dina paused, remembering the tales of the Snowdin incident. “You haven’t killed any monsters, have you?”

Clover cocked an eyebrow. “Your sheriff tells you I’ve resurrected someone from the dead, and you ask me if I’ve offed anyone?”

Starlo chuckled, Dina gave an anxious smile, and Clover shook his head.

“No, I’ve not killed anyone down here. The worst I’ve done to someone was knock them out in self-defense… And slam that show-boatin' robot into the ground, I suppose. But he lived.” The human cowboy idly rapped his fingers against the counter in a slow rhythm.

Dina eased up a bit, resuming polishing the glass she had almost dropped once again. “Right, I saw that live on the ol’ tube.”

She jabbed a thumb towards an old CRT sitting atop a barrel. “That fight sure was a real spectacle. Somethin’ for the ages. Mettaton kinda deserved it, though. I think Mettaton weighs... well, a ton, and you threw him around like a wee ol’ ragdoll. You’re freakishly strong even by human standards, aren’t ya, lad?”

“I guess so. It didn’t really feel like he weighed that much.” Clover looked down at his hand, clenching & releasing it a few times. He hadn’t really noticed how much stronger he’d gotten until now, mainly because he’d been focused on fighting at range with his firearms. ‘Maybe I should start throwing hands instead of bullets more often… Or maybe I can do both at once...’

“Wait, he did what to Mettaton?” Starlo gave Dina a wide-eyed look. He hadn’t seen the broadcast himself, he'd been busy working in fields when it aired.

“Chucked him like an empty can of pop. You wanna see? I recorded the whole fight.” Dina pulled out a VHS tape from underneath the bar, and slid it into a slot underneath the CRT.

The entire fight with Mettaton played out on the TV screen before them, showing everything between Clover’s initial drop-kick on Mettaton, the robot raining bombs down on them, and the cowboy slamming the robot into the ground with a pile-driver. The camera lens cracked and the feed went dead shortly after the pile-driver’s impact.

Starlo shoved his slackened jaw back into place with a hand. “Well god damn, pard.”

Dina popped the tape out of the slot, and slid it back underneath the bar onto a shelf. “Anyways… How about you tell us how you pulled Ceroba’s daughter out of the grave, and I’ll give you some drinks on the house?”

“Alright, but I’ll just take water if it’s all the same to you.” Clover wasn’t exactly in the mood to get plastered at the moment. The heavy mental image of Kanako weeping at her mother’s side refused to leave the forefront of his mind’s eye.

“Sure thing.” Dina filled a clear glass with water, and slid it to the human cowboy.

Clover caught it with a gloved hand, and stared down into the water’s surface for a moment. “Where do I even start… I’m probably gonna sound like I’m fresh out of the looney bin with this, but bear with me.”

The human cowboy spent the next good while recounting what he’d seen, recalling the nightmare fuel in the labs under Hotlands he’d seen, how he found the room Kanako was in, fighting a malevolent human dancer wraith, taking Kanako’s hand in the bizarre spirit realm, touching her SOUL with his own, and the events that happened in the lab room after they woke up. He also went over their time in New Home city a bit, and their escape from the city through the Steamworks.

The hours wound away into the evening as Clover unraveled his tale, and the massive swelterstone hanging high above the region acting as the monsters’ faux sun dimmed, simulating night in the Underground…

~

“You weren’t kiddin’. That really does sound crazy as all hell.” Starlo took a deep swig of his adult ‘soda’.

Clover shook his glass a bit, rattling the ice around in the cup. “I won’t ask you to believe me, but I won’t be changin’ my story either. S’ just what happened, far as I understand.”

A brunette kitsune pushed open the door-gate and tiredly walked into the saloon, her soft ears drooping, tail dragging across the ground. Kanako quietly dropped herself onto a stool next to Clover, and slumped into his side. She no longer cared if she was being overly familiar in front of other people, and also no longer cared if she was being too forward either. The kitsune was mentally exhausted.

The human cowboy silently embraced her with a tender arm in an attempt to comfort her. Even if he was a bit dense at times, Clover could tell when she needed support.

“Well by all my stars, li’l Kanako really is back, and grown up big. Real sorry ‘bout what happened to your mom. Can I get you anything, sweetheart?”

“Hi Dina… No, I’m good, thanks.” Kanako mumbled out.

The sheriff shot a concerned look her way. “Y’ alright, kiddo?”

“Just tired…” The kitsune closed her puffy eyes, turned her head and wearily buried her drowsy face in Clover’s warm chest. The human cowboy just calmly sat still, allowing her to lean on him for as long as she needed.

The sheriff set his bottle down. “Well… Anyways, Clover, since you’re all done tellin’ your tale, I’ve got a few questions of my own I’d like to ask if it ain’t too much trouble, pard.”

The human cowboy quirked an eyebrow. “Oh boy… Go ahead. Shoot.”

Starlo could not stop himself from rambling on for a hot minute with questions about the cowboys he’d seen in westerns. Clover cleared up most of the sheriff’s misconceptions instead of just letting him believe the strange notions he’d gotten from watching movies. “So, are all cowboys fireproof or somethin’? I keep seein’ ‘em ride off into the sun at the end of almost every western.”

Clover sighed and shook his head. “No, humans are not fireproof. They’re not literally riding into the sun at the end of those flicks, it’s just how the shot is framed. The sun’s a big ball of fire that the earth orbits around from about a hundred million miles away. Can’t exactly just walk into something like that.”

“Heeeyyy, Starlo, forgetting something?” Dina shot Starlo a smug look and held out her hand towards him. Immediately understanding what was going on between the two, Clover stifled a laugh.

The sheriff grumbled a bit and handed over a few gold coins to the barkeep. “I never shoulda taken that bet… Bah. Anyways, what’s with all the extra irons, partner? Y’ ain’t confident in your aim?” Starlo pointed a finger towards Clover’s assorted gun collection and all of his different holsters.

Clover set his glass down, and took on a much more serious tone. “Nah. Lemme tell ya somethin’. Y’see, to me, waste is a real tragedy. The hard work of gunsmiths, their sweat, their tears, and their pride are poured into each bit of metal. I feel the weight of all of it in every piece and every round I hold. To miss or misuse their makings would be no different from spittin’ on ‘em. And that’s a real crime.” The gunslinger spoke from the depths of his heart, and tapped a finger against the counter to emphasize his point. “I carry all this extra heat because I know I’ll hit all my shots.”

‘...And it’s also mostly why I’m real torn up about my busted shotgun.’ Clover mentally grimaced, remembering the state of his fractured twelve-gauge sitting uselessly in its holster.

In the corner of the saloon, a certain well-dressed purple monster with a moustache began to weep uncontrollably, but he hid his face behind a stack of documents. Nobody noticed Blackjack’s private emotional episode in response to the human gunslinger’s ideology, much to the shopkeeper’s relief. The old businessman quietly left the bar and headed back to his own place.

A low, drawn-out whistle rang out from the sheriff’s lips. “Damn, pard… Never thought of it that way before. Ya just got here and you’ve already given me a whole heap of things to think about.”

“This kid might be more mature than you, Star. And they're, what, maybe a bit over half your age at most?” Dina razzed the sheriff with a playful smirk on her face.

Starlo raised his hands for a moment, a sheepish smile accompanying the gesture. “Hey, c’mon now, we’re all gettin’ old here. No need to rub it in. The town itself ain’t much better off, too…” The sheriff sighed, and his face fell into a gloomy expression.

“I’ve been meanin’ to ask, what’s up with that? This place is a real ghost town. Most of the buildings I’ve seen were either boarded up or practically a big pile of splinters.” Clover might’ve scared everyone out of this desert town in his past life, but he remembered the place being in better shape back then compared to the desolate landscape it was now. Kanako, still leaning on the human cowboy, opened one of her eyes. She’d been curious about this too.

Bearing a deflated frown, Dina shuffled a few bottles around before she replied. “Well… Everyone just slowly drifted apart, I suppose. Time passed, people got bored of the whole ‘wild slice of the surface’ schtick, and they moved on. It’s just my place, Blackjack’s shop, and the rest of the essentials that are still open around town. Starlo’s old gang, Ed, Moray, Ace and Mooch all went their separate ways after a while. I think Moray’s working at the mine with their parents now, but I don’t remember where the rest wound up.”

“They’ve been sending me letters to just check up on things and say howdy every now and then, so I think they’re at least all doin’ alright. Man, I miss them…” Starlo’s thousand-yard stare laid out the entire story of his feelings on his mug. He took another swig of his drink.

“Oh, so that’s why everyone’s gone… Sad…” Kanako mumbled, a bit muffled, face still pressed into Clover’s chest.

“...Yeah. That being said, Ceroba’s place - er, your ol’ home, Kanako, ain’t exactly in the best shape right now either, and I’m assuming you two don’t have a place to stay for the night. The li’l house where the old gang used to stay hasn’t fallen apart too badly, and I’ve been keepin’ it clean just in case they came back… But anyways, you’re welcome to crash there for now if ya want. Here’s the key.” Starlo pulled out a small keyring, plucked a lone gray metal piece off of the ring, and slid the key across the counter to them.

Clover caught the key with his free hand, examined it for a moment, and then slid it into a pocket. He tipped his hat to the sheriff. “ ‘Preciate it.”

“Naw, it’s the least I could do, especially after everything that’s gone down today. Don’t mention it.” Starlo shook his head, staring down into the depths of his single half-finished bottle.

Kanako finally lifted her head up off of Clover’s chest, and stared into the space between the two cowboys for a minute before speaking. “...I still want to see it tonight. My home, I mean.”

“I understand. Gate’s probably unlocked if I had to guess, I doubt your mother locked up before she blitzed off to go find you. I better get goin’ home myself, I need to make sure my old folks and my brother are okay for the night. And, uh… I forgot to say it earlier, but welcome home, Kanako.” The sheriff left a few coins on the counter, stood up, walked up and gave the brunette kitsune a quick hug. Dina swept up the coins with a hand, and nodded in approval.

“Thanks, Unc.” Kanako gave him a weak smile. Starlo returned her look with his attempt at a reassuring smile, and then left the bar for the night, waving goodbye to Dina as he walked out.

“D’ you want me to come with you, Kanako?” Clover picked up his hat from the counter, and placed it back on his head.

“Yeah… Please. I don’t wanna be alone for now.” Kanako hugged onto his arm, sorrow still etched into her expression, not meeting his eyes with her own.

Dina rapped the counter to draw attention to herself before speaking. “You two take care of yourselves now. And if you ever need anything, you know where to find me.”

“Actually, there is one thing…” Clover pulled his empty water bottles out of the dimensional satchel and placed them on the counter. “Could I trouble ya to fill these up with water, please?”

“Sure thing, hun.” Dina took the bottles, popped off the caps, and filled them up with clear, clean water before screwing the lids back on and sliding them back to Clover.

The cowboy tucked them back into his satchel, then pulled a couple of gold coins out and placed them on the counter. “Thanks, Miss, uh…”

“Dina. The name’s Dina, Clover. Also, I told you earlier you didn’t have to pay for anything, goober. Take your coins with you. Have a good night, and you better take good care of li’l Kana now, you hear me?”

A bit embarrassed he'd forgotten Dina had promised free drinks for the night, Clover nodded, and slid the coins back into his nearly-empty wallet. “Thanks. And yeah, I will, don’t worry.” Clover stood up from his seat, melancholic brown fluff-ball still wrapped around his arm, slid their stools back into place, and then left the saloon with Kanako in tow.

~

Following the kitsune’s directions, the pair headed south and then turned to the west to get to the other town in the Dunes, once known as ‘Oasis Valley’.

The sparkling oasis the place was named after had dwindled to little more than a pitiful puddle in the sand, and the palm trees that had once proudly stood tall around it were now nothing more than wilted dead logs. Wooden planks were nailed to the front of most of the doors in the town, and not a single building offered even a single speck of light from within. The grand glass windows of the arcade had been smashed apart, jagged shards scattered across the ground serving as the only hint of what had once been there.

A heavy sigh escaped from Kanako’s aching heart as the duo passed through the ghost town.

Her companion slowed, and turned to her. “You okay?” Clover placed a concerned hand on her shoulder.

Kanako’s gaze swept across the barren town. “Yeah, it’s just… This place used to be so full of life, and now… It’s painfully clear that nobody’s been home in an eternity.”

Clover was silent for a moment before he spoke, faint memories of an eerily similar empty hometown echoing at the edges of his mind. “...I know the feeling. Do you wanna take a bit to look around?”

Kanako hesitated for a second, and then shook her head. “No… Let’s just keep going. My home should be just a bit north of here. C’mon.”

The kitsune took the cowboy’s hand into her own, and they headed north, down the lonely road towards her old home.

~

A rusted iron gate hung open on the path before them underneath a torii gate. The gate’s hinges were barely holding together, as if one stiff wind might’ve been enough to completely rip the gate from its metal posts. An old broken lock was lying to the side of the entryway. The red paint on the torii gate itself was faded, bits of the paint had cracked and flaked away, showing the old rotten wood underneath.

A wooden carving of the Ketsukane crest, a spherical bell with an X-shaped lip and a pair of fox ears, atop an elegant bow, was attached to the top of the torii gate, but even that sacred family icon had begun to fall apart over the years. Bits of the wooden rope had fallen off along with one of the fox ears, and were scattered across the ground. The whole structure was a disaster.

Kanako silently pushed her way past the ruined gate, and headed further down the path to her old home with Clover by her side.

The both of them could tell things were bad even before they took a step inside. The once grand house built with a distinct oriental flair, almost resembling a Japanese noble’s homestead, was now a tattered shadow of its former self. A handful of shingles on the roof had either worn away or fallen off completely, a few windows were shattered, the wooden steps leading up to the porch had snapped in half, and an ugly mound of old bottles surrounded the front door. The sight of Kanako’s once noble eastern home, now in ruins, began to pull her heart into a deep abyss. “Gods…”

This entire sight was already uncomfortably familiar to Clover, and he had a feeling he knew what was going through the kitsune’s mind right now. He turned to her. “Hey. We don’t have to go in if you don’t want to.”

Kanako uneasily shook her head. “No, I have to see this. It’s important to me.”

“Alright.” The cowboy adjusted his hat, settling his own nerves and attempting to push his old memories to the side.

Kanako steadied her breathing before she stepped inside with Clover, and once they entered, the pair were immediately assaulted by the foul stench of booze pervading the entire house as they walked through it. There were at least a few bottles lying on the cold wooden floor in every direction they looked, they couldn’t go anywhere without kicking at least a few at a time. Black trash bags littered random corners of most rooms. Once-cherished bamboo planters were knocked over onto the ground, dirtying floorboards and carpet alike. The walls were stained with some kind of unknown liquid, and whatever it was, it stank.

After a while of wandering around randomly in a daze from the mess and smell, they happened to wind up in her parents’ bedroom. It was in a particularly horrid state. The floor was filled with garbage, the bedsheets were stained and a bit ripped up, and some of the furniture was either smashed or thrown about chaotically.

Despite the mess, a precious few things remained unsullied. Kanako made her way through the muck over to her parents’ bedside table, and picked up a framed photograph of her family from well over a decade ago, as well as a certain letter from the Underground government’s Royal Science Division. More tears would have fallen from her eyes tarnished by grief, had she not already shed as many tears as she possibly could in one day earlier.

Clover trudged through the garbage to get to Kanako’s side, and he spotted the photograph. “...Is that a picture of you and your folks?”

The kitsune slowly turned to him, and nodded mournfully, ears flat against her head. “Yeah. That’s us… Well, it was…”

The cowboy rubbed the back of his head, trying to find something to say. “You were a cute kid.”

She could only offer a weak smile in response. “Thanks…”

Acidic regret ate away at Kanako from within when she took a closer look at the letter. “Mom… She must have been so miserable after I…” she trailed off.

“...After you what?” Clover raised an eyebrow at her.

Kanako paused for a moment, biting her lip, before deciding to confide in him. “...After I took this weird blue… injection. Mom made it using Dad’s old notes, and it needed a boss monster SOUL along with the extract from a human SOUL to work. If it worked, then we would’ve been able to make some kind of miracle serum that could turn regular monsters into boss monsters.”

“It was my idea to use my own SOUL… Even though Dad’s recording said he didn’t want me to get caught up in it, I volunteered myself. Mom was hesitant, and I insisted. I thought we’d be heroes of the whole Underground if it worked, but… It’s probably what caused me to wind up stuck in that lab like that for ten years, all slimy and burning up, and… well, I think you know the rest.”

“I’d probably still be stuck there if not for you, but… this whole mess is still all my fault.” She placed the photo and the letter back down on the table, and began to shake a bit.

That was a whole lot to process all at once, one thing bugged the cowboy about it, but he didn’t have an answer for it yet. He shook his head. “...I don’t really think any of it was your fault, but either way, we probably shouldn’t stay here any longer.”

Kanako pressed her hands together, a bit uneasy. “Okay… There’s just one more room I want to check before we leave, though.”

“That’s fine with me.” Clover followed Kanako out of the room, and they made their way through the gloomy halls over to the western part of the house, ascending to the second floor. There was far less trash and erosion on the upper levels of the estate, compared to the rest of the lonely home.

The brunette kitsune hesitantly approached an unmarred door, and rested her hand on the knob for a moment before she gently pushed it open. The pair stepped into Kanako’s old childhood bedroom together.

Mahogany floorboards lined the ground of the long-forgotten room, and a lost child’s innocent sketches hung from the dark verdant painted walls. A mess of once-cherished toys was scattered around a box in the southwest corner, a youth’s wooden wardrobe stood in the northwestern corner, an unlit lamp and box of well-worn crayons lying atop the neglected furniture. A box of early school level books sat on the floor to the wardrobe’s side.

In the opposite end of the room, a large CRT television next to a pile of video game cases and a white console stood atop a tan round wardrobe. The center of the room was covered by a faded old carpet, the remains of an elegant pattern featuring a monster SOUL still barely visible on it. The kitsune’s childhood bed claimed the majority of the center space, sheets still neatly made and waiting for a missing youth who would never return. ‘Moonlight’ poured through the window above, illuminating the blankets with a pale glow. Most everything in the room was covered in a thin layer of natural dust, left untouched by the filth devouring the rest of the estate.

The grown Kanako walked over to the bed, and rested a hand on one of the wooden posts. Her petite bed was far too small to ever fit her matured frame again. To her, it felt like her old home had shrunk, and she had become a lumbering giant, unwelcome in her own former safe space. The kitsune picked up her old rabbit plush lying in the southwest corner, hugged it against her chest for a moment, whispered something to it, then laid it down on her bed, almost as if she were tucking a child into bed for the night.

Clover had been quietly watching her go through these motions, and chose now to break the silence out of concern. “Hey… Are you alright?”

Wordlessly, she pulled him into a delicate hug underneath the cold light trickling in through the window. He wrapped his arms around her in an attempt to comfort her.

A few moments of solemn silence passed, before Kanako broke from the embrace and looked into his eyes, her own sparkling with fresh tears still held in. “Clover… You got me home and everything like you promised, so… You don’t have any reason to stick around, do you? What’re you gonna do now?”

The cowboy removed his leather hat, holding it to his side, and looked out through the window, staring at the faux moon of the Underground. “...I don’t really know. I ain’t really interested in going after the King anymore, what with the lost kids already being gone and all. I want to hunt down Flowey and rip him out by his roots for what he’s done to you & your mother, but I have no idea where to even begin looking for that snake.”

Clover shook his head. “…You, this town, and the rest of its people have suffered way more than you deserve. I want to stick by your side for now, and help however I can, if it’s alright with you.”

Kanako wiped the warm tears from her eyes, and looked at him with a frail smile. “...I’d like that.”

The kitsune looked out the window and towards the false night sky for a moment, her breathing finally calm. “It’s late… And I don’t think I could handle sleeping in this house right now, not with the state it’s in. Let’s go to the place that Uncle Starlo gave us the key to, the Feisty Five’s old hangout.”

Clover quirked an eyebrow as they left. “The Feisty Five? Is that what they were called when his whole gang was together? That’s… That sure is a name.”

“It is kinda cheesy, huh? Never really thought about it that much when I was younger. Hah…” Kanako led him out of the mostly ruined estate, and the pair walked through the brisk night air together.

~

Clover’s gaze wandered upwards as they strolled through the sandy roads, and he was greeted with a picturesque sight he never expected to see in a subterranean area like this. The dimmed swelterstones in the high ceiling of the Underground twinkled, miniature stars shining embedded in a midnight stone sky. “That’s a real pretty view…”

“Eh?” Kanako tilted her head to the side.

Clover simply pointed a finger up at the fake sky. “Kinda reminds me of aboveground, the surface and all. The real sky looks like this at night too.”

The kitsune looked up at the false stars, glimmering in the dark. “It does? I’m too young to have ever seen the surface, but I really want to see the sky if the barrier gets broken…”

“Breaking the old magic seal, huh… Is that what your old man was tryin’ to do with his research?” the cowboy mused. '...Even if the barrier does somehow break, it might cause another big war. I hope it doesn't come to that...'

“I think that might have been his ultimate goal after everything else, yeah… Honestly, it’s been so long I’m a little fuzzy on the details.” The brunette fox sighed. She still missed her father, despite everything she’d been through.

“...Well, if the barrier does ever break, I’ll take you stargazing. This place ain’t bad, but the real deal’s still prettier than this big cave’s ceiling, and the stars’ positions change over time too.” Clover promised, staring up wistfully.

A tired, half-hearted smile graced the kitsune’s lips. “I’ll hold you to that, cowboy.” Kanako hugged Clover’s arm for the rest of the short walk back to the Wild East. Though he might’ve been too embarrassed to express it aloud, Clover welcomed her soft, fuzzy warmth in the cold air of the night-time desert.

(I made a sprite textbox version of the scene just above this text, you can check it out here if you want!)

~

The sleepy pair returned to the Wild East, languidly strolling into town through the southern entrance gate. Taking a left, they approached the old yellow-painted house. Thankfully, this building wasn’t nearly as worn-down as the majority of the rest in town. Clover drew the key from his pocket, clicked open the lock, and pushed open the pale wooden door. He made sure to lock the door after they were both inside.

A tidy, humble abode greeted them inside. A wide, soft bed with red sheets and a few white pillows awaited them in the northwestern corner atop a worn burgundy carpet, next to a minimalist oaken wardrobe. A circular dartboard hung on a central pillar, darts thrown in a game long past still sticking out of the target. To the northeast was a surprisingly clean kitchen, non-perishable foodstuffs tucked into nearby drawers and shelves next to a large white refrigerator.

A simple bathroom with a shower and the usual toiletries was just through a door to the west. An old TV that hadn’t been touched in ages stood in southwestern corner, accompanied by a neat stack of tapes with hand-drawn labels and a worn-down green sofa sat in front of the screen. A handful of springs poked out of the couch in various spots. Sleeping on it comfortably would prove to be a challenge.

Kanako tiredly removed her bag and shoes, placing them on the floor next to the bed. She rubbed her eyes for a moment before looking over to see what the cowboy was up to.

Clover began to set down his gear for the night next to the couch. He’d wanted to do some meticulous work on his recently reclaimed rifle earlier, but he just simply hadn’t been able to find the time to dedicate to it. The gunslinger did some basic routine maintenance on all of his other firearms before retiring for the night, leaving the heavy-duty work on the rifle for tomorrow. The cowboy laid the long gun down against the sofa for now, set down his hat and coat on the arm of the couch, and removed his boots.

Kanako wearily collapsed onto the bed, sunk into the soft memory foam, and pulled the sheets tight. She tried to get some shut-eye, in spite of awful thoughts of her mother in the hospital swirling around in her mind.

Clover dropped himself onto the couch, and struggled to find a position that didn’t have bits of metal constantly digging into his side from the springs. Eventually, he got fed up with it, drew his knife, and sliced off the most annoying springs. Satisfied, the cowboy lay down and placed his hat over his face to serve as a makeshift sleep mask, though sleep didn’t come to him immediately either.

The brunette kitsune uneasily tossed & turned on the bed, unable to defeat the insomnia beget by her anxieties, involuntarily shivering as dark figments of her mother’s condition worsening clawed at her mind. She slammed her face against the pillows a few times, but this did nothing to alleviate her sleeplessness or restless imagination.

After a few more troubled moments of flailing around, Kanako shakily got up and walked over to where the cowboy was attempting to rest. She apprehensively looked at the run-down couch and the metal springs sticking out of it, noticing the cowboy had sliced off the springs that would get in the way of sleeping.

Briefly hesitating, she shifted her gaze to the bed, and then back to Clover. Kanako sighed, walked over to the cowboy, picked the hat up off of his face and moved it to the side, rousing him. “...Hey, don’t sleep on this ragged sofa. You’re gonna end up hurting yourself.”

Clover blinked, and took a moment to process what she was implying, a slight blush rising to his face when he figured it out. “...Sorry, what? You want to share the bed?”

The kitsune poked the cowboy’s rosy cheek with a soft finger, while a gentle shade of pink spread through her own complexion. “Yeah, it’s fine… We share pain, remember? I’d rather we share a bed than share the sensation of springs jabbing you.”

“As long as it’s what you want.” Clover groaned a little as he got up, taking care to avoid the irritating bits of metal as he left the sofa. Kanako then pulled him over to the soft mattress, and away from the spiky couch, even though Clover had already taken the time to break off the springs that would obstruct sleep.

Still mostly clothed, they collapsed onto the bed together, sinking into the soft memory foam. Clover laid his head down on one of the pillows, attempting to finally catch some shut-eye. After a few minutes, he felt something soft clinging to his side. He cracked an eye open to see Kanako snuggled up to him in her sleep, softly snoring. ‘...Cute.’ Clover adjusted the blankets so she’d be a bit more comfortable, and eventually drifted off to sleep…

- - -

Chapter Text

Clover opened his eyes, and found himself in a bizarre dream realm similar to the one he’d been in before. An endless still ocean and clear skies stretched before him once again. He was sitting down on the small island of white sands, leaning against the tree, but when he looked up, he found that the tree bore not golden leaves, but vibrant pink petals instead.

‘This is the second time I’ve been sent here… What’s going on?’ The cowboy briefly wondered what it all meant for a moment, before he finally noticed a soft weight pressing down on his chest. A familiar brunette kitsune was cuddled up to him, softly snoring, in an identical position to the one she’d been in when he had fallen asleep.

He turned his head to look around for the mysterious figure that had grabbed his shoulder when he’d been in the last place like this, but the strange world was serene. Nothing happened over the course of what he felt like was half an hour, and he didn’t move his body during it so as not to disturb his sleeping companion.

‘Is any of this for real?... Or not?...’ Clover looked down at the kitsune one more time, briefly watching her peaceful sleeping expression, before deciding to just accept the situation. He leaned his head back against the sakura tree and closed his eyes, slipping into a deeper state of slumber…

~

Warm amber light drifted in from the modest house’s windows, caressing Clover’s face with a mellow warmth. The sound of a pen scribbling away on paper tickled his ears, rousing the cowboy from slumber. He yawned, rubbing his eyes, and looked over to see Kanako sitting just underneath a window, golden faux sunlight gently illuminating her soft features. She was delicately writing - or perhaps drawing? - something into a journal, the one she had picked up earlier in their trip through the capital.

Clover mumbled out a drowsy “G’morning” from the bed, and Kanako returned his groggy greeting with a simple wave. The cowboy leapt out of the soft bed, walked over to the kitsune, and sat down next to her. “Whatcha doin’?”

Kanako drew in a deep breath before she opened up her journal and revealed a high-quality sketch of a well-kept oriental manor. “I’m trying to preserve what I remember of my old home, from before it… well, you know.” A sigh stained by dark shades of regret echoed from her heart.

The cowboy rapped his fingertips against his knees, contemplating his possible options for a moment. “I reckon it’d take a good bit of elbow grease & time, but we could clean up your old place together if ya want. Would probably make your mom happy too, once she wakes up.”

The kitsune paused, tapping her pen against her cheek, brow furrowing. “That… would be a monumental undertaking, considering the state of the house, and the outdoors spots too, for that matter. I mean, I’m not against it, but the whole process is just going to be incredibly nasty. You really don’t have to go that far if you don’t want to, Clover.”

Clover grunted a bit as he got to his feet, and extended an open hand to the kitsune. “I told you I was going to stick around and help you out, didn’t I? I ain’t about to go back on my word just because of a little dirt.”

Kanako took his hand with a sigh, much less melancholic than the one from earlier today. A weary smile formed on her face, and she rose to her feet. “I think it’s more than just a little dirt, cowboy. But either way, thank you.”

She sniffed the air, and her nose wrinkled in reaction. “We should clean the dirt off ourselves first, though. All the oil and whatever other junk we got on us in the Steamworks certainly isn’t doing us any favors.”

The cowboy simply nodded, and the both of them used the bathroom to wash up for the morning. Clover went in first because he was quicker, and afterwards, while Kanako was in the shower, the cowboy checked out the refrigerator to see if there was anything to cook breakfast with. He opened the white fridge door, only to find the cooled shelves completely barren, aside from a lone piece of old corn sitting in the far back. The cowboy shut the fridge. ‘Not entirely sure what I was expecting to be in there to begin with…’

Clover turned away from the refrigerator, walked back to his gear and laid his firearms out on the counter. The gunslinger then took his chance to finally get around to thoroughly cleaning his lever action rifle, making sure it was in proper working order and all. A somewhat childish grin spread across his face as he finished polishing the long gun laid out on the counter, though his smile faded when he shifted his gaze from the rifle to his broken shotgun, barrels badly splintered. There was no way he could repair this by himself with his current tools & materials.

The gunslinger sighed, and put his firearms back into place on his person as Kanako exited the bathroom. The kitsune shook herself off a bit, then sat down on the couch on a spot free of springs.

A rhythmic knock rang from the front door, and Clover walked over to open the door. The starry sheriff, no longer in costume, wearing his usual farmer’s denim overalls instead, stood just outside with a pair of baskets in hand. Clover stepped to the side so Starlo could enter the little house. “Howdy, good mornin’ to the both of ya. I’m assuming you two haven’t had breakfast yet?”

Kanako walked over to Starlo to give him a quick side-hug. The starman returned the embrace, and the kitsune shook her head. “Hi, Unc. Nope, we haven’t eaten anything yet.”

Starlo adjusted his straw hat, and then set down the two baskets on the counter. “Yeah, I figured as much. I haven’t really kept the fridge stocked of course, cuz nobody’s been around in forever… Anyways, there’s some sandwiches and corn in baskets there for y’all.”

Clover walked over to the baskets and picked out one of the homemade sandwiches. Looked like lettuce & tomato with some kinda meat between slices of whole wheat bread to him. “Thanks, pard.”

Kanako grabbed a sandwich herself, and bit into it. After everything that went down yesterday, she could really use the food to help her feel a bit better, even if only in body.

The retired sheriff shook his head. “It’s the least I could do, really. I wish I could stick around and help y’all more, but my folks’ farm is barely hanging on as is, even with me helpin’ out. Can’t leave ‘em on their own for too long.”

Starlo rubbed the back of his head before turning to the brunette fox. “I checked up on Ceroba before I swung by here. She’s still stable, but still hasn’t woken up yet either. Sorry...” ‘…It should’ve been me…’ “I’ll come runnin’ if I notice her condition changes.”

She sighed. “Oh… Thanks for checking on Mom. I’m glad she’s still alive, at least… If you weren’t already so busy with fieldwork, I’d ask if you could help us with cleaning up my old home. That’s pretty much our plan for today.”

Starlo’s eyes widened a tad. “You’re really going to try to tackle that gargantuan mess? Man, you’re more responsible than I expected... I’d love to help, but my hands really are tied up with the farm, sorry. Dina probably has some spare brooms, mops, soap and whatever else you need, she’ll lend you the stuff if ya just ask her.”

The kitsune nodded, looking away for a second & pressing her fingers together in thought.

The gunslinger’s broken shotgun caught the farmer’s eye, and he pointed a finger at the tarnished firearm. “Blackjack can probably fix up that busted twelve-gauge for ya, but he’s a bit of a stingy fella. His spot’s across the street from the hospital.”

Clover’s gaze wandered down to his damaged gun, then after a moment he shifted back up to meet Starlo’s eyes, and tipped his hat. “I’ll check it out, thanks.”

The retired sheriff tipped his own hat in response, and readjusted his posture to stand straight. “Right, I gotta get movin’ now then. Y’all just let me know if you need anything, yeah? You know where to find me if you need me.”

Kanako gave Starlo another hug, and he patted her head for a moment before he headed back to Sunnyside farm, leaving the two young adults to their own devices for now.

The kitsune finished off the sandwich she had been nibbling at before she spoke to the cowboy. “I didn’t know the farm was doing that badly…”

Clover shoved the rest of his sandwich into his mouth, and nodded. “Wouldn’t be surprised if everyone had their own problems ‘round these parts. So, whaddya wanna do first?”

Kanako wrapped up the rest of the sandwiches neatly with a napkin, and placed the food in her dimensional bag. She then took all of the freshly shucked corn and shoved it into the fridge, before turning back to him. “We should probably go ask Dina for cleaning stuff. Judging by the state my old home was in, I really doubt there’s much left for us to use in the house itself.”

The cowboy nodded, rubbing his chin. “Makes sense to me. D’ya mind if we hit up Blackjack’s first, though? I know Starlo said the guy was a bit of a penny pincher, but I still wanna check out the place anyways.”

The kitsune shrugged back at him with a slightly bemused look on her face. “Sure, I don’t mind. C’mon, no time like the present.”

The odd couple grabbed the rest of their gear, and headed out for the day after Clover ensured the door was locked when they left.

~

Martlet stared down at the pink slip she’d just received in the mail, sighing. She’d known it was coming for a while now, but losing her job still stung all the same.

The bluebird crumpled up the pink piece of paper, and tossed it at the mostly-full wastebin in the slapdash home she’d made with Chujin ages ago. She missed, the paper ball bounced off the plastic rim, and the trash fell to the wooden floor.

‘What am I gonna do now?...’ Martlet fell backwards onto her bed, staring up at the ceiling, reflecting on her life. The bluebird hadn’t really gotten much done these past years since the death of her mentor figure. She felt empty, purposeless.

‘...Well, guess there’s no real point in moping around.’ She sprung off her bed, and walked up to her balcony. Martlet did a few stretches, popping her hollow bird bones, and then took off into the sky, heading to New Home city to look for a new job.

~

The blazing heat from the swelterstones hanging high above the desert town beat down on the eastern & western duo, but thankfully the walk over to Blackjack’s didn’t take long at all.

Striding up to the store, they were greeted by an old sign in front of the shop, however, the text was too worn-down to be legible. Beyond it, two short wooden steps led up to an oaken porch decorated by an old faded green carpet with yellow trim, embroidered with a ‘G’ in the center of the fabric. A small table with an old smoking pipe atop it sat at the right end of the porch, accompanied by an old rocking chair. The pair could both tell the chair had been well-loved by the signs of wear on the cushion, and the slight grooves in the floorboards beneath it.

Simple verdant shingles were tiled across the roof and the overhang above the porch, though some of the tiles had fallen off over time. A handful of the green pieces were scattered across the ground next to the shop. A plain white sign with red text spelling out ‘Weapons’ stood atop the middle of the overhang.

A bullseye target peppered with holes was attached to the wall, just to the side of two simple doors with clear glass windows. Clover walked up to the entrance, rapped his knuckles against the shop’s door a few times, and an old voice from inside called out. “Come in!”

The cowboy pushed open the double doors and stepped into the rural gunstore, the kitsune following right behind him. The nostalgic scent of gunpowder and metal immediately teased their noses as they walked in, and the impressive variety of guns lining the racks on the walls at the back of the store piqued Clover’s curiosity. Each firearm was incredibly well-polished, the cowboy could see his reflection in some of them, even from a distance.

A well-dressed purple monster with a gray handlebar mustache and round glasses greeted them at the counter, and a spark of recognition lit up in his eyes when he spotted the human cowboy. “Oh, it’s you! What can I do for you, lad?”

Clover blinked for a moment. “You know who I am?”

Blackjack nodded his round head, “ ‘Course I do. News of the two of ya’s fight with that metal clown has spread like wildfire, and I couldn’t help but overhear you give Starlo quite the lecture on firearms at the bar. To be honest, I was touched. Now, what can I help you two with?”

The fact that they’d both effectively become (in)famous in just one day thanks to Mettaton’s broadcast hadn’t really sunk in for Clover yet. Kanako gently poked him in the side with a slight smirk on her face, and mouthed the words ‘big shot’ to him. He rolled his eyes before he turned back to Blackjack, and placed his damaged shotgun on the counter. “I was hopin’ you could fix this.”

Blackjack picked up the boomstick and gave it a close inspection. “Great Scott, it’s almost as if a bomb went off inside the barrels. What happened to this piece?”

“I…” Clover looked at Kanako for a moment, both of them wearing a puzzled expression. The cowboy rubbed the back of his head, trying to figure out a way to describe what happened without seeming like a nutjob, but then the kitsune piped up for him. “It got overcharged with a big magical attack.”

The gunsmith whistled. “Oh, no wonder. Normal materials like everyday steel can’t handle magic above a certain high threshold of power. Ya need sterner stuff if you’re firin’ bullets empowered with particularly strong magic. Metal like mythril or adamantium can handle channeling the arcane energy of even somethin’ like the King’s pyromancy spells. I believe his Majesty’s royal trident is made of adamantium. ‘Course, stuff like that is real pricey though.”

Clover opened up his wallet to find he only had a pittance of gold coins left. Maybe he shouldn’t have been tossing his money around and shooting it. A minor bout of despair wrenched his heart. “Don’t think I can afford anything like that anytime soon… How much would you charge for just basic repairs?”

Blackjack set the shotgun down on the counter, and adjusted his bowtie. “It’s gonna take a few days to get this piece in working shape. Usually, I’d charge about fifty pieces for something like this. Poor iron’s practically fallin’ apart… But, as long as you don’t tell anybody else about this, just this once, I’ll only run ya five gold.”

This was not at all what Clover had expected to hear from a businessman Starlo had called ‘stingy’. “What? Why? Starlo said you had a reputation for bein’ a bit of a tightwad, why are you doing me favors?”

The gunsmith straightened his posture before he spoke. “Lad, Starlo’s a daft hooligan who used to either break or lose my wares with his band of troublemakers back in the day. Though… Things have been pretty sad ‘round here without those blockheads… Anyways, I know for sure you give your firearms the care and respect they deserve. Even without hearing your speech at the bar, I can tell just by looking at the rest of your guns. There’s not even a single speck of muck on ‘em. You clean them at least once a day, don’t you?”

Clover chuckled, and a somewhat embarrassed grin spread across his face. “Yeah, you got me. I like to check up on my firearms after almost every scrap I get into, at least when I can. You’re doing me a real solid here, so, thanks, I really appreciate it. Once I scrape enough money together, I’ll come back and pay you what you deserve.” He placed five coins on the counter.

Blackjack swept up the coins, and shook his head. “Nah, don’t worry about the bill. Consider it a welcoming gift. Come back in a few days and I’ll have her as good as new.”

The cowboy could only tip his hat in appreciation of the gunsmith’s gesture. “That’s real kind of ya.”

The gunsmith placed the broken shotgun on a table in the back, and then turned back to the pair. “Before you head out, does the Miss need anything?”

“Huh? Oh, uh, no thanks.” Kanako shook her head.

“Alright then. Happy trails.” Blackjack waved them off as they left the store.

~

Outside the store, Kanako leaned forward in front of the cowboy, a petite smile on her face. “That was unexpectedly nice of Blackjack. Guess he likes you, huh?”

Clover nodded as they walked down the road towards Dina’s saloon. “Yeah, guess so. Looks like my old man was right. ‘When you take care of your armaments, craftsmen will take care of you in return.’ ”

“Your father? What’s he like?” The kitsune’s soft ears twitched, interested.

“Oh, y’know, pretty typical father, I think. The old man taught me how to throw a punch, never backed down from anything or anyone, he was strong but also wise, compassionate… Well, he was.” The cowboy’s gaze sunk low to the ground.

“Was?... Is he?...” Kanako’s ears flattened against her head, sensing she might have accidentally struck a nerve.

A fraction of the old sorrow Clover had kept bottled up from wounds long past escaped in the form of a sigh. “...Yeah, he’s no longer with us. Heart disease snuffed out his flame when I was nine.”

An uncomfortably familiar sense of loss struck her. “Oh. I’m sorry…”

The cowboy shook it off, and shrugged. “Eh, don’t worry about it. We’ve got a big house to clean, remember? Let’s go ask Dina if we can borrow her cleanin’ stuff.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” Kanako was curious about Clover’s past, but decided not to pry any further for the time being to respect his privacy, since he seemed to be steering away from it intentionally.

~

The duo walked through the middle of town over to Dina’s saloon together, and pushed open the wooden gate.

The armadillo monster was in the middle of getting ready for the day, moving chairs back into place next to the bar. Dina gave the pair a weary smile when she noticed them enter, and leaned on the counter. “Hey, kids. What brings you here so early?”

Kanako gave her a short wave. “Hi Dina. We’re going to try to clean out my old home, and Starlo told us you had some cleaning supplies we could borrow, so could you please lend us some?”

Dina quirked a single eyebrow. “The Ketsukane estate? The place looks like a tornado hit it, last I’d heard. Makin’ it liveable again is gonna be quite the pain in the rear.”

The barkeep exhaled. “Jeez, you finally return after so long, and the first thing you want to do is try to mop up the mess your mama left behind, Kanako? Your heart’s still just as big as ever, despite everything.”

The armadillo lady jabbed a thumb towards the back of the establishment, and her green pet snakes forked their tongues in the same direction. “The stuff’s in there, help yourself. Even if you don’t manage to clean up the entire place, it’s still real nice of ya to try for your mother’s sake and all.”

Kanako nodded in appreciation, a small smile on her face. “Thanks, Dina. Oh, uh, before we go, do you need help setting up here?”

Dina shook her head. “Naw. There ain’t much that needs doin’ here, I don’t get that many customers these days anyways. Y’all should get movin’.”

“Well, if you say so. Thanks again, Dina.” Kanako & Clover made their way across the rustic saloon, and entered the storage room in the back. The room wasn’t anything special, just a typical space full of shelves and boxes full of things the barkeep needed to keep the place running, such as rags, sponges, mops, a few extra kegs of ‘adult soda’, and the like.

“Here, let’s put what we need in my bag.” The kitsune set her dimensional bag down on the ground with the flap open. The cowboy nodded, and the two got to work placing whatever cleaning supplies they needed into the magic bag. Kanako wasn’t entirely certain they’d need for a job of this magnitude or type, but Clover picked out the majority of the exact cleaning solutions and chemicals they’d need, directing her as they went.

“So, was everyone else who lived here in the past as nice as the people I’ve seen so far?” Clover shoved an entire broom into the dimensional bag, watching with mild fascination as the long wooden handle sank into the container, defying the laws of conventional physics.

“For the most part, yeah. Things were much livelier back then. So many people are gone now…” Kanako dumped a few different spray bottles into the magic bag, along with a mop and some towels, and two pairs of yellow rubber gloves.

“I see…” Clover grabbed a couple bottles of rubbing alcohol and tucked them away.

“Alright, think we’re good to go.” Kanako plopped the rest of the supplies they needed in the bag, sealed the clasp, and slung it over her shoulder.

They waved to Dina as they left, and headed out the wooden gate. The pair passed by an elderly tortoise monster taking a stroll through town as they made their way down the road, to Oasis Valley, and to Kanako’s old home.

~

Kanako took a deep breath as they approached the estate, settling her nerves. Her eyes swept over the disastrous mess, lost as to what to do first. She turned to Clover. “So… Where do we even start?”

The cowboy squinted at the house, looking around. “We probably should start with the outside first. Is there a big trash bin or a dumpster we can use somewhere?”

The kitsune rubbed the back of her head as she recalled something. “I think I saw an empty dumpster behind one of the buildings in Oasis. Should we go grab that?”

“Yeah. There’s a whole lotta junk inside we’ve gotta throw out, so we should grab more than one if we can.” Clover nodded, and the pair backtracked to Oasis Valley.

Together, they pushed a couple of large dumpsters up to the side of the dilapidated manor. Kanako was surprised at how easy it was for them to move the heavy containers together, considering the massive weight of each dumpster.

A peculiar idea entered Clover’s mind as they moved the heavy containers. “Hey, why don’t we just use the dimensional bags to pick up all the trash? Wouldn’t that be easier?”

Kanako shook her head. “There’s a limit to how much the bags can hold, throwing too many things into the bags risks rupturing them, and all the junk in the house would fill it up pretty quick. Also, all the garbage would get mixed up with our other stuff, and it would probably cause both the bag & the rest of our stuff to stink for days.”

The cowboy shrugged, a bit disappointed. “Damn, thought I was being clever. That’s too bad. Was hoping we could save some legwork, but I guess magic can’t do everything, huh?...”

“I mean, I could conjure winds to blow all the trash out, but it would probably also wreck some of the things I want to keep in one piece. Need the right tool for the right job, and all that." The cowboy pulled out the yellow rubber gloves he’d taken from the storeroom earlier, and passed a pair to the kitsune. The duo put on the gloves, and got busy cleaning.

Making this home fit for anyone sane to live in again was an arduous task, to say the least. Yet they kept at it throughout the day, sweeping ungodly amounts of trash out of the house, throwing countless bottles into bins, and mopping up disgusting stains of unknown origin.

After a couple of hours into the work, the pair were cleaning one of the hallways together when Kanako’s elbow accidentally bumped the nose of an old fox statue as she moved her mop. A secret button on the nose clicked into place, and part of the floor began to slowly slide open, revealing a staircase leading to a hidden chamber.

“What the…?” The kitsune’s eyes went wide as the secret hatch slid open. She peered down the staircase, tail wagging with excitement and curiosity.

Clover set his mop down against a wall, and walked over to Kanako to check out the secret entrance. “Wow, that was exactly like something out of a spy movie. Is there more stuff like this in the house?”

Kanako just shrugged back at him, just as surprised as he was by the existence of this contraption. “I… don’t know, actually. I didn’t even know this was here, I hit the button by accident.”

“Huh… Wanna take a look inside?” The cowboy gestured towards the stairs, and the kitsune nodded. They walked down the steps together, and Kanako flicked her flashlight on, searching the nearby walls for a light switch. The air inside was musty and old, like the kind one might be buffeted with by opening an ancient book. The kitsune eventually found a light switch, and flipped it on so they could finally properly see what was inside the mysterious room.

The old bulb illuminated an enigmatic chamber filled with historical eastern armaments and tools, completely untouched by the filth pervading the rest of the household. Old black & white photos of relatives Kanako didn’t remember lined the walls all around the room, along with various different oriental crests shaped similarly to the Ketsukane signature.

Katanas, tantos, ōdachis, and other swords stood proud on a rack placed on the western wall. Accompanying the blades to the immediate side, a naginata, a kanabo and a bow were arranged neatly, along with a few quivers of arrows. Faint runes adorned the grip of each weapon.

A finely-crafted set of samurai armor designed for canid monsters stood tall on an armor stand in the middle of the room. The Ketsukane founder’s crest, a red bow adorned with a golden bell, was painted on a hanging scroll just behind the armor. The family mantra Devoted, Decisive, Determined was written in Japanese characters below the crest.

Old landscape paintings of surface countrysides adorned the eastern walls next to a kamidana, a miniature household shrine. A carving of the Ketsukane’s founder’s crest sat atop the shrine, a more pristine version of the ruined one outside atop the torii gate. A few old yet still gleaming magatamas gems were placed around the shrine, alongside fine porcelain pottery. A pair of white wooden gohei wands stood on opposite sides of the shrine. One lone ofuda talisman was placed on the kamidana, among several other items of spiritual significance.

The cowboy’s gaze wandered over the room, admiring the craftsmanship of the weaponry, even though these types of arms weren’t his forte.

Kanako looked around in awe for a few moments before she approached the shrine. She bowed to the kamidana twice, clapped twice, and bowed deeply one more time. The kitsune stood silently in front of the shrine with her eyes closed for a brief time.

Clover quietly watched the kitsune go through this methodical process, not disrupting her until she finished. “So… I’m assuming you were praying or something? Should I do the same steps you just did?” Feeling out of place, he rubbed the back of his neck a bit awkwardly.

Kanako shook her head. “Thanks, but you don’t have to if you don’t want to. I was just offering my respects to the shrine. I can’t say I truly understand its purpose, but this room seems significant to my family’s history.”

“Oh, I see…” The cowboy took a good look at the shrine, noticing telltale grooves in the structure proclaiming the hand-made history of a craftsman’s tender efforts. Even if he didn’t understand the spiritual importance of the shrine, he could still appreciate the handiwork that went into its construction.

Clover shrugged, and gestured towards the shrine. “If it’s the polite thing to do, then sure, I’ll give a prayer too. Can ya show me how?”

The cowboy’s offer drew a petite smile out of the fox’s face. “Sure thing. It’s really not that complicated, though. Just face the shrine, bow twice, clap twice, make your prayer, and then bow one more time. That’s it.”

“Oh, okay.” Clover followed her instructions, bowing & clapping a bit awkwardly. The kitsune stifled a giggle that rose in response to his somewhat clumsy motions.

Clover cleared his throat before turning back to Kanako. “So, what is this room anyways? What’s up with all the weaponry?”

“Maybe my parents inherited them from their own folks? That’s the only thing I can think of, really. My dad definitely wasn't a warrior or anything, so I guess he just hid all this stuff here? They do look expensive, and all…” The kitsune curiously picked up an old warbow, looking it over. Her eyes widened as the runes on the grip began to glow in response to her touch.

Clover raised an eyebrow at the glowing armament. “Uh… is that normal?”

Kanako turned the bow over, getting a closer look at the glowing runes. “Looks like it’s enchanted. I think my Mom’s staff has similar looking runes?”

“So, I think that means if I do this…” Focusing, the kitsune poured a bit of her magical energy into the bow. The runes’ glow grew in response, and the bow dissipated into motes of light. She held her hand out, concentrated her magic again, and the bow rematerialized in her hand once more.

The cowboy whistled, impressed. “Woah, that’s cool.”

“Right? I’ve always wanted something like this ever since the first time I saw Mom pop her staff out of thin air.” Kanako smiled like an excited child with a new toy. She picked up a quiver and repeated the same process with it.

Clover walked over to the western wall and picked up a katana, examining it. “Think I could do the same thing? Having a weapon I don’t have to lug about in a holster or on my back would save me a bit of hassle.”

“Huh? I don’t know really, Clover. You said you don’t know how to use magic, so… You can attempt it, I guess. Try focusing your energy on the weapon, maybe something will happen.” Kanako shrugged at him.

“Worth a shot.” Clover stared intently at the sword, concentrating, trying to will his SOUL’s power into it. After a few moments, the weapon glowed, and instead of disappearing, the blade burst into yellow flames, similar to the burning blasts he’d fired out of his guns, but stable.

The cowboy blinked a few times. “...I don’t think I’m doing it right.” He looked over at the brunette kitsune, and chuckled somewhat awkwardly.

A tad shocked, Kanako stared back at him and the blazing blade. “...Clover, are you absolutely sure you don’t know how to use magic? That looks like some type of enhancement spell to me.”

A goofy smile spread across the cowboy’s face. “Yes, I’m definitely a wizard, my hat is totally pointy, and this is my magic wand.” he sassed at her, while sarcastically waving around the flaming katana at a safe distance.

The kitsune giggled, and her tail fluttered. She was perhaps a bit more amused than she should be by his antics. “Alright mister sorcerer, put the arcane wand of ultimate power down, we’ve got a house to clean.”

“Yes ma’am.” Clover placed the sword back down on the rack, and the yellow flames disappeared as he released his grip. The pair left the armory together, flicking the lights in the room off as they exited.

Kanako pressed the button on the statue’s nose again, and the hatch slid shut once more.

The duo got back to chipping away at the disastrous trash-heap of a house in an attempt to clean it, piling up a mountain’s worth of garbage into the dumpsters.

A while later, in the middle of the living room, they came across a certain flight of stairs heading further down into the ground. The entrance would have normally been hidden underneath a kotatsu, had the table not been thrown and smashed against the nearby wall in someone’s fit of rage.

Kanako’s ears flattened against her head, her tail drooped, and her face visibly darkened. She stared down into the yawning abyss that stretched before her, unable to look away. Unwelcome memories invaded her mind, freezing her in place, until a familiar hand on her shoulder and a voice drove them away.

“Hey, Kanako. Kanako? You okay?” Clover gently shook her, trying to snap her out of her trance. He had to snap his fingers in front of her face a few times to bring her back to reality.

The kitsune blinked a few times, and her pupils dilated when the cowboy moved into her field of view. “I… Uh, sorry. I’m fine.”

Clover’s eyes shifted towards the stairs for a moment, before returning to face the brunette fox. “...Okay, no. You’re clearly not. What’s down there?”

Kanako nervously bit her lip, wringing her hands around the mop she was carrying. “...My father’s laboratory.”

The cowboy inhaled through clenched teeth. “We don’t have to go down there if you don’t want to.”

“...No. I can’t run away from this forever.” Hardening her heart, Kanako steadied herself and headed down the dark flight of stairs, Clover quietly following after her.

Unsurprisingly, the basement was a real mess, filled with cobwebs and natural dust. Scraps of shredded documents and bits of rusted old metal littered the cold concrete floor, and incomplete robots with bizarre designs were shoved into cardboard boxes shoved into the corners of the room. Some of the robots’ faces had been smashed in by a blunt instrument, and a handful of blackened scorch marks were scattered across the floor. Musty binders full of formulas and notes on SOUL research lined the shelves set in the back wall. A wastebin to the left overflowed with crumpled up papers. An old, dusty computer sat on a desk in the middle of the room, next to a framed photo and a stack of tapes labelled ‘Legacy’.

The pair slowly walked into the basement together, looking over the messy lab with a mixture of apprehension and curiosity.

Clover moved over to one of the shelves on the left side and tapped a familiar-looking prototype of a robot’s head, before turning back to the kitsune to see what she was up to.

The brunette fox was at the desk in the middle of the room, holding one of the tapes from the desk in her hand, gaze locked to it, breathing unsteady.

A concerned frown stretched across the cowboy’s face. “Is that one of the recordings? The ones of your father talking about the experiment?... You sure you wanna watch that again?”

The kitsune took a deep breath and nodded her head. “I… I still want to hear my father’s voice. Just to try to keep his memory alive in my mind. Even if they’re not the most pleasant memories…”

“...Yeah, I can understand that feeling. I’m here if you need me, Kanako.” Clover swept some trash out of the way in the center of the room while Kanako inserted the tapes into the machine, and they sat down together.

The fuzzy static on the screen cleared after a few moments, and the visage of an older gray kitsune man wearing glasses appeared on the monitor, his gaze avoiding eye contact with the camera.

The tapes played out on the screen in front of them.

~

"This is Chujin."

"Today I traveled to Snowdin with  my daughter on casual business."

"While I was busy, Kanako wandered  off to play with a resident."

"That's when it happened..."

"A few panicked townsfolk ran up to me saying that a human had entered the area."

"This human... they attacked the  monster Kanako was with. "

"She was so close... She could've  been next."

"No one was there to protect her...  Not even me..."

"..."

"I don't understand... I just  don't understand!"

"Humankind already won by trapping us down here yet they keep twisting the knife!"

"This cannot continue any longer!"

"As of today, I'm looking into stopping this perpetual injustice once and for all."

"This is Chujin with unfortunate news..."

"I was... fired from my engineering position."

"I poured my all into my project but it wasn't enough!"

"The programming was buggy but I know I could've ironed it out with a few more iterations!"

"Why am I punished for trying to take our struggle seriously!? "

"...I feel as if I'm the only one who hasn't forgotten or chosen to live in ignorance..."

"..."

"I told Ceroba I was retiring. Can't let her think less of me."

"But enough of that... it's in the  past."

"I must live in the present and plan for the future."

"Prove I can save monsterkind... another way."

"This is Chujin."

"After years of research, I've made a breakthrough!"

"Boss Monsters... They may be the key to monsterkind's survival."

"I was able to reach this conclusion because I... "

"...I carry the Boss Monster gene."

"This means my SOUL is much stronger than that of other monsters."

"More importantly, Boss Monsters are immortal until they produce offspring."

"Right now, monsterkind is few in numbers compared to humanity but... "

"...What if anyone could become a Boss Monster like me? Like... Kanako?"

"As a nation, an army, we could finally possess enough power to take the Surface back!"

"My theory for this involves the fusion of a human SOUL and a Boss Monster SOUL."

"From that, a serum would be extracted which could transform any average monster."

"...Unfortunately, I have not garnered enough proof that said serum is possible."

"I must conduct more tests."

"This... This is Chujin."

"I was worried this might happen. Science is a dangerous game."

"Rather foolishly, I experimented on myself... several times."

"Over and over, the subject rejected the fusion, and I think I know why."

"..."

"I'll be direct... "

"My SOUL has deteriorated and I don't know how much longer I have."

"However... I believe my theory holds stronger than it ever did."

"This is a message to my dear Ceroba:"

"This research is up to you. No one else would listen."

"After I'm gone... look for the next human who falls down here."

"Someone pure of heart - uncorrupted."

"I need you to obtain their SOUL, but not just anywhere... "

"You must have a Boss Monster SOUL nearby to fuse with."

"You'll need..."

"...Damn it all."

"Search for a willing Boss Monster in the Underground. Someone else...please."

"Our little girl... Kanako... She needs to live a happy life, unaffected by my endeavors."

"That is my final wish."

~

The gray kitsune on the screen rambled on about his recollections of the Snowdin incident - Clover winced at the part where Chujin accused humanity of ‘twisting the knife’ - , the loss of the kitsune’s job, his boss monster serum theory, and his deteriorating health.

Clover silently got up and turned off the machine as the last tape ended, and turned around to find Kanako shivering, curled up into a fetal position on the ground. He sat down next to her, and she leaned on his shoulder for a while. A handful of warm tears slowly rolled down the kitsune’s face.

After a few moments, the cowboy broke the silence. “...Do you still blame yourself for everything?”

Kanako wiped her eyes before responding in a shaky voice. “Yeah…”

Clover took off his hat, and held it to the side. “I’m not sure if I’ve really got any right to talk about this, but… None of you deserved what happened to you. And… I don’t think it was your fault, Kanako. Neither of your parents’ are at fault either, it’s pretty clear to me that they cared about your people and you a whole lot.”

The cowboy shook his head before continuing. “It was just the awful hand you were dealt. All of you just played the cards you were given the best you could. If anything, mankind’s at fault for trapping y’all down here to begin with. So… seeing as how I’m the only one down here who can really speak for them… I’m sorry. I-”

He was abruptly embraced by soft fluff, Kanako pulled him into a warm hug, fresh tears welling up in her eyes once more. “Clover, thank you, but… There’s nothing you need to apologize for. I mean, you saved my mom’s life, and you might as well have saved mine too. You’ve done nothing wrong in my eyes.”

“I…” Somehow, Clover wound up being comforted too, when he was initially just trying to reassure her instead. He wished he could have truly taken solace in her words, but the leaden chains of sins from his past refused to release their spiteful grip on his heart. He wasn’t ready to share this dreadful weight with anyone else.

‘...This is the daughter of someone I slaughtered in my last life. I’m a human, she’s a monster, she has every right to hate me. And yet, now I’m sitting here while she’s hugging me, and she’s telling me I’ve done nothing wrong. I… I can’t…’ Unsure of what else to do, he just hugged her back quietly, trying to set his own feelings to the side so as not to disturb her. “...Thanks.”

They sat there for a long while. ‘I… I want to know more about Clover. About why he always looks so sad when he thinks I’m not looking.’ After hesitating for a few moments, Kanako decided she would try to get the cowboy to open up a bit more. “Hey, Clover?”

“Yeah?” He gently broke apart from the hug to look her in the eye.

The kitsune pressed her index fingers together. “Is it okay if I ask you a little more about your family? …We are kinda literally cleaning out my own family’s dirty laundry and all.”

The cowboy tilted his head to the side. “I guess that’s fair. Whaddya wanna know?”

Kanako gave him a shy look. “Just, you know, what they were like and stuff.”

Clover scratched the side of his face with a finger, recalling times long past. “Well, uh… I told you a little about my dad earlier, but yeah, I was really fond of him. He was always fair to everyone, no matter the circumstances.”

“My father’s the one who taught me most everything about firearms, and he made sure I knew how to defend myself before he passed. He got me into westerns, too. This hat was his.” The cowboy held up his old leather hat for a moment to emphasize it, and then placed it back on his head.

“As far as other stuff goes… I don’t have any siblings, and I never really knew my mom. My pa never talked about her before he bit the dust.” Clover shrugged.

A burning stake of empathetic pain drove itself into her heart. Kanako was all too familiar with the wounds left behind by the loss of family, and realizing that Clover was even worse off than her stung, especially since he’d already risked so much for her without asking for anything in return. She wrapped her arms around him, pulling the lonely cowboy into a hug again. “Clover, I… I’m sorry…”

“...You’re awfully affectionate today, huh? Not that I mind…” A small, mildly awkward smile rose to his lips as he returned the embrace for a moment, before he gently pulled away and helped her rise to her feet. “You really don’t need to worry about me. C’mon, we’ve still got a big house to take care of. Let’s save cleaning up this basement for later, yeah?”

Kanako wiped her eyes one more time before nodding. “...Yeah, okay. You’re right.”

Together, they left the basement and returned to the first floor, and got back to chipping away at their ordeal of a task.

Before the day’s end, they managed to spruce up most of the hallways, the living room, and made the master bedroom at least habitable in comparison to the disaster it was before. They also cleaned up the porch and patio, sweeping scattered glass shards from the broken windows into bins. A bewildering mound of trash was piled high in the dumpsters they’d placed outside.

Long hours of hard work passed, and the two took a break outside to eat the rest of the sandwiches Starlo had packed for them. A warm amber glow from above lit the sandy landscape as they sat down and leaned against a wooden wall out back.

Kanako pulled a pair of sandwiches out of her bag, and passed one to her companion. They took a few bites in relaxed silence before the kitsune piped up. “Hey, Clover?”

The cowboy shoved the rest of the sandwich down his gullet quickly before he turned to face her. “Yeah?”

The kitsune raised an eyebrow at his sudden speed eating, but didn’t comment on it. Instead, she followed suit, and wolfed down the rest of her food before asking her question. “How’d you know exactly what kinda chemicals and stuff we’d need to clean the place?”

Clover’s expression dropped, and he sighed. “That’s… not a pleasant story. And one I’d prefer not to think about right now.”

The brunette fox winced, ears flattening against her head. “Oh… Sorry.”

The cowboy just shrugged back at her, not really that bothered. “Nah, don’t worry about it.”

Recalling the tapes from earlier, an uneasy thought entered Clover's mind. "Hey, uh... I know this might be kind of a sensitive subject, but... Do you think your mother's gonna try and off me for my SOUL once she realizes I'm here?... I mean, I won't hurt her if she does attack me. I'm just a bit worried. Y'all have already been through so much, and I don't want to add onto that if I can help it." 

Kanako paused, frowning and rubbing the bridge of her nose before she answered. "...Gods, I hope mom doesn't try that. Dad's experiment already went sideways once when we tried it on me. Hopefully that's enough to deter her. If it's not, then I'll stop her myself. It should be easy enough to dissuade mom once she realizes hurting you also hurts me, since we're linked and all... But even if we weren't connected, I'd still at least try to stop her."

The cowboy let out a long sigh. "Thanks for having my back. Still hope it doesn't come to that..." 'Though... I don't think my SOUL would work for it, anyways. The tapes said it needed a pure one, and... There's no way in hell I'm pure after everything that's happened...'   

Suddenly, they were both startled by a loud thud ringing out from the front of the house. Something heavy smacked against the old wooden deck. The pair got up uneasily, shared a look of concern, and headed to the front together.

Shock surged through Kanako’s heart like a crazed lightning bolt when she saw who was waiting for them in the patio.

- - -

Chapter Text

Shock melted into joy as Kanako sprung off the porch like a jackrabbit, and jumped into the arms of a wheelchair-bound red-headed kitsune. “Mom!!”

“Kanako! Gods above, I thought you were dead this entire time…” As the mother embraced her daughter, the agony of ten years’ of separation gave way to immeasurable relief. Warm tears scorched the sands of the Dunes.

“There’s no need to cry. I’m here. Mama’s here…” Despite Ceroba’s words, the floodgates had opened for the both of them, and the rain wouldn’t be stopping anytime soon.

“I’m so sorry, I never should have let you volunteer as a test subject for that experiment…” The old fox kissed her daughter’s forehead.

“It’s not your fault, Mom. Or Dad’s. I don’t blame anyone…” They held each other for a long, long time.

Sensing an overwhelming wealth of warm emotions through their shared bond, Clover almost felt like he was the one being embraced, despite not being anywhere near the two. It drew a handful of tears out of him.

And yet, he couldn’t help but feel a stinging guilt accusing him when he looked at Ceroba. The cowboy held his leather hat in front of him to hide his face, and walked over to the corner of the porch to give the family some space, looking away. Clover let out a long sigh as he leaned against the wooden railing, and gazed up at the amber glow of the faux stone sky.

After a while, the family reluctantly broke from their embrace, and Ceroba finally took a closer look at her daughter. The last time she’d seen Kanako, she was barely half Ceroba’s height at most, and now her daughter was almost as big as her.

“You’ve grown, sweetie. What in the world happened? And who’s your friend?” The ginger kitsune looked over at the cowboy leaning against the railing. ‘Is that really a human? Why aren’t they attacking?...’

“Um, it’s a bit of a weird story. That’s the person who helped me get home.” Kanako turned and waved to the cowboy. “Hey, Clover! Can you come over here for a sec?”

Clover turned when called, and walked over to the family, a bit uneasy. He was only able to maintain eye contact with Ceroba for a few moments at a time. The old memories of fighting her in his past life resurfacing & refusing to be ignored certainly didn’t help. “Uh, howdy, Miss Ketsukane. I’m Clover.”

Kanako anxiously poked her index fingers together as she began to nervously ramble on. “Clover, this is my mother, Ceroba. And, um, Mom, yeah, he’s a human, and I know that’s scary especially because of everything that happened in Snowdin, but he’s really sweet, and he’s done nothing but help me since I first met him and –”

Ceroba rubbed her temples. She was starting to get a headache from the sudden barrage of words, though she was still happy to hear her daughter’s voice again for the first time in years. “Sweetheart, calm down. Just start at the beginning, okay? What happened in the royal scientist’s lab?”

The brunette kitsune slowed her pace, and took a deep breath before continuing. “Okay, well… In the lab, they gave me some kinda weird serum, and I woke up in a hospital bed for a few minutes. Then my body… melted. I… think I fell into a really long sleep or something. I couldn’t see anything besides blue fire in that dream-space-thing, it kept blaring the same awful song at me, and it really hurt. After a really long time, Clover somehow entered the dream realm, and drove the blue fire back. The flames sorta congealed, and turned into… into some kinda apparition of the human dancer from Snowdin. Clover defeated them, then he reached out to me and grasped my hand. After that, I woke up in a hospital room in the lab, whole again. Clover was there, and…”

Kanako rambled on about their entire adventure together so far, but left out the parts about Clover being some kind of time traveler, and their whole SOUL connection situation, because she thought that might be a little too crazy for her mother right now. “Anyways, uh… That’s how I met Clover.”

Ceroba attentively listened to her daughter’s story, slowly absorbing everything that had just been dumped on her. The ginger kitsune may have been sore and hurt from the ordeal yesterday, but she was mostly sound in mind for the first time in years. She quietly stared at the human cowboy for a moment, appraising him. ‘Athletic, well-built, and heavily armed. Their face has a few light scars. They’re definitely a warrior of some kind. Their outfit looks a lot like the costumes Starlo used to wear.’

‘A mere child of humanity was responsible for the Snowdin massacre… And yet, this human adult, despite their appearance, saved Kanako, brought her back to me, and is acting rather benign… And Kanako seems to really like them… A lot…’

‘…Gods give me strength, my daughter has returned from the dead after ten years and she’s in love with a human.’ Ceroba’s feelings about the human were mixed, to say the least. But, the positives outweighed the negatives in her mind, so she decided it would be best to give Clover the benefit of the doubt, and to not unduly antagonize them for now.

The red-headed kitsune sighed, and extended an open hand to the human cowboy. “Well… It’s nice to meet you, Clover. I owe you a deep debt for bringing Kanako home safely.”

Clover rubbed the back of his head with one hand, and accepted Ceroba’s handshake with the other. He managed to briefly overcome his memories long enough to look her in the eye and give an awkward smile. “Gee, I… Naw, don’t worry about it. I was just doing what I felt was right, really.”

“Is that so? Anyways…” Ceroba looked between the house and the mountain of trash the two had piled up in the dumpsters for a moment. A sharp pang of embarrassment from her failure at parental duty slugged her in the emotional gut.

“Oh good lord. Have you two been cleaning the house? Gods, Kanako, I’m so sorry you had to come back to such an impossibly filthy home, I… I haven’t exactly been myself since you fell down. I should be the one tidying the place up. Here, let me just…” Despite her being bound to a wheelchair, Ceroba tried to wheel herself up onto the porch unsuccessfully, much to the dismay of her daughter and the cowboy.

“Mom, no, please, it’s fine. We’ll take care of it. You’re hurt, you should still be lying down in a bed or something. I’m still really shocked you’re already awake, honestly.” Kanako fussed over her mother, trying to stop Ceroba from worsening her injury by working when she should really be resting.

Clover shook his head, and adjusted his leather hat. “Your daughter’s right. You should leave it to us.”

Ceroba grumpily sighed, acquiescing to their request. “Fine… Just, please help me get inside. I’d feel bad if I wasn’t at least there with you while you two work.”

“Alright. Clover, give me a hand.” The pair lifted Ceroba’s wheelchair together with very little strain, and placed her on the deck safely.

Before they could wheel her inside, a certain star-faced farmer ran up to the front of the estate, doubling over to catch his breath in front of them for a moment. “Ce… Ceroba! I came runnin’ as soon as I heard. Stars above, I can’t believe yer outta the hospital already.”

“Oh… Hello, Starlo.” This was more than a little uncomfortable for Ceroba, considering how sour their last interaction a couple days ago was. “I… Starlo, about the other night…”

Starlo held up a hand and shook his head. “Y’ ain’t gotta apologize for that, Ceroba. You were wasted as hell. It’s no skin off my back, really.”

The old kitsune let out a long sigh before replying. “...Thanks, Starlo. Are you here to help the kids out too?”

“Hey, we’re not kids.” Kanako interjected, huffing.

Ceroba turned and smiled at her daughter. “Sweetie, no matter how old you get, you’ll always be my little bean.”

“Wh - Mom!” The brunette kitsune flailed around, embarrassed by her mother. The ginger fox’s smile just grew wider in response, and the two cowboys couldn’t stop themselves from chuckling a bit.

Starlo grinned, checked his watch, and stepped up onto the wooden deck. “Yeah, sure, I’ve got ‘bout an hour or two before I need to head back to the farm. I can lend a hand.”

“Glad to have you, Unc.” Kanako wheeled her mother inside, and the group spent the last few hours of faux daylight chatting and making progress on restoring the house. Before the day’s end, they ensured Ceroba’s bedroom was clean, and tidied up a previously unused guest bedroom on the ground floor as well. Starlo headed back to the farm once they were mostly done.

~

At some point, Clover & Ceroba were alone together in a hallway, the cowboy was mopping up stains with the old kitsune watching him, while Kanako was changing the sheets in a bedroom.

Ceroba seized the opportunity to prod the human cowboy for some answers, just between the two of them. “So, Clover… Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?”

Clover looked up from the floor to turn to the old kitsune, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. “Uh, sure? Go ahead, Miss Ketsukane.”

Ceroba folded her arms, leaning forward slightly in her seat. “Why’d you really come down here, to the Underground?”

The cowboy sighed. He was getting a bit sick of answering the same question over and over. “I jumped down here to look for the five missing human children. But I know they’re already six feet under… Or wherever the King is keeping their SOULs, I suppose. That reminds me… I have no idea what monsterkind does with what’s left of their deceased. Do y’all collect the dust and store it in vases, or something?”

The old fox raised an eyebrow. ‘He already knows what happens to the bodies of monsters when they die?...’ She mentally filed that fact away for later. “Sometimes we place their remains in vases, yes. The most commonly accepted practice is to sprinkle their dust on a cherished heirloom, and then bury it. Anyways… Why aren’t you going after King Asgore for revenge? What’s your purpose now?”

Clover shook his head. “I don’t really see a point in going after the King. I’m not here to cause more pain, everyone down here’s suffered more than enough… I’m sticking around here because I gave my word to Kanako that I’d stay by her side to help however I can.”

‘He made a promise to my daughter, huh…’ Ceroba rubbed her chin in deep contemplation. The young man before her didn’t seem to be lying, as far as she could tell. “You don’t want to go back to the surface? To go back home, up aboveground?”

Clover looked away, frowning. “...No. Nobody’s waiting for me up there.”

The old kitsune paused for a moment. “You don’t have any family?”

The cowboy’s hands, gripping the mop, stopped entirely. “...Yeah. My Pa died when I was nine, and I never knew my mom. I don’t have any siblings either.”

Ceroba flinched, realizing she’d struck an uncomfortably familiar nerve. “I… Oh. I’m so sorry. I know all too well what it’s like to go from having a loving family to being alone…”

Clover took off his hat and looked Ceroba in the eye, holding his leather hat in front of his heart. “...Nah. It’s not like you killed my father yourself or nothin’. Heart disease took him to an early grave. You don’t have anything to apologize for. If anything, I should be the one apologizing for the god awful situation humanity’s put you lot in. Especially considering… that’s really what ripped your family apart, right? So… I’m sorry.”

‘This is what a modern day human warrior is like?...’ The old kitsune blinked. She had not been expecting that sort of response from a human. “Clover, you don’t need to apologize for something humans from hundreds of years ago were responsible for. But… Thank you. You’re a lot kinder than you seem.”

“I am?... I guess my face is kinda scary, huh.” The cowboy awkwardly scratched the side of his head with a finger, and looked into a mirror hanging on a nearby wall. Round youthful cheeks had been replaced by a sharp jawline, and the rest of his facial features had also been refined drastically by the jump from being a child to an adult. While he’d noticed it earlier, he hadn’t really thought about the consequences of his change in appearance until now. He definitely wasn’t a cute looking kid anymore.

Ceroba gave him a gentle smile. “Your face is fine, Clover. I’m not versed in the beauty standards of human society, but I’d say you’re handsome.” ‘...Apparently handsome enough to catch Kanako’s eye, at least.’

“Uh, thanks?” Not used to receiving compliments like that, Clover was a bit flustered, unsure how to respond.

The old fox cleared her throat before continuing. “Anyways, it’s getting late. I know the house still isn’t in the best shape, but you’re welcome to stay here if you wish, Clover. You’ve at least earned that much.”

“I appreciate it.” Clover tipped his hat to her, and the group began to wrap up for the day after that.

~

A while later, Kanako helped her disabled mother get into bed, and then headed to the other side of the house to retire to the guestroom for the night.

She once again found Clover about to crash on an uncomfortable looking couch instead of the bed, and sighed. The brunette kitsune didn’t even say anything this time, she just dragged the cowboy over to the bed and collapsed on top of him.

Clover, tired from working all day, blearily stared up at the ceiling and just accepted the situation, though not without voicing a bit of concern first. “...Hi there. Something on your mind?”

“Mmmphph.” Kanako mumbled something incoherent, muffled by the fact that she was pressing her face into a pillow.

The cowboy chortled for a second. “You’re gonna have to run that by me again, if you want me to understand.”

The kitsune reluctantly pulled her face out of the pillow. “The town… The state of it, everyone being gone, all the buildings, the houses, the homes all being broken, they’re all just slowly falling apart. Feels like someone’s pouring Snowdin water onto my heart. It’s… It’s all just so sad. I’m home, but… I’m not really home. It hurts.”

Clover frowned as he watched a few of her stray tears stain the sheets. “What do you want to do about it?”

A melancholic sigh rose from Kanako’s throat. “I don’t really know. I mean… I’d love it if everyone came back, but… They’ve all probably moved on to greener pastures by now. Asking them to return to this wreck of a town would be selfish. We don’t have the money or the materials to fix up all the houses either.”

The cowboy rubbed the side of his head. He didn’t have any better ideas than her at the moment. “I see… Well, either way you should get some rest for now. It’ll be easier to think of something when you’re not tuckered out.”

“Alright… Good night, Clover.” She rolled over to the other side of the bed, and pulled a small chain to turn off the bedside lamp.

“G’night, Kanako.” Clover shut his eyes, and slipped into a deep slumber. The dream he had that night was nearly identical to the previous one…

~

Long hours of cleaning and fixing up the house dragged on throughout the week. Ceroba occasionally attempted to clean the manor herself, but Kanako would catch her every time and get her mother back to rest before she worsened her injuries. Clover got his repaired shotgun back from Blackjack after a few days, along with a warning to not use any especially high-power magic attacks with the firearm again.

Clover fumbled with the family’s eastern cultural norms for a while. One blunder he made was forgetting to take off his shoes when entering the house once, though he cleaned up the mess his tracks had made later. The lack of furniture along with paper doors and walls threw him off, too. Once, he made the mistake of leaning on a paper wall, which inevitably led to him falling right through it, much to Kanako’s amusement and the cowboy’s embarrassment. He devolved into an apologetic mess when that happened, and spent the next couple days fixing the wall he broke. During meals at the estate, Clover struggled to learn how to use chopsticks for several days, in spite of his otherwise incredible dexterity. As a result of all of this, he wound up putting in extra work when repairing & cleaning the house to try to make up for his screw-ups.

And yet, with time and steady effort, the estate began to slowly recover some of its former glory. Through labor, the home became adequate by the middle of the week, though the estate was still a ways off from truly regaining its past splendor…

~

The radiant swelterstones warmed the sands of the Dunes below, and provided sustenance in place of the sun for the verdant crops of Sunnyside Farm. A relaxed early dawn breeze passed through the green fields, gently rustling the corn stalks and tickling the skin of the retired sheriff and the human cowboy.

“It’s real kind of ya to take some time out of your day to lend a hand ‘round here, Clover. Y’ ever done any farming field work before?” Starlo spread his arms out towards the crop field.

Clover shook his head and shrugged. “Naw. Closest thing I’ve done is water some flowers, which ain’t anything, really. But farmin’ can’t be that complicated, can it?”

The starman belted out a short laugh. “Hah! Hell, you’d be surprised at the amount of planning that goes into farmwork. But nah, we’re not doing anything too tricky today. It’s harvest season, so all we gotta do is find the ripe ones and load ‘em into the wheelbarrow. Here, follow me, I’ll show ya what to look for.”

Starlo led Clover over to a particular corn stalk, one with brown silk extending from the top of the husk. “See this one here? The silk’s a dry, papery brown, and the cob is nice and full. Here, touch it, get a feel for it.”

The human cowboy took off his gloves, stored them in his pockets, and grasped the corn husk, touching the silk, feeling the texture. “I think I get it?”

The former sheriff nodded, and grabbed another piece of ripe corn on a nearby stalk. “Alright then, here’s how ya pluck it safely. All you gotta do is bend the corn straight down, once it’s bent ya just yank it up firmly, and it’ll tear right off. Watch.”

Starlo tore off the corn husk in one smooth motion, and then placed the yield in the nearby wheelbarrow. “Got it?”

Clover nodded and got to work. Repeating the same movements Starlo demonstrated, he plucked the corn from the stalk and loaded it into the wheelbarrow.

The starman gave him a thumbs-up, and then did a few stretches. “Yeah, just like that. Good. Well, let’s get to it, we’ve got a lotta ground to cover before the ‘stones get dark.”

The hours of the day whittled away as the two westerners from different worlds toiled in the same field together, the false sunlight beating down them all the while. Clover’s body eventually overheated to the point where he was forced to take his top off, tucking it away into his dimensional satchel.

“Can’t handle the heat, huh, pard?” Starlo gave him a mildly smug look as he gently tossed another ear of corn into the wheelbarrow.

The human cowboy rolled his eyes as he kept working. “Thought I told ya earlier, humans ain’t fireproof. So anyways, why’d ya name the town the ‘Wild East’ when it was still a tourist attraction and all? People usually refer to that sorta setting as the ‘Wild West’, not the ‘East’.”

Starlo shrugged, a grin still plastered on his bright but old face. “Yep, I know. Wasn’t a mistake or anything, I just thought it’d be fun to name the town after the leading man of one of my favorite human movies, y’know?”

Clover rubbed his chin in thought, and nodded. “Reckon I know which one you’re talkin’ about. ‘Get three coffins ready,’ and then… ‘My mistake. Four coffins.’ Right? That film’s part of a trilogy, I used to watch them all the time with my old man.”

The starman’s grin just grew brighter in response. “Yeah, that’s the one! I didn’t know it was just one part of a set, though. Damn, I really hope the rest wind up floatin’ down here someday. I’d love to see ‘em with the rest of my family, with a big bucket of homemade popcorn and all.”

The human cowboy chuckled, and placed another load of corn into the wheelbarrow. “Those flicks are real golden classics. Surface society holds ‘em in high regard too. You’ve got good taste, Mister Star.”

Starlo shot a fingergun and a wink at Clover. “Thanks, but just call me Starlo, Clover. Ain’t gotta be so formal. Anyways, let’s wrap this up, yeah? Only got a bit more ground left to cover.”

Together, they finished harvesting the rest of the corn, loaded it into the wheelbarrow, and dropped it off in a shipping box, ready for delivery. By the time they were done, the faux stone suns above were glimmering brightly in the center of their arrangement, signalling the arrival of noon.

Clover sat down on the porch of the Sunnyside house, kicked his feet up, and wiped the sweat from his brow. Starlo sat next to him, and offered the human cowboy a bottle of water. Clover accepted the bottle and took a big swig, before handing it back to the former sheriff. “Thanks.”

Starlo set the bottle down, and tipped his hat. “Naw, thank you for lending me a hand. Finished up way earlier than I normally would’ve alone.”

The starman leaned back on the porch, holding himself up with his hands. “Anyways, ah… How’s Ceroba faring? I reckon you probably already figured this out, but she wasn’t exactly doin’ too hot before you brought Kanako home to her.”

Clover rubbed the back of his neck, and shrugged after a moment. “Miss Ketsukane? Well… She’s doing as well as someone who’s stuck in a chair could be, I suppose. But she often gets understandably miffed when she finds herself unable to do things she could with working legs, like reaching a high shelf, or usin’ stairs. Thankfully, I haven’t seen her hittin’ the bottles yet, if that’s what you’re really worried about.”

Starlo let out a big sigh of relief. “Yeah, you hit the nail on the head there. That’s good. Ceroba was stuck drinkin’ like a fish for so long, and then she got hurt real bad, and… Well, y’know how it is. I was real worried, but she’s still so damn strong despite all that.”

“I getcha. I reckon she’ll be fine as long as Kanako’s around, really. Seems to me like she inherited that same sorta strength from her mother, and they both look real happy to be together again... I don’t think Miss Ketsukane will fall off the wagon, unless something really bad happens.” The human cowboy did some stretches, easing his joints after the day’s work.

“That’s good to hear. Kanako was always a bright little bundle of joy as a tyke. I’m glad she can bring a smile to her mother’s face again…” The starman’s gaze wandered across the vast expanse of the sandy Dunes, his mind deep in memories of long past days...

…Until the person he was thinking of appeared in the flesh in front of them. Whistling a jaunty tune, Kanako strolled up to the farm, carrying a pair of boxes delicately wrapped up with pink cloth underneath one arm.

“Hey you two, I thought you might be getting hungry by now, so I brought lu… lu… lunch…” The brunette kitsune began to happily offer the boxes to them, but froze up when she saw the cowboy’s bare chest, stained with sweat from the day’s labor.

“Thanks, Kanako.” Clover took the boxes, but then quirked an eyebrow when he realized she wasn’t moving. “Um… Something wrong?”

Kanako’s cheeks burned with a steamy red hue, and her tail went into overdrive, wagging fast enough to kick up sand. “N-Nope, all good! I’ll see you at home, b-bye!”

She hastily skittered out of there, leaving Clover confused and Starlo trying his best to suppress a laugh behind him.

Clover shrugged, and handed Starlo one of the boxes. They ate lunch together, yakking on about westerns for a while before they wrapped up for the day.

~

In the early morning of one of the later weekdays, Clover told the others he was going to head out for a walk to clear his mind, and left the house. In reality, he needed to get away for a bit because every time he looked Ceroba in the eye, unpleasant recollections assaulted his conscience.

No matter how hard the cowboy tried to push down his memories, Ceroba’s final moments from his previous life, the bloodied red-headed kitsune clutching onto her staff, spitting “I hope you choke on the dust that will fill the air!” at him before perishing, replayed endlessly in his mind’s eye. Even if nobody else could see it, he knew his hands would never be truly clean again. That iron ball and chain of guilt would forever be shackled to his heart, dragging him down into a murky abyss of self-hatred as he wandered west through the sands.

Eventually, Clover found his way to an old swing-set for two, and he sat down on one of the seats. He wrung his hands around the musty ropes holding the swing seat up, and scowled at himself, still unsuccessfully trying to suppress his memories.

The same elderly tortoise monster that the cowboy had seen around town slowly approached him from the main road, using an old walking cane to make his way over. A white, pointed beard extended from the tortoise’s chin, he wore typical archeologist apparel, an eyepatch sat over his right eye, and he carried a large shell on his back.

The elder sat down on the swing seat next to Clover, and spoke to him with a soft yet firm tone. “That’s quite the fierce look on your face, young man. It’s plain as day you’re carryin’ an awful burden deep within. What troubles ya?”

Clover looked over at the old monster, hesitating for a few moments before deciding to take a leap of faith. “…I made some really, really horrible mistakes before I came to this… this subterranean world. I hurt a lot of people, and I know they’ll never forgive me.”

The cowboy took off his hat, and shook his head before continuing. “I came down here because I’m trying to make up for that, to be better, do better, but… Do you think even the worst person can truly change?... Do they deserve a second chance?”

The old tortoise ran his fingers through his own white beard as he replied. “Sonny, the fact that you’re acknowledging your mistakes is already clear proof that you’re nowhere close to being the worst person possible. A truly terrible person would not feel guilt, nor would they seek redemption, nor would they even consider any of these things to begin with. You are not that person. You can still learn from your failures, even if it’s difficult.”

“Sometimes life is like a dark, twisted maze. You’ll get lost, stumble around in the darkness, blindly make mistakes, maybe even trip and fall. But, no matter how bleak things look, as long as you keep getting back up, and keep moving forward while holding onto even the tiniest spark of hope in your heart… I promise you, you will reach a better and brighter place.” The elder raised his cane skywards, pointing it at one of the shimmering swelterstones high above them.

Clover’s usual stone-cold expression crumbled. The elderly tortoise’s words sounded just like something Clover’s own father would have said, and it hit him like a ton of bricks. A handful of tears fell to the sands before he could move his hat to cover his face.

The elder did not judge, nor did he ridicule the cowboy for this. He merely waited patiently for him to regain his composure.

After a short while, Clover finally pulled himself back together, and wiped his face dry with his sleeve. “…Sorry about that. And thank you.”

The elderly tortoise monster gave him an unflinchingly warm smile. “It’s okay to let it out when you need to, lad. You’re welcome.”

“Why… Why are you being so kind to me? You know I’m a human, right?” Clover might have no longer been prejudiced against either race, but that didn’t mean he expected fair treatment from others in return.

“I’m old, not blind, son. Well I am blind, just only in one eye, but that’s besides the point, hah! Even though I fought in the war of the seal, humans, monsters, whichever one someone is has never really mattered to me personally. Either way, it costs nothing to be kind to someone. Though you do also remind me of myself a bit, young’in... I’ve made quite a few mistakes back in my day, too. Nobody’s infallible… Anyways, your SOUL’s yellow, isn’t it?” The tortoise raised an eyebrow at the cowboy.

Clover blinked. “Wha-? How’d you know that?”

“Gya ha ha!” The old monster let out a striking, hearty laugh. “Had a strong gut feeling, that’s all. Anyways, ye still look like you have something else you need to get off your chest, lad. Let me guess, it’s about your girlfriend you’ve been walking around town with.”

The cowboy sighed, feeling completely outmatched by the old tortoise. “Yeah, you got me. We’re not dating, though. But… She has been dropping an awful lot of obvious hints, and I just… I don’t know how to feel, or what to do about it. For starters, is it even okay for humans and monsters to intermingle to begin with? Was that a thing at all back then, before the big war?”

The elderly tortoise monster belted out another warm laugh. “You shouldn’t be so worried about whether or not it’s happened in the past, lad. You don’t need a precedent to fall for someone. Monster, human, race, gender - so long as you love one another, you shouldn’t let any of those things get in your way. Just take it easy, and let things play out naturally.”

The tortoise stood up from the seat, using his cane to balance himself. “It’s about time I was off, lad. There’s another young’in I need to go and have a chat with.”

The cowboy blinked, realizing he’d forgotten something important. “Wait, old man, what’s your name?”

“Gerson. Gerson Boom. You take care of yourself now, Clover. I’ll be seein’ ya.” The elderly tortoise monster waved as he left, heading west.

After Gerson faded from sight, Clover cast his gaze downwards, and stared at his hands in quiet contemplation for a long time.

A lone tumbleweed rolled through the sands in front of the cowboy, disappearing into the distance after a few moments. A long sigh escaped from his throat, and he eventually rose to his feet and headed back to the manor.

~

That same morning, Kanako somberly walked along a stone path behind the estate, heading to a certain somber spot by herself, carrying a few sticks of incense. Soft sakura petals gently drifted down from the cherry blossom tree standing above her father’s old grave. Time and neglect had worn down the memorial’s marble, but the engraved name of the late ‘Chujin Ketsukane’ was thankfully still legible in the stone. A shallow pond decorated with old wax candles encircled the gravestone.

Kanako solemnly set and lit the incense, knelt in front of the weathered tombstone, and clasped her hands together. “Hi Dad… It’s been a while. I’m finally home. I really missed you and Mom. A whole lot’s happened in the last few days…”

“I… I met a guy named Clover. He’s a human, and I know how you felt about humankind, and I remember what happened in Snowdin with that ballet dancer human and everything, but I still believe in Clover. He can be a bit scary sometimes, but Clover’s genuinely a sweet person underneath it all. He saved me from this creepy lab, helped me get home, and fought to protect me along the way. But even beyond all that, just being with Clover makes me happy. God, saying that aloud makes it sound so cheesy, but it’s true… I hope you can understand, Dad.”

“Sometimes… sometimes, he stares off into space and looks so gloomy, and I... I can feel his pain. I can feel guilt tearing Clover up from the inside whenever he looks at Mom, and I’m afraid to ask why. I really want to help him, but I don’t know how to, at least not without making things uncomfortable... I wish you were here…”

Kanako knelt in front of the grave in silence for a long while, until she heard the squeak of a wheel from behind her. In spite of her injuries, Ceroba swept her daughter up into a tight hug, pulling her close. Warm tears stained the wheelchair, and sank into the earth below them.

“...I miss Dad.” The brunette kitsune shakily returned her mother’s tender embrace.

“I do too, sweetie. I do too…” Ceroba gently wiped her daughter’s tears with her sleeve, and patted her head.

A few minutes of familial cuddling passed before Kanako pulled away. “How are you feeling, Mom?”

The old fox had a bit of a headache and she was slightly queasy from withdrawal, but she endured it, forcing a smile to her face. “I’m fine, dear. How about you? Did you speak with your father about your crush?”

Kanako blinked a few times, and her face flushed a bright red. “I, wh… Feh.” ‘Guess there’s no point in trying to hide anything from Mom…’ “Yeah, I talked to Dad about Clover. I know Dad disliked humans and was wary of them for good reason, but… I still really like Clover. I… Is that wrong?”

Ceroba took a deep breath before responding. “I suspect your father might’ve had some harsh words were he still with us, but… As long as you really like him, I think it’s alright. While Clover can be a little clumsy around the house at times, he’s still genuinely trying to respect and adapt to the way we do things at home, even though he doesn’t have to. He’s a decent person from what I’ve seen so far.”

The brunette fox hugged her mother again, prompting a wheeze from the old kitsune’s lungs. “Whuff! Hey, take it easy, Kanako. You’re not a little kit anymore.”

Kanako eased up, a bit awkward. “S-sorry, Mom. And thanks for understanding, and everything.”

Ceroba smiled softly, and gave her daughter a reassuring pat on the back. “Of course. Just don’t rush things, and be open with each other. Don’t make the same mistakes your father and I did.”

The brunette kitsune nodded, and then the moment was suddenly interrupted by her stomach growling, drawing a short giggle out of her mother. “Hehe, alright, I think it’s time for breakfast. I’d cook if I could reach the counter, but… How about we see if you still remember the egg roll recipe I taught you when you were six?”

“Ahaha… The one with soy sauce? Yeah, I can try.” As she wheeled her mother back to the house, fond memories of messing about in the kitchen together in days past brought a fuzzy smile to her face, and caused her tail to flutter with nostalgic joy.

~

On a later day, warm faux sunlight filled the caverns of the Underground at noon, glinting off the polished barrel of Clover’s rifle just outside the Ketsukane manor. Using the leftovers of all of the drinks they’d collected while tidying the place, he had set up a row of empty bottles and cans on the western fence to serve as target practice. The gunslinger steadied his aim with the lever action rifle from the other side of the estate, and fired rapidly, blasting apart eight bottles in quick succession.

As the shards of glass fell to the ground, Kanako whistled from the porch where she and her mother had been watching from. The brunette kitsune then hopped off the deck and approached Clover. “Hey sharpshooter, I’m gonna head into the capital with Mom to go pick up some supplies, do you wanna come with?”

The cowboy blinked for a second, then cocked an eyebrow. “Wait, you’re going to New Home city? Back up through the Steamworks again? With your mom in a wheelchair?”

Kanako snorted once in amusement. “No, silly. Sorry, shoulda told you first, a couple years ago a tram line was built for public transportation and whatnot. There’s a station near the mines to the west of town, the rails there connect to the capital and some of the other big spots in the Underground. Compared to that romp through the factory, it should just be a relaxing ride, if a bit slow.”

Clover reloaded the rifle, and then slung it over his back. “Oh, okay. Sure then, I guess.”

A playful smirk spread across her face. “Great, it’s a date then. I’m gonna go freshen up, you should do the same. Meet back in front of the house in a bit, ‘kay?”

“Wait, wha–” Before the cowboy could ask what she meant by ‘date’, the brunette kitsune was already walking back indoors, tail wagging back & forth as she excitedly spoke in hushed, giggling tones with her mother.

Clover awkwardly scratched the back of his neck for a few moments after she left. “Jeez, there she goes… Well, whatever.”

The cowboy headed inside and to one of the bathrooms to clean himself up the best he could, taking a shower and so on, while the kitsunes did the same in another room.

Once he was finished, Clover stepped outside, wearing some cleaner apparel Starlo had kindly lent him earlier that week as thanks for helping out on the farm. The clothes fit Clover decently well, as the two cowboys were roughly the same size, though Clover was a bit taller. He leaned against the railing on the porch, staring up at the amber rocky sky illuminated by soft orange lights from the swelterstones.

Kanako, all prettied up and wearing a black kimono adorned with a floral pattern her mother had given her, softly walked up to Clover’s side. Noticing the disgruntled look on his face, she asked “Penny for your thoughts?”

The cowboy shook his head and sighed. “...Things have been real quiet lately. I’m a bit surprised Flowey hasn’t tried to kill me in one way or another since I got to the Dunes. Feels like the quiet before a storm, y’know?”

The brunette kitsune tapped a finger against her chin in thought. “Yeah, I hear you. Honestly, I’d like to strike against Flowey before he can make a move of his own, but I have no idea how we’d track down someone who can just pop in and out of the ground anywhere.”

“Me either…” Clover then turned around, finally noticing Kanako’s appearance. “...Damn. You look like a real gem. Uh, I mean, you look pretty. Yeah.”

The cowboy sheepishly rubbed the back of his head as he somewhat fumbled his words, though it still earned a slight smiling blush and a short giggle from the brunette kitsune. “Thanks, ‘pard.’ You clean up pretty nicely too, Clover.”

An awkward smile bubbled to Clover’s face, before the moment was popped by the old wheelchair-bound fox clearing her throat from behind the pair. “Ahem.. What’s this about a flower person?”

“Uhh… Well…” Caught off-guard and unsure of what to say, Kanako’s gaze darted around nervously for a few moments before she turned to Clover.

The exasperated cowboy pinched the bridge of his nose for a moment, before responding, able to look Ceroba in the eye without flinching now. “I’ll just be straightforward with you. Do you remember the robots in the steamworks, the ones being puppeted by green thorny vines? Those were Flowey’s doing. Flowey is this flower, person… thing. He looks like a flower with yellow petals and a white face. Not entirely sure if he’s a monster or what, but… he’s a threat. I… Dammit. He’s after my head. You only got hurt because you got caught up in the crossfire. It’s my fault you’re stuck in that wheelchair. I’m really, really sorry.”

Ceroba shook her head, and wheeled herself over to the pair to place a hand on the cowboy’s elbow. “Clover… No. It’s not your fault. I got hurt because I was recklessly rushing, trying to find Kanako as quickly as possible. Don’t blame yourself for another person’s misdeeds.”

“I… Alright. Thanks, Miss Ketsukane.” Clover nodded, acquiescing, if a bit reluctantly.

The old kitsune let out a melancholic sigh, pressing her hands together. “Anyways, you two don’t need to bring me along. I’d just be dead weight.” ‘...And a very literal third wheel…’

Kanako huffed, and grabbed the handles on Ceroba’s wheelchair. “No way, Mom. You need to get out of the house just as much as we do. Besides, I want to spend more time with you too.”

“That’s… Oh, fine. If it’s really what you want.” The old fox pinched the bridge of her nose as her daughter wheeled her forwards. The cowboy just shrugged, and followed after them.

~

Clover walked alongside Kanako as she gently pushed her mother’s wheelchair along the sandy trails, heading down through abandoned oasis town and west towards the mines.

A gang of Dunebud monsters appeared and attempted to bar the trio’s way by summoning massive sand castles in front of them, but… They were still only made of sand, at the end of the day. Kanako nonchalantly backhanded the sand castles, and they came crumbling down, nothing more than mere paper tigers before the oncoming storm.

Ceroba’s eyes slightly widened at the casual display of power against the small monsters. In contrast, Kanako bubbled with a small giggle as the Dunebuds fell from their towers and bounced around like jelly. The cowboy rolled his eyes as the miniature sand creatures fled. “Sorry ya had to deal with that. Why do they even bother?...”

The old fox recomposed herself before she spoke. “Well, King Asgore did declare war on the humans hundreds of years ago. That’s still in effect to this day, which is most likely why they came after you - us - unprovoked. Most monsters prefer to avoid violence, though. And… If Asgore was truly serious about the declaration of war, he would’ve absorbed the first human SOUL he acquired to cross the barrier, gone to the surface, and collected the rest needed to gain enough power to break the barrier. Instead, he’s just been content with waiting for humans to randomly arrive, I suppose…”

“Is that so…” Clover rubbed his chin in contemplation for a moment, but his thoughts were rudely interrupted by a porcelain bull monster charging at him, horns first. As the monster closed the gap, the cowboy grabbed the bull by the horns and halted its charge. With a quick twist, he casually flipped the porcelain bull onto its back and to the wayside, gently setting it down out of their way. Kanako stuck her tongue out at the humiliated porcelain bull monster as the group moved on.

The cowboy shook off the dirt from the encounter, and continued on like nothing happened. “Anyways, about the barrier. D’ you need seven human SOULs specifically to break it, or do you just need enough raw power?”

“Just power alone would be enough, though the amount needed is rather ludicrous. Why do you ask?” Ceroba quirked an eyebrow at the human cowboy, as the group took a right turn when they reached a big tree standing tall in the middle of the road.

“Just curious.” Clover shrugged as he kept moving. ‘...Just power, huh… So, if that’s what I want to do… I need more power.’

A couple minutes later, the group had arrived at the tram platform. Two sets of metal rail tracks extended farther than the eye could see to both the east & west. Next to a ticket dispenser and a couple of benches, a map of the Underground was laid out on a sizable board with several different locations marked by numbers.

Clover ran a hand over the map, examining it. He only recognized a small handful of the places. “Man… The Underground’s a lot bigger than I thought.”

“Right? Might be fun to visit all these spots later. Like here. I haven’t seen this place before.” Kanako walked up behind Clover and tapped a green region just underneath Waterfall on the map, labelled as ‘Rainforest’. Strangely, no railways seem to connect to it.

Ceroba wheeled herself over to her daughter, and her eyes lit up for a moment when she noticed where she was pointing. “Oh, that’s where I grew up. My late parents’ – your grandparents’ – home should still be there, but…”

The brunette kitsune’s golden eyes shone with curiosity as she turned to her mother. “Really? Can we visit sometime?”

The old fox bit her lip. “Rainforest is, well, it’s… it’s not exactly the safest region anymore. I’ll tell you some more later, okay? Let’s get tickets, the tram should be arriving soon. According to the map, we need tickets for Line 1.”

“If you say so.” Kanako inserted a few coins into the machine, pushed a few buttons, got three tickets out of the dispenser, and sat down on the bench with Clover. It only took a few minutes for a rustic red tram car to arrive, and they boarded it together.

Only a handful of other pedestrians were aboard the tram car, so the group had most of the space to themselves. They got comfortable, and the tram started to move at a leisurely pace, taking them out of the sandy Dunes and heading for Hotland.

Ceroba cleared her throat, and turned to the cowboy. “Clover, there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you about the surface, and human society as a whole. You see, among other things, human history books and other records of the world above occasionally get swept up into the currents of Waterfall, and are salvaged then processed by libraries. None of the ones I’ve read contain any mention of monsterkind. Has humanity forgotten about us?”

Clover shook his head. “Nah, I don’t think they’ve forgotten. If everyone truly had forgotten about monsterkind’s existence, then I reckon there wouldn’t have been all those warning signs and metal fences around the mountain I had to get through.”

The cowboy’s face twisted into a frown. “A little town right next to Mt. Ebott sure hasn’t forgotten. There’s an… unpleasant stone statue in that town. One of a man with their foot on a goat-monster’s neck.”

The old fox rubbed her chin. “Oh... That’s almost definitely the late prince. King Asgore & Queen Toriel’s child.”

Clover blinked a few times. “The… late prince? What happened?”

Kanako, sitting next to him, pressed her fingers together, listening quietly.

Ceroba reluctantly took a deep breath, and recounted an old tale passed down throughout the Underground. “The prince’s death is what spurred King Asgore on to declare war on humanity, and is the reason why he began collecting human souls. Hundreds of years ago, the royal family was at peace, a family of three, they were happy together. Until one day, a human child fell into the Underground in the Ruins, and the prince found them. The human child was adopted into the royal family, and things were prosperous for a time, until the human fell ill and passed...”

“The prince absorbed their adoptive sibling’s SOUL, and used it to pass through the magic barrier, so they could grant their final request, to see the human’s favorite golden flowers one final time. But… The prince was attacked, mortally wounded and forced to retreat back to the Underground. He died in his parents’ arms, turning to dust before their very eyes in the royal garden. As you might expect, this devastated the King & Queen, cruelly shattering their hearts. Immediately after that, the King declared war on humanity, and the Queen vanished.”

Clover sat quietly, taking in the old story as a mixture of painful emotions swirled through his heart, while the tram steadily rolled across the tracks. “I… Damn. That’s tragic…”

Ceroba merely nodded in response, while Kanako stared out the tram car’s windows. The group simply sat in silence for a bit as the vehicle plodded along, watching the landscape scroll by.

The mechanical carriage pulled out of the sandy Dunes and into the blistering Hotland, boiling lava bubbling in deep pits far below the rail tracks. At the head of the vehicle, the tram operator turned a knob, and a cool breeze flowing from the air conditioning units swept through the tram car.

As the tram rolled forwards through Hotland, the Royal Scientist’s lab came into view, the stark white building standing in contrast with the earthy orange and brown terrain. A wide variety of peculiar mechanical contraptions were scattered around the area in the lab’s vicinity.

Just outside the lab, a short orange lizard monster wearing a white coat and round glasses was conversing with Captain Undyne about something. The Royal Guard Captain performed several exaggerated flexing motions and poses at the scientist lizard, perhaps attempting to emphasize some sort of exciting story. Undyne also feigned the motion of tipping a hat to the lizard monster, and shot fingerguns at her, laughing heartily.

Kanako poked her soft head over Clover’s shoulder to look through the window he was staring through, and spotted the Captain. She frowned. “Clover… Are you seriously going to fight the Captain at the end of the week? I know you’re strong and all, but… Jeez, just look at the size of her armor and everything.”

The cowboy gave a steady nod. “I gave her my word that I’d face her again, and I don’t back out of promises. But yeah, I’ll be fine. I already beat her once, remember? Don’t worry about it.”

“If you say so.” The brunette kitsune sat back down, easing into the cushioned seat.

Ceroba furrowed her brow, and gave the human cowboy a serious look. “I’d advise against being overconfident, Clover. Even if you have already beaten Undyne once, she’s still the Captain of the Royal Guard. It’s entirely possible she’ll bring something new to the table next time. And… I’d rather you didn’t die.”

“Right.” Clover nodded to her as the tram left Hotland, and pulled into a modest brick station in the grey capital of the Underground. The familiar sights of paved stone roads lit by warm yellow light shining from tall lampposts greeted them as they exited the tram. A small white puff steam rose from the top of the tram as it departed once more, rolling along the tracks.

“Well, here we are…” The cowboy placed his hands on his hips as he looked around the city. His gaze wandered towards the direction of the royal throneroom, and lingered there for an uncomfortably long time…

Until Kanako gently poked the tip of his nose with a fuzzy finger, flustering the cowboy. “Bwuh. What was that for?”

“You were staring off into space, goofball. C’mon, we’ve got places to be and things to pick up.” She grabbed the cowboy’s hand, and pushed her mother’s wheelchair forward with her free hand. Ceroba chuckled a bit at the two’s momentary antics.

The hours wound away as the trio picked up some more cleaning essentials from a general grocery shop, and a few pieces of lumber from a hardware store to serve as temporary ramps for the wheelchair-bound fox.

Right as they left the hardware store, Kanako’s empty stomach growled, forcing a red shade of embarrassment onto her cheeks. “Uhh…”

Ceroba brought a hand to her face, snickering for a moment. “Alright, how about we stop by the food district?”

Clover rolled one of his arms, loosening the joint, and nodded. “I could do with a bite myself.”

“Ye - yeah, okay. Let’s go.” The brunette kitsune shook off her momentary embarrassment, and led the group to the bustling streets of the capital’s diner center.

A myriad display of enticing smells and vibrant advertisement signs greeted the trio as they reached the food district, competing for their attention, and their wallets.

They wandered around between the different food carts for a while, until Kanako was drawn towards a stand with a sign written in Japanese, serving what looked like fried pieces of meat held together with wooden skewers in striped orange and white paper cups. The brunette kitsune handed over a few gold coins for three crispy servings, and returned to the other two with a childish smile on her face, handing one to each of them.

“Is this fried chicken?” Clover sniffed the food. The part he assumed was fried batter looked a bit lighter in color than what he was used to seeing.

“Yeah, but it’s probably a little different than what you’re used to. It’s called karaage, it doesn’t have butter, and it’s prepared a little differently. I… forgot what exactly goes into it though. Mom, do you remember?” Kanako turned to the old ginger fox, and started eating her own fried portion.

“I believe the chicken is marinated in soy sauce, sake and a couple other ingredients first, and it uses potato starch in the frying process.” Ceroba bit into the chicken, and was immediately met with a nostalgic taste she hadn’t had in years. ‘Gods, it’s been way too long since I had good food like this…’

The brunette kitsune noticed the look on her mother’s face, and grinned. “See? Aren’t you glad you came now?”

Her mother rolled her eyes, but still had a genuine smile on her face. “Alright, alright. Yes, I am.”

Clover bit into the glistening fried chicken, and immediately started wolfing it down. ‘...Damn, this might be better than the way Dad made fried chicken.’

Kanako noted the cowboy’s reaction to the karaage, mentally storing the information for later.

After they ate, they then entered a humble arts & crafts shop together. A monster with a body made of multi-colored clay and a vase for a face at the counter waved them in. Kanako immediately took off to go look for materials for a personal project, excitedly bouncing around the store.

Ceroba was awash in a sea of nostalgia, watching her daughter frolic around in a familiar place. The sight washed away more of the bitter loneliness the past years had choked her heart with, easing her mind.

Clover followed Kanako around the store, helping her carry whatever she picked out. They wound up purchasing a bundle of silk, a roll of thread, a bag of ceramic clay and glazes. The brunette kitsune stored the materials in her dimensional bag.

“Sooo… what’re you even gonna do with all this stuff?” The cowboy inquired, raising an eyebrow at the brunette kitsune as the trio departed from the store.

“Uhm, that’s a secret. For now. Hehe.” She winked at him, and pushed her mother’s wheelchair along the grey brick roads. The brunette kitsune’s tail wagged with excitement as she moved.

“Oh, to be young again…” The old fox chortled warmly.

“Okay then, keep your secrets.” Clover just shrugged as they headed back to the tram platform.

Kanako shot a cheeky grin at him. “Don’t worry, cowboy. You’ll find out later, promise.”

The group boarded the tram once more, bound for the Dunes. Aside from the hushed clacking of the tram’s wheels against the tracks, the voyage back home was serene. Throughout the ride, Kanako excitedly whispered to Ceroba about her personal art project, occasionally stealing glances at the cowboy.

Meanwhile, Clover himself stared out the window, leaning his chin atop a gloved hand. He restlessly juggled a coin between the fingers of his free hand, while his mind wandered. ‘Undyne… The last time we fought, she shredded my duds real bad. I nearly got impaled more than once. I need to change up my approach.’

Eventually, the tram arrived at the familiar sands of the Dunes, and the group disembarked together. A chilling breeze rolled through the night desert, caressing fluff & skin alike with an icy touch. Clover took off his duster coat, and laid it over Ceroba like a blanket.

The old kitsune quirked an eyebrow at the cowboy. “Clover, I appreciate the gesture, but aren’t you cold? You don’t have a natural coat of fur like us, after all.”

“Nah, it’s fine, I’m used to the cold anywa–”

“Here, I’ve got a solution.” Clover was cut short by Kanako abruptly pulling him close with her fluffy tail.

A steamy shade of red rose to the cowboy’s cheeks when he realized he was in the soft embrace of the brunette kitsune, drawing out a laugh from her mother.

Clover spent the rest of the short trip home awkwardly close to Kanako, shielded from the cold by the brunette kitsune’s warmth, helping her push Ceroba’s wheelchair across the Dunes.

~

Later that evening, Ceroba was staring hungrily at a drawer in her bedroom where she’d stashed some wine a month ago. She’d been fighting her damndest against her urges ever since her daughter returned, but she could feel herself slipping. The old fox began to reach for the drawer, when a sudden knock at the door scared her away from it. She swiveled her head towards the sound as her daughter walked into the room, carrying a small box under one arm.

Kanako’s brow furrowed in concern. “Mom? You okay? You don’t look so well.”

Ceroba cleared her throat in an attempt to recompose herself. “I, ah. I’m fine, sweetie. Did you need something?”

The brunette kitsune set down the box, and opened it up to reveal the lush red cloth, and golden-colored thread she got from the arts & crafts store, along with standard sewing tools. “Yeah, I want to make a gift for Clover, an omamori amulet, but I couldn’t really find anything really special to put in it around the house. I don’t really wanna use just paper or wood by itself. Can you help me find something?”

“Right, you told me about this on the tram. That’s really sweet of you, dear. Something special, huh. Let me see… Ah, there’s a box on top of the wardrobe. Can you reach it for me?” The old kitsunepointed a finger at an old, dark wooden jewelry case sitting atop a weathered ornate wardrobe.

“Sure.” Kanako carefully picked up the old case, and handed it to her mother.

“Alright then, where is it…” Ceroba popped open the jewelry case, and rifled through old trinkets until she found an old magenta magatama, shaped like a curved teardrop, and held it out to her daughter. “How about this? It could use some polish, and it’s a bit unorthodox, but…”

Kanako took the gem, and held it up to the light, noting the dulled refraction through the dusty crystal. She tucked it into her pocket, and hugged her mother. “Nah, this is perfect, thanks Mom.”

“Of course, anytime, sweetie.” A gentle smile spread across the old kitsune’s face, and she patted her daughter’s back, returning her hug.

Ceroba then pulled a bottle of polish solution out of the jewelry case, and handed it to Kanako. “Here, use this.”

“Alrighty… What kinda prayer do you think I should write for the omamori?” The brunette kitsune tilted her head to the side.

“I believe a protection prayer would be prudent, considering Clover’s going to have to face the Captain soon, right?” The old ginger fox affectionately patted her daughter’s head, drawing a silly expression out of the young adult in reaction.

“Bweh. Yeah, you’re right. Thanks again Mom, I’m gonna go work on it. Do you want me to hit the lights on the way out?” Kanako pointed at the light switch next to the door.

Ceroba nodded, placed the old jewelry case on her bedside table, and laid back into the soft mattress. “Yes, I believe it’s about time I turned in for the evening. Good night, darling.”

“‘Kay, g’night, Mom.” Kanako flipped the light switch in her mother’s bedroom as she left, dimming the lights, and headed upstairs to the guestroom.

Ceroba’s eyes lingered on the wine stash drawer for a brief moment… But then she looked towards the old mask Kanako had made for her so many years ago hanging high above on the wall, looking down at her.

The elderly fox shook her head, rejecting her urges. She laid down, pulled the blankets tight, and closed her eyes, eventually drifting off to sleep.

~

Upstairs, Kanako gently set the old magenta gem magatama down on the desk. Even to an untrained eye, it was obvious that the gem’s luster had dwindled over the years. She used the polish solution and a few different cloths & tools to scrub away at the magatama, until its sparkle was restored.

The young kitsune hummed to herself as she used a fountain pen to inscribe her prayer onto a small slip of paper, and set it to the side once she finished.

Next, Kanako organized her tailoring materials, and delicately sewed shimmering gold thread through soft red silk. She embroidered two Japanese characters written with golden thread on opposite sides of the scarlet cloth; Dragon, and West. Finally putting it all together, she wrapped the lush fabric around the magatama along with the prayer, and sewed it shut.

The brunette fox held the charm up to the light to inspect her handicraft, tail flitting back and forth with satisfaction. “There, all finished!”

“What’s finished?” Clover walked into the room, and nonchalantly bit through an apple, startling the kitsune.

“Gah!” Kanako fumbled, bouncing the amulet between her hands for a moment before she caught it, and then hid it from the cowboy in her pocket.

She then turned and huffed at him. “Clover, at least knock first, jeez!”

Puzzled, the westerner raised an eyebrow at her antics. “Uh, sorry. What was all that about anyways?”

Kanako just shook her head. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll tell you later, okay?”

“If you say so.” Clover just shrugged, and sat down on the bed, biting into the red apple again.

The kitsune blinked for a moment. “Wait, where’d you even get that fruit?”

“Somebody sent a whole bag to me through the postal service. Some feathers were in the bag for some weird reason too, so I threw out the feathers, and put the rest of the apples in the fridge if you want some. A flying whale mailman, though… Man, that’s nuts. Anyways, it came with a letter, but uh, the handwriting’s so wacky it might as well be chicken scratch. I can’t read it at all, so I have no idea who sent it. You can take a look if you want.” The cowboy handed over a letter full of sloppy writing to the brunette fox.

Kanako squinted at the letter, trying to decipher the horrendous handwriting, but it was pointless. She gave the chicken-scratch letter back to Clover. “Wow, you weren’t kidding. I can’t read this junk either.”

“Yeah, figured. Don’t need this anymore then.” Clover balled up the piece of paper, and chucked it into the wastebin.

“So, the feathers in the bag. Have you got any bird friends?” The kitsune quirked an eyebrow at him, rising to her feet and walking over towards the bed.

“Uhhh… Sorta? I think I met a blue bird monster in Snowdin, but I can't really remember her name, sorry. Guess it was her. I've been down here longer than I expected, honestly.” The cowboy ate the rest of the apple, and tossed the core in the bin. He then casually placed his hands behind his head, and laid back on the bed.

“Huh... Eh, must not have been important if you forgot. Whatever. The free food’s nice either way.” Kanako yawned, then collapsed onto the big bed, face landing squarely on a soft pillow.

“Ready to call it a night?” Clover reached over and grabbed the lamp chain, looking over to the kitsune.

“Yeah. Good night, Clover.” Kanako pulled the blankets up, and snuggled a pillow.

“Sweet dreams.” Clover turned off the lights, and the pair eventually drifted off into a quiet slumber.

~

Peaceful days of relaxed labor and family meals - punctuated by Clover still comedically fumbling with chopsticks, among other things - quietly passed. The gaping wound lingering in Ceroba’s heart left by her daughter falling down so many years ago was steadily healing, thanks to Kanako’s long-overdue safe return, even though Ceroba had effectively lost her legs. In a sense, she considered it a fair trade on a karmic scale.

…But the quiet could not last. The morning of the day Clover had promised to face Undyne again had arrived. Clover put on his boots just outside the front door of the estate, preparing himself while the two kitsunes watched. A boiling anticipation filled the air, shattering whatever sense of normalcy they held before.

Clover considered the upcoming encounter in his head as he adjusted his gear. ‘…If I use my guns again at this point, I might wind up killing someone in the crossfire. So then, my best course of action would be to…’

Ceroba cleared her throat before addressing the cowboy. “Are you prepared, Clover?”

“As best as I can be.” Clover tightened his boots, and stood tall, looking back at the pair of foxes.

“Good.” The old ginger fox simply nodded in response. She could feel a quiet strength emanating from the human warrior, and it was enough to put her own mind at ease.

In contrast, anxiety ran rampant through Kanako’s mind, and she placed a slightly shaky hand on Clover’s shoulder, trying to find a way out of the situation. “Hey… Clover, you could just run instead of having to actually fight that crazy fish knight, you know?”

“I won’t run, Kanako. I gave my word I’d face Undyne again, and I will. Even if I did run, she’d just hunt me down again anyways. I have to do this.” There wasn’t even a hint of hesitation in Clover’s voice. He clenched his fists and took a deep breath, hardening his resolve further.

“Clover… Here, take this.” Kanako pulled out the handmade red & gold omamori amulet from her pocket, and carefully tied it around the cowboy’s neck.

Clover raised an eyebrow and took a closer look at the amulet, holding it up in one hand. “Is this some kinda lucky charm you made?”

“Yeah. It holds a prayer for your well-being and protection. Just don’t open it, otherwise it’ll lose its power. That’s how it works.” The young kitsune clasped his rough right hand between her own two soft hands, and brought it to her heart.

Clover could feel Kanako’s nerves racing through her quickened heartbeat, and their link. He met her gaze with his own, and uttered only three words. “I won’t lose.”

Through their shared connection, Kanako could practically taste the burning conviction radiating from his SOUL. Wordlessly, she pulled him into a tight hug. “Just… Just stay alive, okay?”

The cowboy patted her back reassuringly, and nodded after they separated. “I will.”

“Give the Captain hell, Clover.” Ceroba piped up, rather aggressively.

Clover stifled an impulsive laugh. “I’ll do my best.”

“Alright, I’m off.” The cowboy began to head out.

Before he could get far, Kanako grabbed his hand. “Wait, I’m coming with you. I want to at least be there for this.”

“If my daughter’s going, then I’m going too.” Ceroba rolled up behind them.

Clover blinked for a second. “I… Okay. Just stay out of the line of fire, alright? I don’t want either of you to get caught up in this, and this is something I have to settle one-on-one. It's a matter of honor.”

Kanako nodded, and grabbed the handles of her mother’s wheelchair, following behind Clover, heading to the town of the Wild East together.

~

The Royal Captain, clad in her imposing armor, stood in the middle of the sandy town, arms crossed, spear stabbed into the ground by her side, awaiting her foe.

The townsfolk - a starman, an armadillo lady and a purple mustachioed man - stood on the sidelines near the old buildings, speaking in hushed whispers amongst themselves.

Undyne glanced at the clock in the center of the town. Five minutes were left before noon would strike. She tapped her foot against the ground, already feeling a bit impatient despite it not even being time yet, when she suddenly heard the distinctive clinking of steel spurs on boots approaching from the south.

The human warrior, the fighter, the gunslinger, Clover, had arrived, his duster coat billowing behind him like a proud flag in the wind as he walked toward the Captain. He was followed at a distance by two fox monsters, one ginger fox in a wheelchair, one brunette – the one she was supposed to capture per Alphys’ request, but currently had zero interest in.

A fanged grin burst across the Captain’s face, and she spread her arms wide in Clover’s direction. “There he is! Glad you’re on time, I’ve been itching for this all week! Hope yer ready!”

“Yeah. I am.” Clover adjusted his scarf, and then… He began to disarm himself of all of his weaponry, handing over his holsters, bandoliers, satchel and even his leather hat to the brunette kitsune accompanying him. She quickly wheeled the red-headed fox over to the side, out of the way of the fight with all of Clover’s gear.

Undyne paused for a second, confused, rapidly blinking her one eye, before her toothy grin returned stronger than ever. “Oh, I get it. You wanna play like that, do ya? Fine, I’m down!”

The Captain ripped her spear out of the ground, then turned around and flung it into the air with tremendous force, embedding the weapon deep into the side of a nearby hill. She then discarded all of her armor, tossing it to the wayside with a heavy thud, and cracked her knuckles. “Show me a good time, Clover!”

Clover gripped his shoulder, and threw off all of his top wear with one smooth motion, leaving himself bare-chested. He took a stance, readying himself. “Let’s do this.”

A certain brown fuzzy spectator had a momentary nosebleed in response.

As they waited for the clock to strike noon and stared each other down, a scalding tension crackling between the two fighters scorched the air itself, burning hotter than any day under the faux sun in the Dunes ever could.

Sweat dripped down the foreheads of the spectators as the clock slowly ticked down, sands in the hourglass counting down to an inevitable explosion of violence.

The brunette kitsune pressed her palms together in quiet prayer.

The bell’s toll of high noon shattered the silence, and the two fighters instantaneously bolted at each other like a duet of screaming missiles.

- - -

Chapter Text

The wind howled.

A flurry of furious fists flew through the air, violent monster & human knuckles crashed against each other, sending visible shockwaves of raw force out from each impact point. The sheer might of each clash flung waves of sand billowing out from the eye of the storm, and dug a crater into the ground, tearing into the earth further and further with each punch. Both fighters refused to back down. The air crackled with pure fighting spirit.

‘Can’t believe this. Feels like Undyne’s somehow way stronger than she was in Waterfall… Dammit. There’s nothing to exploit or outwit in a head-on fight like this. Nothing else to do but go all-in!’ Clover’s train of conscious thought pulled into his mental station, and he shifted gears, letting his instinct & intuition take over for the rest of the battle.

As they continued to clash, the heat of the Dunes strangely didn’t slow down the Royal Captain at all. Interest piqued by the piscine monster suffering no ill effects from the climate, Ceroba cast a magic detection spell, and took a closer look. Seemed like Undyne’s body had been enchanted with some sort of long-lasting environmental endurance spell… And her belt was lined with glacialstones.

However, neither fighter themselves particularly cared about the specifics so long as they were both in top shape for the fight. With his current mindset, Clover would’ve agreed to fight Undyne in Waterfall again if the climate were an issue otherwise.

Dina stared at the absurd fight with an incredulous look, unsure how what was taking place before her was even real. A bead of sweat rolled down the side of her head. ‘This has gotta be one of the dumbest things I’ve ever seen.’

‘Holy shit. This is the coolest thing I’ve ever seen!’ Starlo watched the battle with eyes as wide as dinner plates, barely hanging onto the edge of his seat and his hat.

Kanako had picked up Clover’s upper wear he had thrown off at the start, and was nibbling at her claw tips as she watched the fight. The brunette kitsune wanted to step in and help fight alongside Clover, but she knew that if she did that, the battle would lose its meaning. No honor or respect could be won from an unfair fight.

Hands resting atop a green cane, a certain elderly tortoise monster dressed in a brown blazer, trousers, scarf and flat cap, quietly watched the fight with great interest from afar, out of sight of the others.

A sneaky drone hovered overhead unnoticed, equipped with a camera and branded with a ‘MTT’ logo. It recorded and broadcasted the fight live to the rest of the Underground, while Mettaton commentated in safety from his news room. Fortunately, nobody in the fight zone could hear the robot’s constant over-the-top blathering.

In the blinding rush of violence, one of Undyne’s punches managed to slip by Clover’s guard and slugged him right in the gut, forcing him to double over, effectively stunning him. The captain picked up the cowboy, and hurled him hard at an abandoned building all the way over in the remains of Oasis Valley, demolishing the structure. Debris collapsed on top of Clover, seemingly burying him in a pile of rubble.

Followed by the spectators from a distance, Undyne ran over to the destroyed house, and yelled at where the cowboy had fallen. “Come on! I’ve been training my ass off all week for this! Don’t you dare bite the dust just yet!!” ‘There’s no way he’s done already. When I hit him, it felt like I was punching a solid block of steel, or maybe something even tougher. That punk’s gotten even better since our last scrap. Get up! Give me a challenge!!’

The gunslinger forced his way out of the wreckage, standing tall. He rolled his arms, readying himself once more. “I’m just getting warmed up.”

“Good! Come on!!” Undyne lunged at the cowboy, but he was ready.

Clover ducked the captain’s initial swing and slammed his boot into her abdomen hard, sending her flying into another empty building, crashing through several more stone walls, collapsing the house on top of the captain, returning the favor.

Undyne erupted with a fearsome war cry as she burst out of the rubble, and stared down her foe, seemingly not much worse for wear. Her raw spirit manifested in the form of a fierce light flaring from her eye, shaped almost like a spear. Aquatic arm veins bulging with power, the Captain ripped an entire boulder-sized chunk of rock out of the ground, and chucked it at the cowboy. She then broke into a sprint at him, following just behind the boulder. ‘His strength and speed are rising as we fight… This is getting good!’

Clover wound up, and smashed through the boulder with his fist, reducing it to pebbles. With a sudden close-quarters follow-up attack, the Captain nailed him in the side with a kick, but the cowboy blocked with his arms and was sent sliding back a bit.

The gunslinger dug his fingers into the side of a nearby palm tree. He tore the entire tree out of the ground, roots and all, and flung it at Undyne. The captain tackled her way through the palm tree, smashing it in half with her body, then slammed her fist into Clover’s side, forcing him to stagger and launch spittle from his mouth. He grit his teeth and returned the attack with a fierce hook to the face, sending Undyne reeling, but she caught herself and replied with another strike to his chest.

They traded devastating blow after blow, standing in place, both combatants refusing to give up any ground, each violent strike causing the space around them to shudder from the tremendous force. Every single one of the earth-shaking attacks they exchanged would be more than enough individually to instantly kill any regular monster, or even a standard grown human, and yet they kept dishing it back and forth like it was nothing. They rocked the landscape with absurd power as they slugged it out like two ridiculous heavyweight boxers, completely abandoning all notions of defense.

Kanako noticeably flinched every time Clover took a hit, sometimes gasping in pain, confusing Ceroba. Concern crossed the old fox’s face. The ginger kitsune muttered a short incantation under her breath, and cast her soul analysis spell.

Ceroba saw Kanako’s fractured SOUL firmly held together by fierce golden energy, connected to Clover’s burning yellow SOUL by a glimmering scarlet thread. Glimmering motes of power cycled between the two interlinked SOULS. A shard of darkness furiously writhed around within the gunslinger’s flaming soul, staining it with shadow, though the dark blemishes were continuously devoured by the raging golden inferno. The old fox had no idea what to make of any of this. She was lost in thought as the scorching battle raged on.

The warriors continued to wail on each other, tearing each other’s bodies down with every strike. But Clover was slipping, and Undyne could feel it. She slapped his off-balance punch to the side, and slammed her fist into his chest at full force, once again sending the cowboy careening through the air.

His body smashed through several palm trees and cacti, uprooting the vegetation, then crashed through multiple houses, blasting apart brick walls and causing the whole structure of a ten story stone building to fall on him, effectively pinning him to the floor this time. Clover’s vision blurred, and he couldn’t see anything from underneath the rubble. He felt his consciousness start to fade…

Kanako recoiled with agony, her knees trembled, and she almost fell over. Ceroba steadied her daughter with one arm, still not completely sure of what was going on.

A wave of pained noises sounded out from the small audience in reaction to the cowboy being sent crashing through several solid brick walls, bringing yet another entire house crashing down on his back.

Sweat rolled down Dina’s forehead. “There’s… There’s no way he’s bouncing back from that, right? I mean, Clover’s still just a guy and all, yeah?”

Starlo just shook his head. “I… I dunno. He’s the most ridiculous guy I’ve ever met, but…”

A moment of eerie silence passed as Undyne began to approach the wreckage, fists still clenched.

Kanako grit her teeth. She wasn’t quite able to catch her breath, but she still cried out within her mind. ‘Clover!! Don’t lose!’

‘…I can hear her voice. She’s calling me.’

‘...Stand up.’

A monstrous earthquake erupted from underneath the wreckage, sending fearsome tremors all the way to the far corners of the Underground. A certain goat monster’s noon tea spilled onto his yellow flower garden due to the violent quake.

An unyielding fist burst out of the debris, sending several thousand tons of rubble flying to the sides from the pure kinetic force alone. The kitsune pair quickly raised barrier spells to shield the audience from stray rocks.

Clover wiped his face, took a firm stance, and locked eyes with the captain. His pupils flickered with a quiet golden grit. The air around him crackled with aggressive streaks of yellow electricity. “Sorry, but I’m not going down that easily. There’s someone I made a promise to.”

The Royal Captain grinned, psyching herself up. Her muscles tensed, and similar sparks of blue electricity twisted in the air around her body.

“Hah! Then you better give me everything you’ve got!” Undyne shouted as they leapt at each other, smashing into the ground near the remains of the oasis pool. Fists flew from each side once more, crashing into one another again in a mad rush, each punch packing far more might than the blows exchanged at the start of the battle.

Intense shockwaves rippled out from each strike of the brawl, digging a rapidly-widening crater deeper and deeper into the earth below the fighters. Fresh water sprung up from the ground, slowly flooding the crater, drenching the fighters’ feet until the exchange of blows led them to dry ground once more. Their clash had incidentally unearthed a new spring, unintentionally rejuvenating the oasis.

The warriors both recoiled from the punches for a moment, and then locked hands, struggling to overpower one another with brute strength. Wrestling for control, the earth quaked, and their bodies rumbled with incredible power as they pushed back and forth.

They began to headbutt each other, clashing their skulls together over, and over, and over, sending yet even more ripples of force through the air… Until they both staggered backwards from the damage, bruised and exhausted. Undyne fell over, while Clover managed to stay upright, but they were both breathing hard.

Undyne slammed the dirt with her fist and struggled to stand up, despite how badly damaged she was. “I ain’t done!”

“I won't fall here...” Clover forced himself to stay on his feet, readying himself once more, defying both his battered body and common sense. Light still burned in his eyes.

The fighters lunged at each other one more time…

...But they were stopped dead in their tracks by a green tortoise monster, who shoved them both to the ground and onto their rears.

Gerson smacked his cane against the ground, drawing a line in the sand between the two. “Alright young’ins, you’re done. Ye’ve duked it out enough. ‘Specially if an old man like myself can push the both of ya down without breakin’ a sweat. Ha!”

“…Gerson?!” Clover sputtered as he sat up. ‘This guy… He’s not just some frail old man. He stopped both of us at once. Just how strong is he?...’ The cowboy’s curiosity was plain on his face.

Undyne groaned as she pushed herself off the ground, and gave the elderly tortoise a look of bewilderment. “What the hell are you doing here, Teach? Why’re ya stoppin’ me? We need more human souls to break the barrier, you know that!”

The old tortoise monster slapped his cane down on the earth in front of the captain. “Yeah? And ye also know one more won’t make a difference. King Fluffybuns has only got five right now. Giving him another won’t do squat. Far as I know, this human lad hasn’t murdered anybody in cold blood down here. Besides, if you off Clover, where are ya gonna find another young competitor even half as decent as him, eh?”

The Captain’s face twisted in annoyance for a few moments before she conceded to the elder. “Rrrgh… Yeah, you’re right. Fine. Fighting Asgore’s gotten really damn boring lately, anyways. That lazy-ass hardly even tries. It’s so dull, Asgore just rolls over without even putting up a fight, like he just doesn’t care. I can’t stand it.”

The cowboy rose to his feet, and tilted his head to the side at the elderly tortoise. “Wait, you two know each other?”

“Gya ha ha!” Gerson belted out a warm laugh before responding. “Know each other? She’s my protege, sonny. Suppose I forgot to tell ya earlier.”

Clover rubbed his chin. “Oh.” ‘Guess that explains the old tortoise’s absurd strength… Just how much power is he hiding underneath that ancient shell?...’

Undyne stood up, dusted her bruised body off, and then offered a hand to the cowboy with a big toothy grin plastered on her face. “Alright, fine, it’s official. If the old man likes ya, you’re okay in my books. That was the best scrap I’ve had in ages too. I’ll tell the rest of the guard to lay off ya, too. Long as you’re fine with me dropping by for a spar whenever I want. Deal?”

“Sounds good to me, Captain.” A rare genuine smile spread across Clover’s face as he grasped the captain’s hand, and they shook on it, signalling the end of the match.

“Just call me Undyne, Clover. I ain’t a big fan of formalities anyways. Hah!” The Royal Captain rumbled with a hearty chortle, just as warm as her mentor’s laugh.

Gerson stroked his beard with a smirk forming on his lips. “Alrighty then. I’ll drop by and lend a hand every now and then too. This old man could use some more excitement in his life anyhoo.”

“Damn, really, Teach? This’ll be more fun than I expected. Ha!” Undyne beamed, her spirits practically as bright as the sun.

Clover just nodded, silently contemplating what he was in for. ‘Sparring with the Royal Guard’s Captain, and lessons from her own mentor, huh… This might be good. Long as I can keep up, at least. I get the feeling neither of them are gonna take it easy on me...’

Once the audience realized the chaotic fight was over, multiple sighs of relief sounded from the spectators, and they moved closer to the combatants.

The aquatic captain looked around at the destruction left in the wake of the battle, and an awkward drop of sweat rolled down the side of her head. “And, uh… I’ll send a chunk of money out of my savings to pay for all the property damage. Sorry ‘bout that. The government should send some compensation cash too.”

“Y’all practically smashed up half the town with your little dance. I’d be a little miffed if there wasn’t any compensation.” Dina huffed.

Starlo just tipped his hat, a tired look on his face. “That’d be much appreciated, Cap’n. Rebuilding this town was already looking like a bleak task even before this fight.”

The tall piscine monster nodded, and spread her arms wide at all of the abandoned homes. “You can just call me Undyne too, starman. Like I said, skip the damn formalities, never been a fan of them anyways. And aye, I can see the sorry state of this place. Ya should probably look into hiring a proper construction crew. I know a good one, they’re based in New Home city, they’ve been doing some damn fine work in the capital, and have been refurbishing family homes left and right in Snowdin too. I forget their name, sorry, but their head honcho’s a big brawny pink guy. I think one of my juniors, a blue bird, quit the guard - or maybe she got laid off? I don’t remember - and joined up with them. She was always better at buildin’ than fightin’ anyways.”

The retired sheriff scratched his chin in thought. “That sounds like Ed’s crew. Didn’t know they were doing that well, that’s good to hear. Thank ya kindly Undyne, we’ll look into it.”

Kanako wheeled her mother closer, then ran up to Clover and squeezed him with a soft hug, wrapping her fluffy tail around his waist, nearly throwing the cowboy off balance. He stumbled a bit, and then patted her back in response.

“And you, the little fox lady…” Undyne looked between Kanako, her wheelchair-bound mother, and the cowboy. The captain’s face twisted into a grimace for a moment, and then she sighed.

“Look, little lady, I’m not gonna force you to go to Alphys’ lab if you don’t wanna. I ain’t gonna get between someone and their family, but Alphys isn’t crazy or malicious or anything. She probably has a good reason for whatever she wants to see you for.”

The brunette kitsune froze for a few anxiety-ridden seconds before she responded. “I… I’ll think about it, I guess.” She hid her face behind one of the cowboy’s shoulders.

The older fox just squinted at the aquatic captain.

Undyne shrugged. “Do whatever ya want. Think it’s about time I hit the road.”

She then turned to the elderly tortoise. “Hey Teach, wanna go grab a bite at Grillby’s?”

Gerson nodded. “Aye lass, I could do with a bit of grub.”

The old monster swiveled his head towards the human cowboy and his group. “Be seein’ you folks around. Take care of yourselves now, y’hear?”

The aquatic pair said their goodbyes, and headed out after Undyne retrieved her gear, waving farewell as they left. The Dunes’ gang waved as the two left, watching them fade into the distance for a few moments. The MTT drone, still unnoticed, departed quietly.

“Damn, that whole scuffle was amazing, cowboy. Are all humans this crazy?” Starlo walked up to Clover and clapped him on the back, causing him to flinch a bit.

“I’ll say. I thought the dance you had with Mettaton in the capital was nuts, but that fight was just something else. Nice job.” Dina winked at the human cowboy.

Blackjack stroked his mustache, nodding. “I’m a tad disappointed I didn’t get to see my handiwork put to use in person, but I’m also just glad both the firearms and you came out of the brawl in one piece, lad.”

Clover gave the small crowd a weary smile. “Thanks guys… Man, that was rough.”

~

After all the excitement had died down and the fighters had retrieved their gear, the two kitsunes walked the cowboy home. The younger fox fussed over him as they moved, gently touching certain spots on his body.

Clover winced when Kanako ran her hands over his bruised torso. “Ouch. Hey, take it easy.”

Their linked pain caused the brunette fox to also flinch. “Sorry, sorry. You okay?”

“Yeah, think so. Can you pass me my bag?” The cowboy pointed to his magic satchel.

“Here.” Kanako handed it over to him.

“Thanks.” Clover retrieved one of the salami pieces he’d bought earlier and scarfed it down, fixing his surface level injuries, removing the bruise marks. The magic food had about half as much effect as the cowboy expected, but for whatever reason, its consumption made Kanako feel better too.

The brunette kitsune blinked, and patted her body. “Huh? That’s weird. It affected me too?...”

“Do you think it’s the?...” The cowboy pointed to their hearts, but their chat was cut short.

Ceroba cleared her throat, and tapped a finger against the arm of her wheelchair. “Is there something you two have been neglecting to tell me?”

“Uh...” Kanako sheepishly pressed her index fingers together, and a bead of sweat rolled down the side of her head. “...How about we take Clover home first? He’s probably still hurting and all.”

“I’m fi-” Clover began, but then Kanako gently prodded his side. “Ow. Okay, yeah, I could use a rest.”

“Yes, that’s probably for the best.” The old fox nodded, and they walked the rest of the way to the Ketsukane estate with the battered cowboy.

~

Back at home, Clover lay down on a newly-added couch in the living room, while Ceroba directed Kanako to apply a couple ice-packs wrapped in cloth to the spots where he’d suffered the most damage. His adrenaline had finally worn off, and the cowboy was starting to feel the effects of the fight, even with the magic healing food.

“So… What exactly is going on with your SOULs? Why do they look the way they do?” The old red-headed kitsune rested her hands in her lap, and gave the pair a look of concern.

“Well, uh, what do they look like? It’s not like we can see ‘em normally…” The brunette fox titled her head to the side. She’d never learned any SOUL analysis magic from her mother.

Ceroba wrung her hands together, mentally preparing herself. “For starters, Kanako, your SOUL is split into fragments, almost like how a SOUL usually appears moments before death, but it’s being held together by a golden light. Clover’s SOUL is burning with a flame of the same color, and some kind of dark shard is writhing around inside it. Both of your SOULs are connected by a bright red thread, and I can see some kind of red particles flowing back & forth between them. I suppose that connection explains why you were recoiling every time Clover got hit, and perhaps why your irises have turned gold, but… How in the world did this even happen?”

Clover moved an ice-pack off of his forehead, and shared a look with Kanako for a moment before responding for the both of them. “We’re not really sure, but we think it happened when I first found Kanako in the lab. After I took out the lingering specter of the human dancer, or whatever it was. I ain’t got a clue why or even how our SOULs got strung together, it just kinda happened on its own when she took my hand.”

The old fox sighed and rubbed her temples, slowly processing the absurd events. “So… You’re telling me you formed whatever this connection is, unintentionally?”

The cowboy rubbed his shoulder, releasing pent up tension. “Yeah, pretty much. Think it’s what makes us have a shared sense of pain.”

A sheepish smile tiptoed across Kanako’s lips. “Do you have any idea what it all means, Mom?”

Ceroba laid back in her chair, feeling just a bit more helpless than usual, face painted with concern. “Sorry sweetie, I haven’t got a clue. All of this is completely foreign to me. But… I suppose your father’s research might hold a clue somewhere, in whatever’s left of it. He was researching SOULs, after all.”

The ginger kitsune’s shoulders slumped. “Just… I’m really worried. This is all so bizarre... Also, there’s something I’ve been meaning to bring up that I think might have to do with this. Kanako, when you jumped on me earlier, your body felt strangely heavy for a monster of your size… Are you alright? Do you feel okay?”

“I feel fine, Mom. Actually, I usually feel better than I did before the entire experiment happened. Just not right now, because, y’know.” The brunette kitsune gestured towards the banged-up cowboy.

“Sorry ‘bout that.” Clover sighed, and Kanako moved the ice-pack back to his forehead.

“Alright. Tell me if either of you start to feel sick or anything, okay? It’s… There’s so many unknowns. It scares me, honestly.” Ceroba reached out, and tenderly held her daughter’s hand between her own.

Kanako hugged her mother for a moment, hiding her own unease. “Okay, Ma. I’ll go look for Dad’s notes now.”

After they broke apart from the hug, Kanako headed to the basement to search for anything that could help them figure out what was going on, leaving the other two by themselves for the time being.

The air between Ceroba and Clover was somewhat uneasy without Kanako around. Clover fidgeted in place for a few seconds. He tilted his hat backwards, uncovering a bit more of his face, and tried to dispel the tension in the air. “So, ah… Miss Ketsukane? Y’ mind if I ask something a li’l personal?”

“You can just call me by my first name, Clover. I don’t mind, go ahead.” The old fox rested her hands in her lap.

“Alrighty then. Thanks, Ceroba.” The cowboy’s gaze wandered around the living room as he spoke. “Before… Well, before everythin’ terrible that happened after Kanako’s father passed, what was life like for you guys? …Sorry if that dredges up bad memories, or somethin’. I just, I’unno, I wanna get to know you guys a bit better is all.”

Ceroba let out a long sigh, and leaned back into her chair. “It’s alright. Those early days… The first six or seven years after we were blessed with Kanako were probably the happiest years of my life. Kanako was my little ray of sunshine, she was always such a joy to be around, even if she could be a bit mischievous at times. Spending time with her and Chujin together never failed to bring a smile to my face. My husband built so many little toys for her to play with, even though she kept giving them away to her friends. Almost everyone in town loved her.”

Clover idly tapped a finger against the sofa in a steady rhythm. “Is Kanako more or less the same now as she was back then?”

“She’s perhaps a bit less energetic and more serious than she was as a child, but that’s to be expected. Nobody can hold on to the boundless energy of youth forever. Just like how the joy of those few early years couldn’t last… The Snowdin incident broke into our lives, and trampled that happiness. Chujin became cold, focusing solely on his work, and Kanako… She lost the open heart she’d had since she spoke her first words, and was scared of everything for weeks. It took a lot to get her back to normal, but things were never the same. After that, work started to get rough for Chujin, and he grew even more distant from us. He wouldn’t open up to me, and I was afraid to push him on the matter. And then Chujin got sick, and, well… I suppose you’ve already pieced together the rest of the story by now.” The smile the earlier warm memories had brought Ceroba faded by the time she finished speaking.

A frown crossed the cowboy’s face. “Kinda… Not all of it, though. I keep hearing about this incident in Snowdin, but I don’t know exactly what happened there.”

The old fox took a deep breath. “One day, several years before you arrived, a human wearing a tutu and ballet shoes fell into the Underground. What few witnesses survived said that the human was in an extreme panic, presumably scared because they were lost in a completely different world. Still, what they did was just... abhorrent. They killed so many monsters using just their feet. It was a massacre. And… Kanako got caught up in it.”

Clover’s tired eyes shot open at that. “What? What happened?”

Ceroba turned her gaze away from the cowboy. “Chujin had to go to Snowdin for a repair job, and Kanako wanted to go along with him. At some point she wandered off on her own, and… ran into the human. A monster from the Ruins got hurt defending her, and the human ran away. Thankfully, Kanako was unharmed, and the human was eventually… apprehended, by one of Chujin’s robot creations. Though, dust tainted the ground nearly everywhere the human had been by the end of that nightmare…”

“...Damn. I… I’m sorry.” The cowboy just shook his head. ‘Guess that’s why Kanako was so scared of me at first… And finally puts some kinda identity on the human who Axis whacked.’

The old kitsune shook her head. “I appreciate it, but you really should stop apologizing for things you weren’t responsible for, Clover. There’s no need for it. Now, is there anything else you wanted to ask me?”

“Yeah, one more thing, if it’s alright.” Clover pulled the omamori amulet out from underneath his bandana, and held it up. “I can’t let a gift like this go without givin’ somethin’ back in kind. It just don’t sit right with me. Thing is, I don’t really know what kinda stuff Kanako likes, besides drawin’ in that sketchbook of hers. I was hopin’ you could give me some advice.”

Ceroba blinked a few times, and her expression softened. “Oh, heh. I should’ve expected that, I suppose. Let’s see… Kanako’s favorite snack when she was little was mango slices. You already know she loves to draw, but she also likes to write short stories sometimes too, and she used to spend a lot of time playing games on that toy machine Chujin made for her. I’d be shocked if the old thing still works after all this time… Anyways, if you’re trying to return the sentiment, why don’t you make something by hand for her? After all, that’s what Kanako did for you.”

Clover’s eyebrows shot up. “Really? This li’l charm is so darn fine, though. It’s so cleanly made, I thought it musta come from a store. Kanako’s one hell of a craftswoman, huh?”

The red-headed kitsune chuckled. “She is, isn’t she? Can you sew, knit, or have any sort of skills like that, Clover?”

“Uh… I can take apart a gun and put it back together real fast, I also know how to care for ‘em properly. I know how to use a grill, a frying pan, a deep fryer, and I can make a mean omelette. But, um… Other than that, not really.” For all his strength and combat prowess, the cowboy suddenly found himself lacking. He didn’t have many honed talents in the domestic department.

Ceroba rubbed her chin. “Well, that’s unfortunate. I could try to teach you how to thread a needle or how to mold clay, but it’d be difficult to hide it from Kanako, if you’re trying to surprise her.”

Clover pinched the bridge of his nose for a moment. “Aw, heck. Yeah, that’s my angle. I want it to completely come outta the blue for Kanako. People tend to be happier when they get somethin’ nice when they’re not expecting it, or so my old man told me. Thankee for the offer, but I think I’ll just try to figure something out on my own.”

The old fox simply nodded. “Alright. As long as your gift carries your feelings, I’m sure she’ll appreciate it.”

Heavy, wobbling footsteps approached. Kanako made her way up the stairs and entered the living room, delicately balancing a high stack of documents, binders, and old books.

“Y’ need a hand with all that?” Clover’s brow furrowed at the brunette kitsune precariously balancing all of the research materials.

“N-Nah, I got this. Sorry I took so long. I grabbed all the stuff that seemed related to SOULs. Here it is.” Kanako barely managed to carefully set everything down onto the kotatsu in the living room.

The cowboy’s eyes widened at just how much junk was in the pile. “God damn, that’s a lotta stuff. Do ya need help lookin’ through it all?”

The brunette kitsune exhaled, and then nodded. “Yeah, there’s so much of it, I’m gonna need some help searching for what we need to know, else this is probably gonna take forever.”

Ceroba wheeled over to the table, picking up one of the books. “I’ll lend a hand as well. This is likely the most meaningful thing I can do, given… Well, you know.”

Clover nodded and sat down at the table. “Alright, let’s get ‘er done.”

~

Several tediously long hours of reading through countless pages later, Clover’s head was slumped against the back of the sofa. His fingers slothfully flipped through the pages of an old, thick, ragged leather-bound book. Its title and whatever cover it may have had in the past had been eroded with the passage of time, and the pages were incredibly yellowed. The cowboy was getting really sick of looking at the countless diagrams of heart-shaped SOULs.

The two kitsunes weren’t faring any better. Ceroba was tiredly leafing through a massive pile of documents sitting on her lap, yawning intermittently. Books and binders were scattered everywhere around Kanako, and she couldn’t be bothered to lift her head off of the table as she skimmed through the research notes.

Together, they’d managed to sift through about half of the materials in total. All of the bits they’d already looked through were placed in a corner of the room, a slowly growing mountain born from mundane efforts.

Kanako’s mouth opened wide, letting out a long yawn. “Man… I’m bored.”

Ceroba reorganized the papers on her lap, and set them down on the table. “Well, you’ve been at this for almost four hours now, dear. How about we take a break and get something to eat?”

“Yeah, that sounds good.” The brunette kitsune stood up and stretched, loosening her stiff joints. She began to head to the kitchen, but was startled & cut short when the cowboy abruptly shouted and sprung out of his seat.

“Found something! Except… I can’t read this. ” Clover placed the decrepit book down on the kotatsu, spread open on a yellowed page near the end. A diagram of two SOULs connected by a scarlet thread was drawn on the old paper. All the text was written in peculiar runic symbols that the cowboy had never seen before.

“Oh, thank the gods & angel, finally! Let’s take a look…” Kanako’s face lit up as she scrambled to take a look… Only to dim again once she saw the text. “I can’t read this either. Mom, do you know what language this is?” She turned the old book over to her mother.

“What do we have here?” Ceroba scanned the yellowed pages, and then sighed, deflated. “I’m afraid I can’t translate this either, sorry. But I believe these letters are part of the original monster script, a language that was lost to us just after the barrier was established.”

She shook her head. “This is an incredibly ancient tome, it’s a miracle it’s still in one piece. I can’t think of anyone besides the King himself who might know how to read this, but going to him probably isn’t a wise choice.”

The brunette kitsune’s shoulders slumped. “Dangit… Well, at least we found some kind of lead. This wasn’t a total waste of time, right? All we have to do next is find someone who can read it. Though, uh, if it’s really that old, then that might be easier said than done…”

‘Hold everyone’s damn horses… I met someone around here who’s real, real old.’ Clover stood up, and patted Kanako’s shoulder. “Think I might know a guy.”

“Seriously? Who?” Kanako’s eyebrows jumped straight up.

“Remember that old turtle guy who put a nail in my fight with Undyne? He told me he fought in the war before the barrier was put up. Bet he could read this.” The cowboy tapped the pages.

Old memories tickled the back of Ceroba’s mind. “That was Gerson? The Hammer of Justice? Incredible… I thought he’d be long gone by now.”

Clover nodded. “Yeah, that’s his name. I didn’t know he had a title like that, though. Interestin’... Anyways, he’ll probably swing by in the next few days along with Undyne. Just gotta ask him when he shows up.”

Kanako stretched again, and placed her hands behind her head casually. “I really hope he knows how to read it. Would be nice to figure out what exactly’s going on with us. Anyways, I’m hungry. Let’s make dinner.”

The old ginger fox gently prodded the cowboy. “How about you grill something for us tonight, Clover?”

Clover nodded. “Sure, I can sear some steak or somethin’.” ‘Guess she’s trying to get me to prove what I said earlier... Time to show off a bit.’

Kanako playfully quirked an eyebrow. “Wait, you can cook? You never mentioned that to me.”

The cowboy shrugged. “I just know how to do some stuff with a grill and a pan, nothin’ that fancy.”

“Well, c’mon, I wanna see.” The brunette kitsune walked alongside the cowboy as she pushed her mother’s wheelchair to the kitchen, tail fluttering, brushing against his backside more than a few times.

~

Later that evening, when he had a moment to himself, Clover laid out all of the tools he was most familiar with on top of a desk inside the estate. ‘Alright, what’ve I got… My firearm brushes, a cleaning cloth, a small cable, some rope, a lighter, and my knife. Is there anything I can make with this?’

He picked up the knife, staring at the metal’s soft shine from the room’s lights. ‘Maybe I can carve somethin’ outta wood? Never tried woodcarving before, but I guess it’s worth a shot. Need a chunk of wood first, though.’

Clover put the knife down, and looked at a bottle he’d been carrying for a while, one filled with green liquid. He picked the bottle up, shook it, and watched as the bubbles inside fizzed. ‘…Wonder what this tastes like.’

The cowboy’s intrusive thoughts got the better of him, he flicked the cap off and took a swig of the hissing acid… And was perfectly fine. ‘Huh. Tastes like vinegar… Gross.’ He screwed the cap back on, and put the rest of the acid away in his bag.

…Meanwhile, in another room, Kanako suddenly felt a spike of minor heartburn that quickly faded. ‘What the hell was that?’ Baffled, she whipped her head around for a bit, before settling down and going back to sketching in her journal.

Clover scooped up the rest of his tools, tucked them into his satchel, and slid the knife back into its scabbard on his belt. He strolled out of the estate, taking the house’s lumber axe with him, and headed to the forest to the north, out of the range of the worst swelterstones’ destructive heat, in search of a suitable piece of wood.

He trudged by the family gravestone, noting how messy the place was as he passed by it. Several scattered candles were tipped over, the path was overgrown, and the stone itself could use a polish. ‘That’s another spot we’re gonna have to clean up later, I suppose...’

Clover made his way through the woods, ducking overhanging branches and avoiding gnarled roots, looking for a tree or a branch that was just the right size. Eventually, he came across a clearing in the forest. Before him was a large open grove, a deep pond in its center, connected to a river running through it. Lily pads lazily floated atop the waters, fireflies glowing with a soft yellow light danced just above the lilies, and hummingbirds darted around the myriad of flowers surrounding the pond. A handful of fish leapt through the pond, swimming through to the next part of the river.

The cowboy sat down on the soft grass, took the map out of his satchel, and marked his current location on it. ‘Man… I never stopped to think about how crazy it is that a whole forest, an entire ecosystem, or whatever could grow beneath the earth. And one this pretty, to boot… Maybe I would’ve cut my dumb crusade short if I’d seen this place in my last life…’

‘…I should bring Kanako here at some point. She’s been working non-stop every day since we got here. She could use a breather. Though I guess the same could be said for me…’

Clover folded up the map, and put it back in his bag, but he didn’t get up yet. He lay back against a tree, just giving himself a moment to breathe and to take in the sight. ‘Maybe I should try to get some kinda jewelry for Kanako too, if this whole wood-carving thing doesn’t work out. Ain’t got a lotta money, but I could probably find some worthwhile gems & ore in the mines to the west.’

The cowboy’s eyes wandered, and he spotted a tree with a thick branch. He got up, walked over to it, and sliced it off with one clean cut from the lumber axe, nodding to himself. Next he used the axe to separate the wood into more manageable pieces, three chunks of wood about the size of a large bottle of soda each, and pocketed two of them into his dimensional satchel.

Clover sat back down on the grass with the third piece of wood, and drew his knife, beginning to whittle away at it…

…After a bit, he was staring at the crummy end results of his naive efforts, what was essentially a wooden stake in his hand. Every time he felt like he’d made an error when trying to carve out finer details, he’d just cut further into the wood, erasing whatever progress he’d made. ‘This… This is harder than I thought it’d be.’

Clover sighed, tucked the wooden stake into his dimensional bag, and headed back to the estate.

~

Waiting for Clover on the homestead’s front deck was Kanako, whose soft tail immediately began whipping up & down upon his arrival. “Hey! I was about to come looking for you.”

The cowboy stifled a laugh as he walked up onto the deck, and rested the lumber axe against the house’s wall before he turned to face her. “Jeez, did you really miss me that much?”

The brunette kitsune twirled a lock of hair around her finger as she spoke. “I, ah… Yeah, I did, actually. There’s something I’ve been meaning to talk to you about.”

Clover raised an eyebrow. “...I’m listening.”

Kanako inched towards him, bringing her face close to the cowboy’s, close enough for him to feel her warm breath on his skin. Intimately close. “Clover, I–”

A loud cheery jingle rang out right above the pair, causing them to jump. A pink flying whale, wearing a blue cap and carrying a large satchel stuffed with letters descended from the sky in front of the house. They set the bag down on the ground, and used their oddly dextrous tail to retrieve a large box with a letter attached to it. The whale handed the items to Clover. “One express delivery for a Mister Clover! And with that, my job is over.”

The mail whale flew away just as abruptly as it had arrived, leaving the stunned pair by themselves.

Clover blinked a few times before he recomposed himself and opened the letter, scanning the contents.

Kanako let out a long sigh, and then peered over his shoulder. “What’s it say?”

The cowboy read it aloud for her. “ ‘Hey, punk. I figured since I’m already giving a good chunk of coin to the rest of the town to help pay for repairs, I’d send some your way too. Honestly, they pay me way too much for this job. I seriously don’t need all this coin, so I may as well give it to people who do. Lookin’ forward to seein’ ya again when all our bruises are healed up, Clover. –Undyne.’ “

Clover folded the letter back up, and opened the big box. A miniature ocean of gold coins glinted back at him. “Ah.”

Kanako whistled, her eyes sparkling. “That’s a hell of a lot of gold.”

“It sure is. Here, gimme your bag, Kanako.” The cowboy picked the box up, then dumped half of the coins into his dimensional satchel, and the other half into the kitsune’s. For some strange reason, the gold coins didn’t take up nearly as much ‘storage space’ as other items did.

“Um, thanks, but I don’t feel like I deserve this, Clover. You’re the one who fought Undyne, after all.” The kitsune shut the clasp on her bag, and raised an eyebrow at him.

Clover shook his head, and gave her a smile. “Naw, I woulda passed out when I got buried the second time, if you hadn’t hollered for me.”

Kanako’s eyes widened. “What? You heard that?”

The cowboy tilted his head to the side. “Yeah?... Why wouldn’t I have? You were yellin’ pretty darn loud.”

She stared at him. “I, uh… Clover, I didn’t yell that aloud. That was in my head.”

“Huh?” The gunslinger shot a quizzical look at her.

Kanako tapped the side of her head. “I’m saying you heard my thoughts.”

Clover took a step back. “What? Seriously?... Well, if you’re not pullin’ my leg, I don’t think I’ve heard any of your other thoughts since then, though.”

“I… Hmm… Do you wanna maybe try to do it again? Try and guess what I’m thinking of right now.” She looked into his eyes, and concentrated on her thoughts. ‘Bread. Cheese. Mangoes. Fresh fish. Donuts. Prime steak… God, this feels so dumb.’ The cowboy squinted at her for a moment. And then laughed, pointing at her mouth. “I can tell you’re thinking about food because you’ve got a bit of drool leakin’ from your lips, but I don’t think that counts as mind readin’.”

Kanako’s face flushed red, and she hastily wiped the drool off of her lips. “Blargh, whatever. This is stupid anyways.”

Clover chuckled again. “Heh, if you say so. So what’d you want to talk to me about earlier? Y’know, before the mail whale suddenly dropped in on us.”

“I - Um. I’ll tell you later.” The kitsune shook her head, and pulled a couple of VHS tapes out of her bag. “Look, I went and borrowed some human western movies from Starlo while you were out. I mean, I’m assuming you’re into this kinda thing because of your whole get-up and all that. Do you wanna watch them with me?”

That lit up the cowboy’s face. “You ran all that way just for me? Jeez. Yeah, ‘course I do.”

Kanako returned his smile, and led Clover by the hand to the living room. She popped the tape into the player, and the duo got comfortable on the couch together…

~

A couple of movies and a lot of popcorn later, Kanako & Clover fell asleep on the sofa, cuddled into a soft ball.

When locking up for the night, Ceroba stumbled across them. She pressed a hand over her mouth to stifle a laugh, then rolled herself over to the office to grab one of the few items that hadn’t been lost over the years, and grabbed a blanket from a closet on the way back as well.

The old kitsune returned with a camera, and snapped a photo of the two snuggled up on the couch together. Ceroba slipped the photo into her sleeve for later, and then laid the blanket on top of the pair. Smirking, she wheeled herself to her bedroom to retire for the night.

~ ~ ~

The next day, Ceroba asked Clover to help her dust off Kanako’s old room, as Kanako herself was currently just too uncomfortable with going in there.

After they finished breakfast together, the brunette kitsune headed out to Sunnyside fields to help Starlo with farmwork for the time being.

Clover wheeled Ceroba over to the northwest side of the house, gently pushing her wheelchair over old wooden floors.

Ceroba looked up at the flight of stairs that led to the second story, and to Kanako’s old childhood room. “Sorry for the trouble Clover, but could you help me get up the stairs?”

“Yeah, no prob.” Clover hefted the ginger fox & her wheelchair together above his head, and walked up the steps as casually as if he were carrying nothing heavier than a loaf of bread. He set her down gently in front of the door to the old bedroom.

Ceroba relaxed the death grip she was holding on the armrests. She might’ve gotten a little spooked by the quick ride. The old fox let out a sigh of relief when she was back on the floor. “Goodness, that was fast. Thank you. Your strength really is something else, isn’t it?”

The cowboy stretched a bit before responding. “Nah, it’s nothin’, really. But yeah, I don’t think I would’ve survived these past few days without it. Even then, most monsters feel weirdly light to me. Kanako’s the only exception, now that I think about it. Feels like she weighs as much as a regular person her size should to me.”

“Is that so?... Well, I appreciate your help either way, Clover. The last time I stepped foot into this room was so long ago. The memories, they were just…” The red-headed kitsune hesitated to reach for the doorknob, her hand stopping short.

Clover placed a hand on her shoulder. “Y’ don’t gotta finish that thought, it’s okay. Pretty sure I understand.”

The human cowboy pushed open the door, and gently pushed the old fox’s chair inside. “C’mon, the sooner we get this done, the better, right?”

“Yes, you’re right. Let’s get started.” Ceroba nodded, and the two got to work using feather dusters to brush off the furniture that hadn’t been touched in over a decade.

“Hey, y’know, Undyne sent us a bunch of money last night. Should we use the coin to get new furniture?” Clover asked as he swept dust off the sheets of the bed, resting his left hand on the wooden bedpost.

“That’s a good idea. There’s a couple of nice furniture stores I know of in the capital we could go shopping a–” Ceroba suddenly broke into a coughing fit for a few seconds, waving at the air around her.

The cowboy quirked an eyebrow at her. “You alright?”

The old fox coughed a few more times before she nodded. “Yes, sorry about that. I just choked a bit on all the dust in the air. It’s been over ten years since I last opened the door, and now we’re kicking up all the dust that’s collected in here that –”

Ceroba cut herself short when she noticed Clover seemed to be shaking, his face turned away from her, hand gripping the bedpost hard enough for the wood to begin splintering. She called out to him. “Clover? Hey, Clover? Clover!”

“Wha?...” The cowboy rapidly blinked for a moment, then looked around before he noticed the bedpost and yanked his hand away from it. “Oh, heck. S-sorry.”

The old kitsune’s brow furrowed in concern. “Clover… Are you alright? Did I say something that upset you?”

Clover flinched. “I, Uh. No, that was on me. I’m fine. You didn’t say anything wrong. Ceroba, I’m real sorry about that, I’ll pay for a new bed for Kanako if you want.”

“You don’t need to do that. The Captain sent everyone in town a generous sum in reparation.” She sighed, shaking her head.

“Right…” The cowboy just kept his head down and went back to work.

Uncomfortable silence gripped the atmosphere for the next good while of quiet work, uneasy tension slowly creeping into the air.

Thirty minutes passed until the silence was broken by Ceroba. “So, Clover, before you came here, did you get into many fights on the surface?”

Clover swept some dust off the top of a wardrobe before turning to her. “Yeah, I got into a fair bit of fights. Mostly stuff like dealing with the occasional school bully, and the random street hooligan. Why do ya ask?”

‘Something’s not quite adding up here…’ Ceroba slowly raised one eyebrow at him. “I was wondering where your strength comes from, and where you learned how to move & fight like how you did against Undyne. You’ve got a lot more skill than I’d expect for someone whose only prior experience was fighting delinquents. Have you trained with someone?”

Clover blinked for a moment. “Well… Yeah, I trained with my father. He’s the one who taught me most everything I know about guns. He made sure I knew how to defend myself before he passed, and he taught me how to throw a punch, how the power comes from your lower body’s movement, and all that.”

The old fox gave him a dry look. “You said he passed when you were nine, right?... Your father taught you all that before you were even ten years old?”

The cowboy shrugged. “I… Yeah. I just never stopped putting what he taught me into practice.” ‘Ugh… Even if I’m still not really lying, I hate doing this, but I can’t exactly tell her about that whole dark void thing. She’d think I’m insane.’

“I see…” ‘I suppose I ought to stop pressing him on this for now…’

Ceroba wiped off the last of the dust in the corner she was tending to, and took on a more easygoing expression. “Looks like we’re done. We’ve probably got some time until Kanako returns, so… How about I teach you how to make one of her favorite dishes?”

“Eh? Yeah, sure. Sounds good. What’re we making?” ‘That was a bit of a shift, but I’ll take it.’ The cowboy’s expression softened, and he set the duster tool down.

“Katsudon. I think it’s something you’ll enjoy making, considering the main portion is deep fried pork cutlets.” The old fox gestured towards the door. “Come, help me get down the stairs so we can get started, yes?”

“Sure thing.” Clover nodded, grabbed the handles of Ceroba’s wheelchair, and they headed down to the kitchen together to make lunch.

~

Over in the east side of town, a starman and a brunette kitsune were playing around at the shooting range next to Blackjack’s shop, having already finished the farmwork for the day.

A pile of sandbags, two countertops with boxes of ammunition, and a wooden fence stood in front of a row of practice dummies and bullseye targets on the sands.

“Been ages since you last held an iron, huh? Think you still remember how to shoot?” Starlo handed a pair of safety glasses and a revolver to the kitsune.

“No idea, but I’ll give it a shot anyway. Can’t be that hard, right?” Kanako put the glasses on with a playful smirk on her face, loaded the revolver, and took aim at the targets.

However, the kitsune’s posture was off, and her stance was awkward at best. Her shoulders were rolled back when she fired, exaggerating the muzzle rise, and causing all six shots to whiff. A bead of sweat rolled down the side of her head. “...Okay, maybe it’s harder than it looks.”

The starman couldn’t help but chuckle. The sight rekindled long-forgotten memories, drawing a warm smile out of him. “Ahaha! Alright, here lemme give ya a hand. Here, the real secret to shooting is in how ya place your feet, elbows and shoulders. There’s a few different poses you can try, but I think you should try something like this.”

“Put your feet about shoulder-width apart, and keep your dominant foot a bit in front of the other, kinda like a boxer’s stance. Make sure both your head and shoulders are leaning in front of your hips. When you aim, extend both your arms forward with the gun, and pivot your hips and square your chest with your target. Also, steady your breathing, keep an even pace with your breath, don’t try to hold it in.” The former sheriff posed to demonstrate the stance, then helped correct the kitsune’s stance with a few gentle pushes when she adjusted her form.

“Okay, I’ll give it a try. Let’s see…” After reloading, Kanako shifted her weight and adjusted her body properly before aiming at the targets. Hot lead spiralled through the air, four of the six bullets tearing into the cloth of the training dummies and the paper of the bullseye targets alike.

A bright grin spread across Starlo’s face. “Hey, not bad! It’s a lot easier when the gun isn’t rocking your whole body, right?”

“Yeah, definitely! …You, uh, wouldn’t happen to know how to do any of those crazy stunts Clover does, like with the coins, and bouncing the bullets around to where you want them to go, would you?” The kitsune tilted her head to the side, looking at the starman.

“Ah, no, can’t say I do. Somethin’ as nutty as that is way outta my league, I’m afraid. Why do ya ask? Wait… Let me guess, trying to impress him? Is that why ya asked me out here?” The starman’s smug look teased her.

A light blush flitted across Kanako’s cheeks for a second. “I - Uh. Maybe. Casting spells with my brush is a bit slow, so I mostly just wanna have a quick means of self-defense in case I need it. Or for the defense of others. I’m not gonna try to take lives unless I really absolutely have to, but you know how it is… Anyways…”

The kitsune cleared her throat. “So, um… I was hoping I could get your insight on something. About Clover. Sometimes he gets a really sad look on his face, and he just stares off into space, like he thinks he’s somewhere else entirely. I wanna ask him why, but I’m afraid of making things uncomfortable between us. I don’t know what to do…”

Starlo sighed, setting his six-shooter down on the table. “Shucks, well… Stuff like this is almost always real tricky to approach. Most folks like that usually have something pretty heavy weighin’ ‘em down. They always hold it real close to their chest too. You can try and get ‘em to open up, but it’d probably be easier to pry open a clam with a bendy straw.”

The starman rubbed the back of his five-pointed head. “Personally, I don’t think you should press them on the matter too much, unless it gets to a point where it’s actively causing problems. Ya might hurt someone if you try to get them to spill early. I suppose the best thing you can do in this sorta situation is to give ‘em time, and be by their side once they’re ready to open up. Like I said, this kinda thing’s tricky, and I doubt there’s a foolproof method of handling this. I… I’ve been burned badly by waiting too long myself. Maybe it would be best for you to just direct. But no two situations are the same, I suppose… Sorry, that probably wasn’t helpful at all. Guess I’m just as indecisive as you, huh? ”

Kanako shook her head. “No, it’s still good to think things through. I can try to figure it out from here myself. Thanks, Unc.”’...Guess I’ll just wait for a bit longer.’

“Anytime. Now then, if you wanna impress Clover, ya better practice your shooting a bit more, yeah?” Starlo pointed a fingergun at the range’s targets pocked with scattered bullet holes.

“Right, okay.” The kitsune reloaded her iron, and got back to training her aim with the six-shooter.

~

A short while later at the estate, during lunch, Kanako & Clover left the house to give Ceroba & Starlo some room to discuss their own personal matters.

After the older pair finished their food, Starlo took care of the dishes and returned to the table to face Ceroba, his unease made obvious by his furrowed brow.

“Hey, ah, Ceroba? There’s something I’ve been meanin’ to talk to you about for a while now."

"I, uh… I’d like to spend more time with ya again, if that’s alright.” The retired sheriff rubbed the back of his neck.

Ceroba’s shoulders slumped, and she let out a deep sigh. “Starlo, if this is about the lingering feelings you've had since we were young…”

The starman shook his head. “No, no. It’s not, I promise. I made my peace with that a long time ago, Ceroba. Think we’re both a bit too old for that, anyways… I… Ever since you fell into the bottle hard, and the rest of the gang split, things have been real lonely. I really do just miss hanging out with you. Doin’ whatever silly li’l things together. Sharin’ meals like this… Y’know?”

The old kitsune was unable to maintain eye contact with the retired sheriff. Her forlorn gaze wandered around the interior of the estate as she spoke. “I see… Well… That might be nice, yes… I’m sorry I’ve been so distant and temperamental in the past years. I haven’t been able to apologize properly for that. I know there’s no excuse for my unacceptable behavior, but I suppose I was trying to keep you at arm’s length so I wouldn’t drag you down with me. So… Again, I’m sorry. And… Starlo, thank you for not giving up on me during that time, despite everything.”

“...You went through some really rough times, Ceroba. You lost your entire family. I’d be one cold bastard if I couldn’t understand that… I’m just happy to see you acting like yourself again after so damn long.” Starlo’s spectacles fogged up, and he removed his glasses with a shaky hand to wipe his eyes.

“Starlo…” Ceroba maneuvered her wheelchair over to his side to wrap her arms around him…

~

Meanwhile, outside, the younger duo sat down at a table on the porch, placing two flip-cellphones down on the table, along with a pair of bowls filled with panko-breaded pork cutlets, eggs, and vegetables.

“It was nice of Starlo to get these phones for us, huh?” Kanako passed the cowboy a pair of chopsticks.

“Yeah. Guess we won’t have to use the UGPS for letters anymore… I think that whale’s fears about the postal service going out of business are overblown, though. Package delivery’s still pretty essential.” Clover immediately began to fumble with the chopsticks, awkwardly poking at the food he’d made himself.

“You’re probably right.” The kitsune took a bite of the fried meat, and her tail immediately began excitedly whipping back & forth. “Damn, Clover. You sure you’ve never made katsudon before? This is really good! Could probably even pass for restaurant quality.”

A rare smile brightened the cowboy’s face, and he bashfully shrugged. “All I did was follow Ceroba’s instructions, but hey, I’m glad you like it.” ‘Man, that tail of hers makes it really easy to read her mood…’

Joy danced across Kanako’s face as she dug into the food. ‘…He’s gonna make a great husband someday. Hehehe…’

Clover continued to struggle with the chopsticks, but he eventually managed to finish off the rest of the meal.

After they had polished off the meal, the brunette kitsune bounced out of her seat and stretched. “Clover, can I ask you for a favor?”

“What’s up?” The cowboy set the dishes to the side.

Kanako punched her fist against her palm. “I wanna get stronger. I want to do more than just sit behind you with my brush. I need to learn how to throw a punch, so if someone attacks you, I can knock their teeth out. So… Can you teach me how?”

Clover blinked a few times before he stood up, rolling his arms. “Huh… Didn’t expect that, but sure. Sounds like a good idea to me. Have you had any formal training before?”

“I did a little bit of martial arts when I was a kid, but that’s about it.” The kitsune gave him a petite smile, eyebrows curled upwards, head tilted to the side.

“Reckon we better start with the basics then... Alright, let’s do this. No time like the present.” The cowboy beckoned her to the backyard, where a series of burlap training dummies, bullseye targets, bottles perched on fence posts, and a punching bag were waiting.

Clover walked across the baked earth to the punching bag, and then turned to face his companion. “Okay, throw a punch. Needta see how you move first before anything else.”

Kanako punched the bag while standing still, lower body unmoving, greatly limiting the potential impact of the attack. The sand-filled bag wobbled slightly, rattling the chain holding it up attached to a tall fencepost. “Well?...”

“Hey, c’mon now. I know you can hit harder than that. The jab you gave me outside the Steamworks was stronger. A lot of the power in punches comes from the lower body. When you swing, step in and twist your hips with your punch. Also, twist your shoulder inwards too. The momentum you get from it will increase the force a lot.” The cowboy took up a stance, and demonstrated the described motion slowly as he explained. “Just like that, okay?”

“Think so. Lemme try.” The kitsune mimicked his moves on the air first. “Step in… waist… shoulder… Okay.”

Kanako stepped up to the punching bag, and then swung for real. Her fist whistled through the air and slammed into the side of the sand-filled bag hard. The fencepost holding the bag groaned as the metal chain ripped out of the wood, and the punching bag was sent rocketing into the side of the cliff behind the house, violently splitting the cloth open on impact, forcing the bag to spew out its contents.

The brunette fox’s eyes bugged out at the wreckage. She looked down at her newly-bruised fist. “I… Wow.”

“...Well god damn. Guess we’re gonna need to get heavier or just bigger bags.” Clover shook his hand, feeling the impact of her punch in his own knuckles. “Practice that motion until you can feel it in your bones, and I think you’ll be golden on that.”

“‘Kay, let’s do it.” Kanako slapped her knuckles together, and over the course of the next hour, she did a couple hundred reps with the cowboy occasionally correcting her form until they felt like she had it down.

Afterwards, for the next few hours, Clover went over the core fundamentals of close-quarters-combat with the kitsune, ensuring she was capable of protecting herself if push came to shove.

Once they finished that, Kanako stretched out her limbs and bounced in place for a second, easing the tension from the workout, and then addressed her companion. “What’s next?”

The cowboy rubbed his chin with a gloved hand. “Pure fisticuffs probably ain’t gonna win every fight, so I guess I oughta talk about what usually gets me through most scraps when the chips are down - adaptation.”

“Whaddya mean by that? Some kind of technique?” The kitsune rhythmically tapped a finger against her temple.

Clover shook his head. “No, it’s not a specific technique, more just a mindset, a way of thinkin’. Taking advantage of your opponent’s weaknesses, and making good use of the environment you’re fightin’ in. You already did this really well back in the Steamworks, what with the whole gas can on the plant robot thing, but I figure it’s still worth emphasizing.”

Kanako’s brow furrowed. “I think I kinda get it. So… If someone were to apply something like this against one of us, they’d probably try to target our tools? Like by splashing water on your guns, or taking my paintbrush? …Or maybe even grabbing my tail.”

The cowboy flinched a bit at the thought of his precious firearms being cruelly drenched, and then nodded. “Yeah, that sounds about right to me. It’s kinda hard to train this sorta thing, so… I think for now, maybe you should fiddle around with your magic brush for a bit and figure out exactly what you can do with it.”

“Hmm, alright. Let’s see… Guess I’ll just try whatever.” The fox’s arcane art tools materialized in her hands with a quick flash of light, and she turned towards the training dummies to start experimenting.

“How about just a straight line?” Kanako swiftly swiped her paintbrush across the scroll’s surface as if she were wielding a sword. The ink shone with mystical power, and after a moment the upper half of the burlap dummy she was facing fell to the sandy ground with a thunk, cleanly cut in twain by an invisible force.

The gold-eyed kitsune blinked, and watched the magic ink fade away from her scroll. “Huh… Not quite what I was expecting.”

“...Maybe it has something to do with your intent? You kinda swung your brush like it was a blade or somethin’.” Clover mimicked the motion with a finger.

“Yeah, you might be right. Sooo… What’ll happen if I think about a cloud and then do this?” Kanako quickly traced out a big fluffy pattern on her scroll, and suddenly a burst of smoke flooded the space around the two, making it impossible to see further than a couple inches in front of them.

The cowboy backpedaled a few steps in surprise. “Probably should’ve expected that… *Cough*.”

“Yeah - *cough* - crap, give me a sec.” With another flick of her brush, Kanako summoned a gale to blow away the fog, and sighed.

“Reckon that one will be useful if we need to hightail it out of a fight for whatever reason, I suppose. Got any other ideas?” Clover rolled his neck, and cast a somewhat wary gaze at her scroll.

“Just one more, actually.” The kitsune drew a squiggly line between herself and one of the bottles on the fence. The scroll shone once more, and a rope lashed out from the paper. The rope wrapped around the bottle automatically and yanked it hard, sending it flying towards the brunette fox’s face. “Oh sh–”

Clover’s hand bolted forward and caught the glass bottle before it could cause any harm. He placed it down on a nearby table with a sigh. “That’s, uh, maybe a bit dangerous… You okay?”

A drop of sweat rolled down the side of Kanako’s head. “Y, yeah. Thanks. How about we call it a day here? Starlo brought some new tapes with him, we could go check those out.”

“We could probably use a break. Wonder what kinda new flicks he got…” Clover led Kanako back inside, retiring for the day. The four of them loafed around & watched an assortment of movies from the surface together for a good while…

~ ~ ~

Later that week, after his bruises had healed up decently, Clover strapped on his boots and headed out to the mines in the Dunes by himself.

Heavy wind rolled through the harsh landscape, kicking up rough sand into travelers’ faces. The cowboy donned his poncho and pulled his bandana over his mouth to protect himself as he trudged through the baked earth.

Clover felt a tremor ripple through the ground, and whipped around to face a horde of boulders rapidly tumbling down the cliffs towards him. The cowboy broke into a sprint to the side to get out of the way of the rocks, but he was going to come up short at this rate.

Primal instinct awoken by peril, Clover subconsciously drew his SOUL’s power into his legs and suddenly blasted forward several hundred feet, dashing out of the way of the boulders.

The rampaging rocks violently crashed into the ground behind him, digging miniature craters into the road. Clover wiped the sweat from his brow, exhaling. ‘Damn… Almost forgot I could do that.’ The cowboy looked up at the cliff where the boulders had fallen from, but couldn’t spot any perpetrator, just a missing chunk in the cliff where the rocks had come from. He dusted himself off, and kept moving.

A few minutes later, the cowboy reached the entrance to the East Mines and poked his head inside. A dim cave greeted him in return, and he pulled out his lantern to get his bearings. He looked around, but only empty shelves and barren racks were left in this tunnel, and only a scant handful of swelterstone crystals providing barely any light were still embedded in the walls. ‘Nobody’s here... Maybe they moved on to a new dig site? I should look around.’

Clover doused his lantern, tucked it away, and headed further west into the sandy landscape. A pair of dunebuds rolled by him, gurgling in their odd guttural language, but they didn’t attack the cowboy. He simply kept going until he reached a fork in the road that wasn’t there in his last life, and turned right, moving north.

A conveyor belt full of minerals leading to a line of minecarts poked out of the side of the cliff, just left of an entrance framed with wooden planks leading into the cave. A slime monster worker wearing overalls and a hardhat with one eye manned the station in front of the minecarts, sending the carts on their way once they were full and ushering in new ones. A handful of pickaxes, sacks and hardhats rested on shelves to the right of the entryway. Further to the right stood several tall complex machines, churning through rock and dirt, processing ore and refining it into workable ingots. Clover grabbed a pick along with a sack and headed inside, resting the tool on his shoulder.

Vibrant crystal lights illuminated the earthy interior of a massive cavern, twinkling from the walls, ceiling, as well as several stalactites, stalagmites and columns dotted throughout the gargantuan subterranean area. A complex web of minecart rails connected the huge cave and several offshoot tunnels into the sides, providing ease of transport for both workers and materials alike. Mattresses were placed near the ends of the tracks, and lined against the walls opposite of the ends.

Clover pulled his bandana down, and whistled as he looked around. “God damn. Just getting around this place might be a pain…”

Next to a wooden counter stacked with documents, a blue fish monster with fins on the side of their head wearing a beret and overalls was directing the other workers with a clipboard in one hand. Their face and clothes were slightly smudged with dirt, and their eyes were hidden by messy dark blue hair. A big grin spread across their face when they spotted the cowboy, and they walked over to him. “Well now, look who it is. What’s up, big human? You looking for work?”

The cowboy shrugged at them. “Uh, not exactly. You the person in charge of this place? My name’s Clover. I was wondering if it’d be okay for me to do some digging on my own. I’m assuming I gotta pay a toll or somethin’ first though, right?”

The fish monster nodded, and tapped the side of their head. “Yep, I’m the one in charge, name’s Moray. There is a fee, but it’s just 5 G. Aside from a few exceptions, minerals don’t really sell for that much because of the overabundance of the stuff, but they still make for nice decorations. So… if you’re not here to make some dough, what are you here for? Wait, let me guess… A gift for a special someone?”

“...Materials for a gift, yeah. I can’t really say I know exactly what I’m looking for, though.” Clover dug five coins out of his satchel, and handed them over.

Moray slipped the coins into their pocket. “Well, assuming this is for a piece of jewelry, what do you want to make your gift out of? Silver? Gold? And the gem type?”

“Whatever looks good and doesn’t break easily, I guess? Something that can last and hold up under pressure would be nice.” The cowboy scratched the back of his head.

“So platinum, then. Or adamantine, but we’ve already dug up all of the adamantine we could find here, that stuff’s really rare.” The fish monster tapped a pen against their clipboard.

Clover sighed. “‘Course it is… Well, where should I look for platinum? And, uh… What’s it look like?”

Moray smirked, walked over to the counter to grab something from a shelf, and walked back to hand a small lump of rock with a few glistening bits of ore sticking out of it to the cowboy. “Here, you can borrow this to use as a reference.”

The fish monster then pointed towards one of the rail tracks marked with a green sign. “Ride a cart across those rails, and you’ll get to the northeast sector of the mines. You’ll probably find a decent bit of platinum there. Platinum usually only forms in really small nuggets compared to most every ore though, so you might be at it for a while. You can make use of our machines outside to extract the stuff once you’re done.”

Moray then gave him a toothy grin. “Best of luck, and enjoy the ride.”

Clover appraised the rock, turning it over in his hands for a moment, before he pocketed it and tipped his hat to Moray. “Alright, thankee kindly. Guess I better hustle then.” ‘The ride?...’

The cowboy hopped into a cart on the green tracks, and noticed a few buttons attached to the front lip of the minecart. He pushed a red button that looked like several arrows stacked together, and the cart suddenly rocketed forward. “GAAAAAH -”

The nearly-instant acceleration almost flung Clover straight out of the minecart. He barely managed to catch his hat in time before it flew away, and held onto the side of the cart for dear life. The out of control minecart sped through the massive cavern, swerving around stalagmites and taking dangerously sharp turns around stone walls.

The rampaging vehicle came to a sudden stop at the end of the tracks, and violently chucked Clover through the air… straight into a thick mattress lined against the wall and floor. He bounced off the cushion on the wall and fell flat on his back on the soft material below, blankly staring up at the cavern ceiling, feeling his body churn from the impromptu rollercoaster. Some of the passing-by workers in the area chuckled at the sight of the dizzied cowboy splayed out on the cushion.

“One hell of a ride…” Clover shook it off after a few moments, and sprung to his feet. He pulled out the rock sample Moray had given him, and headed deeper into the caverns in search of his bounty, occasionally ducking his head to avoid low ceilings.

After a bit of spelunking, the cowboy found his quarry. He walked up to a large rock wall painted with streaks of colorful ore and dotted with gems glimmering in the darkness. A handful of green moss sat at the base of the wall, and the cowboy briefly stared at it before deciding to ignore his intrusive thoughts this time.

Clover raised his pickaxe, and chipped away at the stone with every swing, breaking into the earth. A faint memory tickled the back of his mind after a few strikes. ‘...Wait a minute. Maybe that thing I did in the Ketsukane’s armory can help here. Just gotta focus…’

The cowboy took a deep breath, and concentrated on the tool in his hand. Crackling energy from his SOUL raced up from his heart and to his arm, wreathing the pickaxe’s head in golden light, softly humming with power. The edges of the light flickered upwards, as if they were burning flames defiantly glowing against the gloom.

Clover brandished the empowered pick towards the stone wall, and struck again. The tool carved through the rock wall as if it were no more than loose pockets of gravel, easily giving way to the brilliantly blazing pickaxe. ‘Guess this ain’t gonna take so long after all. Nice…’

A couple hours of hard labor trickled away. Clover wiped the sweat from his brow, placed a scattering of jewels he’d found in his satchel, then slung a sack he’d filled up with ore over his shoulder, and headed back the way he came.

When the cowboy got back to the rail tracks and hopped into a cart, he made sure to secure all of his belongings and tightly gripped the side of the cart before he hit the same button he did last time. The minecart rocketed through the cavern and ferried him all the way back to the entrance in a few seconds.

Clover was ejected from the cart at the end of the ride and tumbled through the air again, but this time he managed to land on his feet as he was expecting the jolt. He gathered his belongings from the cart, placed the sample he’d borrowed on the counter, and walked outside.

The cowboy’s bones were warmed by the heat of the high-hanging swelterstones as he stepped into the sandy plains once more. He sat the pickaxe down where he’d taken it from, then stretched for a moment before heading over to the refinery machines.

A rather blatant yellow poster depicting a monster pouring a sack into a slot on a machine was posted just above said slot. Clover dumped his sack of ore in, and arcane runes lit up within the hulking mechanisms, dousing the minerals with bright magical energy, quickly processing the ore far faster than modern human refineries could ever dream of. Hot puffs of white steam escaped from the caps of the machinery.

Clover walked alongside the machines, following the refinement process with a bit of fascination. A steam whistle sounded out, and several cold ingots of iron, silver, gold, platinum and copper were ejected into a bin at the end of the line of machines. The cowboy scooped his prize up into his satchel, and started down the long road back to the Wild East.

~

A bell hooked to Blackjack’s door rang as Clover stepped into the gun shop flicking a gold coin between his fingers. The purple shopkeeper finished applying a last bit of varnish to the fine wooden grip of a revolver, set it to the side, and tipped his hat to the customer. “Howdy, gunslinger. What can I do for ya today?”

“First off, I’m here to pay back what I should owe ya for the repair job on my shotgun. Here.” The human cowboy laid out a stack of forty-five gold coins on the counter. “Seriously, please take it. Wouldn’t sit right with me if I didn’t do this.”

Blackjack shook his head. “I meant it when I said the discount was a welcome gift, but if it’ll give you peace of mind, I’ll take it.” He scooped up the coin and deposited it in the register, and then turned back to the cowboy with his hands folded. “Now then. Any other business you need to take care of, Clover?”

“Yeah, I’ve got a bit of an odd request. You wouldn’t happen to be able to make jewelry too, would ya? Something simple like a bracelet? I went to the mines and rustled up some metals myself.” Clover placed a gleaming platinum ingot on the rustic countertop, pushing it towards the gunsmith.

The old purple monster appraised the fine piece of metal with a magnifying glass, rubbing his chin with his free hand. “A bracelet, huh? Simple enough. I should have most of the tools I need for it at my forge in the back.”

If Clover were a kitsune, his ears would’ve pricked up at that. “Wait, you’ve got an entire forge back there? Do you make all of your firearm parts yourself instead of importing them?”

Blackjack puffed up his chest and nodded. “Sure do. Each one’s custom made by yours truly. Wanna see?”

The cowboy flashed a rare smile. “Darn straight I do. Lead on.”

Blackjack first passed Clover a pair of safety glasses, and they both equipped the protective wear before heading to the back.

The gunsmith led him to a workshop flooded with a vast myriad of hardy tools neatly organized across wall racks and work tables. As Clover stepped inside, the scent of burning coal, hot iron and wood shavings tickled his nose. Scorching heat radiated from a flickering forge glowing with arcane runes, warming the already hot building in the Dunes even further. Sitting next to it was a gritty anvil and a power hammer, ready to work metal.

Clover’s head swiveled around as he took in all of the details of the workshop with wide eyes. “You work with all this daily?”

“Yep. Do you want any engravings or other additions to this bangle, or should it just be plain?” Blackjack placed the platinum bar down on a workbench.

The cowboy rifled through his bag, pulled out an uncut topaz shining with a dull yellow light, and handed it over to the purple monster. “I’ve got this little thing… By the way, are you looking for extra help around the shop? Or an apprentice?”

The gunsmith raised an eyebrow at the young man. “You want to work here, lad?”

Clover nodded. “Yeah, since I’m probably gonna be here a while, I’d like to learn the craft.”

Blackjack ran his hand over his mustache. “Alright then. I already know you’re very dedicated to keeping your irons clean, but how about you show me what you can do?”

“I don’t know the first thing about using a forge, but… What I can do… Okay. Time this.” Clover cleared some space on a nearby table, and set his two revolvers down on the surface after unloading them. He removed his bandana, and tied it around his eyes, blindfolding himself. The gunslinger held up a hand, and did a ‘three, two, one, go’ gesture, and his hands became a blur. He rapidly disassembled and reassembled both six-shooters with fluid, practiced precision despite lacking vision.

The cowboy exhaled before he removed the blindfold, and tied the bandana back around his neck. “How long was that?”

“Just a hair under twenty seconds. Aye, that’ll do. That kinda finesse is precisely what you need in the trade. How ‘bout we start with that bracelet, eh?” Blackjack picked up the platinum ingot again, and walked towards the forge.

“Right.” Clover slipped his guns back into their holsters, and followed after the old gunsmith to get to work.

~

A gentle breeze blew through the open yard behind the estate, rustling the soft hair & fur of two kitsunes. The pair of them were next to an outdoors table, books on arcane theory stacked on the wooden surface before them. A handful of burlap training dummies were placed a safe distance from the house, to prevent magical splash damage from hitting the manor.

“So, when you said you couldn’t use your fire magic anymore, what exactly did you mean, Kanako?” Sitting in her wheelchair as per usual, Ceroba quirked an eyebrow at her daughter.

Kanako could only offer a shrug in reply. “Just that, Mom. Whenever I try to make a fireball, I just get something else instead.”

The red-headed kitsune rubbed her chin. “Oh. Ohhh… I see… Your innate magic may have changed as you aged.”

The younger fox tilted her head to the side. “Um, what’s innate magic again?”

“Right… I suppose we may as well go over the basics again. Every monster is born with a different type of magic that they can cast easily without practice. It’s not unheard of for someone’s innate magic to change as they get older. It happens to every one in every four monsters, usually either during or after their teenage years, I believe. So… If you want to get your fire magic back, you’re gonna have to do it the old-fashioned way - Studying, and practice.” Ceroba plopped a book open in front of Kanako, then turned to a specific page and tapped the header of a diagram of basic hand motions used to cast a simple fireball spell.

Her daughter sighed. “Aww, man…”

“Well, I wasn’t born with fire magic myself, so I can help you put it into practice. But yes, read the text first, then we’ll do some exercises.” Ceroba folded her arms.

“Okay, let’s see…” Kanako began to scan the pages of the arcane manual, scribbling down notes in her own workbook as she continued, occasionally asking her mother for clarification or help with certain parts.

A good while later, Kanako’s notebook was full of succinct scrawlings about spellcraft theory, arcane formulae, sketches of somatic components, and so on.

The brunette kitsune set her pen down, then stood up from the table and stretched, rolling her neck and arms, easing stiff joints. “Oh, man… I think that’s enough reading for now, I’m ready to actually try this. So, from what we went over, intent and motion are what matter most for fire spells, right?”

Ceroba nodded. “First, imagine a spark deep within your heart, let it grow into a fine blaze, and then make it flare out of your hand, or your chosen instrument. Take deep breaths, keep an even pace, and exhale when you release your flames. Strong feelings of either anger or passion will have a great impact on your magic’s potency as well.”

“That’s a lot to keep in mind… I’ll give it a shot.” Kanako spun around to face the training dummies, took a wide stance, and steadied her breathing. On the first few attempts, only tiny wisps of smoke rose from her fingers, but she persevered.

The brunette kitsune kept trying, slightly adjusting her form each time, until eventually simmering power flowed from her core and into her fingertips, coalescing into a proud scarlet flame. “Finally, got it!... Uh, what now?”

“Now either relax to let the fire spell safely disappear, focus to empower it, or push it forward to shoot it.” Ceroba shoved her hand forward to demonstrate, pointing toward the targets.

Kanako released her breath as she thrust her arm forward, striking the dummy’s torso with the scalding firebolt. The scarlet flames smoldered, burning a charred hole the size of a fist straight through the target’s chest. She beamed at her mother. “How’s that?”

The red-headed kitsune smiled.“Good, Kanako. But you can do more than that, can’t you? I can sense the depth of your mana reserves… It’s greater than mine ever was.”

The young fox blinked in disbelief for a moment. “It is? Wow… I had no idea.”

“Perhaps we should move on to analysis magic, then… Do you still remember how to detect and identify magic?” The mother leafed through a spell tome, looking for a particular chapter.

Kanako shook her head. “No, sorry.”

“Alright then, let’s get started…” Ceroba flipped to a page detailing foundational mana theory, and began to lecture Kanako on the basics, the different schools of magic, their inherent differences, and so on…

~

Clover strode through the sandy roads of the Dunes, newly-forged bracelet in hand. He admired the fine handiwork he’d achieved with Blackjack’s guidance, his reflection staring back at him from the platinum’s polished surface. The quartet of small topaz gems embedded in the center of the band, placed in a four-leaf pattern of his namesake, gleamed in the afternoon light, shining softly. He pocketed the jewelry and quickened his pace through the sands.

The cowboy spotted something peculiar as he passed through the center of Oasis Valley. ‘…Huh, that’s weird. There’s some grass growing around the oasis now. Wonder how that happened?...’ He filed it away into the back of his mind, and kept moving.

As Clover approached the estate, a thin, black plume of smoke rose from behind the manor, then quickly dissipated. He hurried over to the back and turned the corner, only to be met with a stray fireball hurtling towards his face. Scarlet flames flickered mere inches from his nose as he slid under the magical attack…

“Ack!”

…And right into Kanako’s legs, knocking her off her feet, sending her fuzzy body crashing down on top of him, sprawling them both out on the ground.

“Ouch…” Kanako rubbed her head as she sat up, and cast her gaze down to look at whatever had just smacked into her.

Clover stared back up at her, and they awkwardly locked eyes for a moment before he broke the silence. “Uh, howdy. I see you got your fire magic back, I think?”

An awkward smile spread across the brunette fox’s mouth. “Ye-Yeah, kinda. Sorry about the stray shot. You okay?”

“Just peachy, other than, well. Kinda bein’ pinned on the ground and all.” The cowboy shot her a sheepish look.

Kanako’s vision shifted towards the floor, and she just now realized that she was straddling the cowboy. “Oh. O-Oh! Sorry.” Her face flushed red as she scurried backwards.

A short giggle snuck its way out of Ceroba before she recomposed herself. “Welcome back, Clover. What’ve you been up to?”

Clover stood up, reached out to the younger kitsune, and helped her get to her feet. “Oh, y’know. Went for a long walk around town, checked out the mines, hit up Blackjack’s. That sorta thing.” The books on the table caught his eye. “How’s magic practice going?”

“Pretty well, aside from that one misfire. Sorry again.” Kanako dusted herself off.

“Don’t worry about it, it didn’t hit me. Anyways, I brought you something.” Clover pulled the bejeweled platinum bracelet out of his pocket and handed it to her, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand. “I’d feel bad if I didn’t get you anything in return for the charm, so… I grabbed some stuff from the mines and made this with Blackjack’s help. It ain’t much but–”

Kanako wrapped her arms around the cowboy and softly squeezed him. “It’s beautiful, Clover. I love it. Thank you.” She slipped the bracelet onto her wrist, and her tail feverishly whipped against the ground behind her, kicking up a tiny cloud of sand.

“I… Yeah, I’m glad you like it.” Clover patted her back.

Ceroba cleared her throat, reminding Kanako that she wasn’t alone with Clover, causing the brunette kitsune to break apart from the hug and step back awkwardly. A smirk stretched across the old fox’s face, clearly holding back bubbling laughter. “Well, Clover, since you’re here, would you like to try your hand at magic?”

The cowboy blinked for a moment, unsure of what he’d just heard. “Huh?... I don’t really know if I can use magic, but, I mean… Yeah, sure, why not. How do I do it?”

Ceroba snapped shut the book she was holding and placed it down on the table. “I suppose it’d be best to start by checking if the rules of magic work the same for humans. That is, seeing if you have an innate magic talent like all monsters are born with, one you don’t have to study to use. The easiest way to figure this out would be for you to just try it. Focus your mind, center your energy, and then let it flow through your body to wherever it feels most natural.”

“Okay…” Clover drew in a sharp breath, and closed his eyes. He concentrated, and a burning power responded to his call. Gold flames flickered from his outstretched hand, steadily growing larger. His eyes snapped open, and he stared at the fire flailing around on his palm. “Oh, woah. I didn’t expect anything to actually happen.”

A sparkle of fascination danced through Kanako’s eyes. “No way! I can’t believe you got fire. That’s so cool!... Actually, on second thought, maybe I should’ve expected it from the flaming blasts you were firing off with your guns in the Steamworks. Either way, this is great… Um, it’s getting kinda big, though. Maybe you should reel it in?”

“Wait, how do I do that?” The flames twisting about in the cowboy’s hand had grown to the size of a horse, and showed no signs of slowing down. The golden tendrils lashed out towards the heavens as they ascended, pulsing & writhing chaotically, about to violently explode.

Right before the flames could burst, Ceroba thrust out a mana-imbued hand and captured the golden blaze within a barrier, containing the raucous explosion. The barrier shattered into tiny glass-like shards on impact, absorbing most of the blast, but the younger duo were still knocked onto their rears from the force. “Probably should’ve started with teaching control first. Are you two alright?”

Clover pushed himself to his feet, rubbing his arm, and then helped Kanako up. “Ow… Sorry.”

“That was intense… You okay, Clover?” Kanako cupped his face between her soft hands, looking him over.

“I’m fine, really. You don’t gotta worry about me. Let me just try one more time, yeah? How do I make sure it doesn’t blow up in my face like that again?” The cowboy turned to the older kitsune.

Ceroba folded her arms. “You need to control your magical energy instead of letting it run rampant. Back there, you were unconsciously channeling more & more of your mana into the spell, which caused it to go awry. Imagine something along the lines of, let’s say… a pitcher of water, pouring liquid into a glass. The pitcher represents your mana reserves, and the glass is the spell. You kept pouring, even after the glass was full, and that caused the glass to overflow - it caused the spell to overflow, making it go awry. You need to keep a tighter grip on your energy, and control the flow.”

“I’ll try.” Clover extended his arm and focused again, summoning another rapidly-growing golden flame. His face twisted into a grimace, sweat ran down his brow, yet the fire kept growing.

Acting on impulse, Kanako ran up behind Clover and placed her hand just underneath his, pressing her palm against the back of his hand. The flame’s rapid growth halted, stabilizing, now the size of an entire caravan wagon. The golden fire warped into a multicolored hue, now a mixture of both magenta & gold.

The brunette kitsune stared up at the magical flames. “Woah, that’s huge… I, uh. I had no idea if that was going to work, to be honest. Let’s shoot this thing.”

“Err, how?” The cowboy scratched the back of his head with his free hand.

“Point your palm towards the target, then push forward to fire. Here, follow my lead, we’ll do it together.” Kanako’s soft hand held fast to Clover’s, and they made the casting motion as one, sending the massive fireball screaming through the air towards the dummies.

The dual-colored blaze engulfed the targets with a hungering inferno, swiftly devouring the cloth dummies until naught but ash was left. The pair just stared at the results of their destructive handiwork for a few seconds.

Clover snapped out of it and shot a baffled look at the old fox. “Was all of that normal?”

Ceroba rubbed her chin for a moment. “I… My word, that was impressive. Ah, no. That was definitely not normal. Cooperative casting usually requires at least weeks or even months of training drills with a partner. Perhaps it’s a side effect of the link… It’s quite interesting that you possess innate fire magic, Clover. Even amongst monsters, fire adepts are rare… Ah, that reminds me. Kanako, you never told me what your own innate magic is now.”

“Eh? Oh, it’s this.” With a flourish and a flash of light, Kanako manifested her paintbrush & scroll. “If I draw on this scroll with this brush, it can make a lot of different effects happen. I can summon wind, bombs, cut stuff… That sorta thing. I still haven’t really figured it all out, though.”

The old fox’s eyes went wide, as if she was looking at a ghost. “Kanako… Your grandmother, my mother, once wielded the exact same kind of magic brush. I know you never got to meet her, but… Losing your innate fire magic only for it to be replaced with that art ability definitely can’t just be a coincidence.”

“Really? Did I inherit this somehow?...” The brunette kitsune playfully twirled the brush between her fingers for a few seconds before taking a closer look at it.

“I can’t say for sure, but… I think it’s time I passed this down to you.” Ceroba reached underneath her robe and pulled out an archaic key, tied around her neck by a string. A tomoe crest – a pattern of three swirling points – adorned the key. She handed it to her daughter. “This is the key to your grandparents’ old home, the Tendō manor. Where I grew up. Kanako, if anywhere holds answers to what’s going on with your magic and that brush, it will be there. The manor is in the Rainforest region, at the top of a snow-capped mountain to the far north.”

Kanako took the key, and looked over it for a moment. “Mom… Why’ve you never taken me there? And how do we get there?”

“The main area is just underneath Waterfall, but there’s a shortcut in the Dunes. Go past the old East Mines entrance, and head straight past the huge tree. There will be a long tunnel that eventually leads to Rainforest. And… I’ve never taken you there because it’s no longer safe there, like I mentioned earlier. A crime syndicate set up shop there a while ago. They’ve more or less infested the local town… The manor should be untouched, though. Just make sure you don’t touch the outer walls. You’ll trigger the arcane security wards.” The old fox wrung her hands together.

“...Criminals?” Clover slowly raised one eyebrow.

Ceroba nodded. “As in organized crime, Clover. Drug traders, ransomers, murderers. Hitmen. Apparently they usually dress in old-fashioned formal wear. If you two are going to go, please be careful. I wish I knew more beyond just that, but I don’t.”

‘So, there’s criminals even in monster society. Don’t know why I never considered the possibility before…’ The brim of the cowboy’s hat shrouded his face in darkness. He stared into the distance…

“...Clover? You alright?” Kanako placed a hand on his shoulder and gently shook him.

“...Huh? Oh. Yeah, just fine. Sorry.” Shadows dispelled from his visage by her intervention, he clasped her hand with his own in an attempt to reassure her.

“Either way, if you two are going to go, it’d be best if you headed out tomorrow. It’s getting late, and trekking through that region at night would be unwise.” Ceroba tapped her fingers against her armrest.

“Wait, what about you, Mom? Are you going to be alright by yourself while we’re gone?” Kanako’s brow furrowed.

The old fox nodded. “I’ll be fine, sweetie. If I really need someone’s help, I’ll just call Starlo or Dina. Don’t forget to take your cellphones with you.”

“No worries, I’ll make sure we’re prepared. Anyways… Yeah, I could use a bite ‘fore we turn in for the night. How do y’all feel about ribs?” Clover rolled his arms, and headed towards the kitchen.

Kanako followed after him, pushing her mother’s wheelchair along. The fluttering of the brunette kitsune’s fluffy tail blatantly broadcasted her thoughts on the cowboy’s choice of cuisine as they retired to the manor for the evening.

~ ~ ~

Early in the morning of the next day, the duo exited the tunnel from the Dunes leading to the Rainforest region, marked map in hand. Coarse sands gave way to lush flora, a vast forest stretched out into the distance before them, teeming with life. Verdant greens decorated with a natural palette of vibrant flowers dominated the region, stupendously tall trees extended their branches towards the heavens, and a thick undergrowth was spread out in every direction. A modest stream flowed alongside the main road, trickling through the forest quietly beneath notes of birdsong.

Clover stopped for a moment, and let his gaze wander. “Wow, that’s…”

“...Really pretty, yeah?” Kanako leaned over his shoulder.

“Yeah…” He could only nod.

The brunette fox spread her arms wide at the vast expanse of vegetation. “The Dunes used to look kinda like this a long time ago too, back when I was a kid. The place was called the ‘Meadows’ back then.”  

Clover quirked an eyebrow. “Seriously? That dry desert used to be like this forest?”

The kitsune nodded. “Yeeeep. Everything dried up when someone dug up a big swelterstone.”

“That’s kinda crazy… One rock did that to an entire region?... We should get a move on, though. Don’t wanna linger around here. If Flowey shows his ugly mug, he’s gonna have a nasty terrain advantage because of all of the greenery. Not to mention the criminals…” Clover pressed forward on the road, and Kanako followed him closely. The gunslinger’s hand was never far from his irons as they moved, ready to spring to life at a moment’s notice.

After a short march forward across the main road, the pair came across a tipped over wagon blocking the path. Nicks and scratches covered its wooden sides, chunks of its lumber had been blown off, and the cloth covering was shredded. The wheels had been smashed into splinters.

“The hell happened here?...” Clover muttered as he tentatively moved forward to investigate with his partner. The only thing they found by searching the wagon and surrounding area was a few clumps of dust… and a ripped up stuffed toy.

Kanako recoiled, and clapped her hands over her mouth. “Oh my god… Did they?...”

The cowboy’s face darkened. “...Let’s just keep moving.” He tightened his grip on one of his revolvers as he strode forward, Kanako sticking close to him.

A breeze rolled through the dense leaves, carrying a particular scent. Clover took a whiff of it. “...I smell gunpowder upwind. Be ready.”

“Really? I can’t smell…” Kanako sniffed a few times, then blinked. “Wait, no, there’s definitely something there.” She manifested her scroll & brush, twirling it about between her fingers for a second. They cautiously advanced down the path together, sticking to the sides to give themselves a bit of cover.

The duo crept through the bushes, and spotted something that made Clover’s hair stand on end. Further down the road, at the ruins of an old checkpoint, was a gang of alligator & monkey monsters in pinstripe suits, holding up a family of three reindeer monsters with a couple modern pistols and knives. One of the sneering gangsters was rummaging through the family’s pockets, taking their wallets, stealing the cash and tossing the rest to the wayside.

“Clover, what do we do? We’re not just gonna let this happen, right?” Kanako whispered, peering at the gang through the foliage.

The gunslinger cocked his gun. “ ‘Course not. I ain’t out here to kill, but that doesn’t mean I’m gonna let bastards like this off easy. Use your rope trick to get the civilians out. I’m goin’ in. Get ready.”

Clover drew power into his legs, and blitzed forward in a terrifying instant. His boot smashed into the face of the thug stealing from the family, knocking him out cold and sending him rocketing into the distance.

The rest of the gangsters began hollering at the gunslinger’s sudden entrance.

“Oh shit, it’s the human!”

“Lucky us! Kill ‘em, there’s a huge bounty on their head!”

“Payday!”

Shimmering threads snaked out from Kanako’s mystical scroll, wrapped around the family of three, and tossed them into a bush far away from the action. They fled, screaming at the sight of the human and the violence. The kitsune dashed forward to stand next to the cowboy, back-to-back against the crowd of thugs.

Eyes cold as the grave, Clover held up a single finger. “Your friend wasn’t too wise, sticking his hands where they don’t belong. Y’all get one chance to walk away. I suggest you take it.”

The gaggle of goons traded looks for a moment, and then all burst out laughing.

“Are you kiddin’? We still outnumber you morons!”

“No way we’re passing up ten mil!”

“Jump their asses!”

“Buncha idiots...” Kanako bared her fangs, and sliced a straight line of ink onto her scroll, manifesting an invisible force that slashed through the thugs’ guns, rendering them useless.

The pinstripe suit-wearing criminals let loose with a storm of expletives, and sloppily swung at the duo with knives and fists alike.

The cowboy sidestepped a stab from one gator thug, grazing the cowboy’s coat, much to his annoyance. He snapped the gangster’s blade in half with his hand, causing the goons’ eyes to widen in terror. The gunslinger shot the gator’s right leg once with his revolver, and shattered their left shin’s bones with a swift kick, wrenching a wail of pain out of their throat. With an unforgiving hand, he then grabbed the gator by the snout and flung them into two other thugs, knocking them over like bowling pins.

The kitsune ducked under a pinstripe-suited monkey’s swipe, and grabbed his tail.

“What the hell’re y–AAAH!” The thug screamed as he was yanked off of his feet.

Kanako whipped him around like a flail, brutally slamming him into the ground and his fellow gangsters alike, sending teeth flying out of his mouth. She spun the monkey around in the air above her head before finally chucking him into the distance, all the way into a river that carried the thug away downstream.

Two more gangsters simultaneously leapt at Clover with knives. He grabbed both of them by their faces and clapped their heads together, sending them sprawling onto the ground, out cold.

The last thug in sight had backed up from the scuffle, and drew a gun they’d been hiding, firing off a few rounds at the cowboy. Clover drew his knife with fluid movements and deflected every bullet except for one, which skimmed his shoulder. Scowling, he dashed into the alligator gangster and slammed the palm of his hand into the side of their head, putting them to sleep.

The cowboy turned back to his companion, and began walking over to her. “Alright, I think that’s all of the–”

A monkey gangster that had hidden during the chaos of the fight leapt out of the bushes, aiming to drive their knife into the off-guard kitsune’s throat.

Time froze for Clover. The blade was inches from Kanako’s exposed throat. Hesitation meant death... Darkness devoured the gunslinger’s visage completely.

The boiling killer instinct buried deep within Clover’s psyche broke free of its leaden chains, and violently seized the reins. The incensed gunslinger’s six-shooter bolted out of its holster far quicker than any eye could ever hope to perceive, and the iron furiously roared with a barrage of six howling bullets tearing through the air.

Rubber rounds or not, the gunslinger’s wild urges forced his cold anger into every shot, empowering each bullet with a lethal blaze. The burning rounds viciously slammed into the knife-wielding thug’s skull. The devastating impact sent them flying into a tall tree, and splattered its wood with the morbid remains of the victim’s obliterated head. Their mangled body collapsed, crumbling into dust without even a whisper of dignity.

~

The sudden spike of adrenaline faded. Clover’s stoic facade cracked underneath the weight of his freshly bloodied hands. The offending firearm nearly slipped from his guilty fingers, and he staggered forwards in mute shock.

Kanako recoiled from the bloodshed and hesitated for a moment, but she caught Clover, preventing him from falling over, though he barely noticed her presence. Her voice sounded muffled, distant to his ears, a million miles away. He felt numb, cold. The final moments of every monster he’d callously slaughtered in his past life began to replay in his mind, over, and over, and over.

Unable to get a response out of her dazed companion, Kanako pulled the glassy-eyed cowboy far away from the site of the battle, into a secluded grove in the forest, and sat him down on a bed of grass. She grabbed Clover’s face to turn his head, and looked deep into his vacant gaze, staring at him until a bit of light returned to his eyes. “...Clover? Are you alright? What happened back there?”

He clenched the side of his head with one hand. “I… I killed someone. Again.”

“Again?...” The kitsune’s brow furrowed in concern.

“...Yeah. Again. I… Do you remember what I told you back in the capital?” Clover’s face contorted into a pained grimace.

Kanako rubbed the back of her head. “I… Yeah, I think so. You mentioned something about a lot of terrible things happening in your last life, and you being responsible for them, right?”

A lone, cold tear ran down Clover’s face. The shadow cast by his hat grew darker. “In my last life… I killed everyone. Every last monster I met, I gunned them down, until nothing was left but dust. That robot we met in the Steamworks, the purple vampire in the Ruins, everyone in Snowdin and the Dunes… Starlo, and even your mother, too… I slaughtered them all like they were nothing more than cattle. I never wanted to do anything like that ever again, and yet… I took someone’s life again. The stains on my hands just keep getting darker…”

A cold jolt raced up Kanako’s spine from the revelation. ‘I knew he was keeping something awful to himself, but… Gods… I’m glad he finally trusts me enough to open up to me, though…’

‘...What do I do?... Does it really matter if all of it may as well have happened in another world? How the hell is anyone supposed to judge this?...’ The kitsune took a second to process everything, and then bit her lip. “You only shot that guy to protect me. It was me or him, and you chose me. I could never blame you for that. And the past… It belongs in the past. You’ve only ever done right by me in the present, and that’s all I care about, alright?”

The cowboy frowned, concealing his face underneath the shadow of his leather hat. “...I still murdered your mother, Kanako. How can you possibly be okay with th–”

Kanako flicked Clover’s hat off of his head to uncover his face, and tenderly pressed her lips to his, drawing him into a deep kiss. Simmering blood rushed to both of their faces, painting a rosy blush on their hot cheeks. “Clover, my mother’s still alive because of you. I’m in one piece again because of you. Whatever sins you may have committed in the past, I forgive you.”

“But I–”

Any counterargument Clover could have possibly concocted to continue blaming himself went unspoken. The thoughts immediately melted from his mind as Kanako's warm lips met his again. After a moment of hesitation, he gave in, and the majority of the acidic self-loathing eating away at him from within began to slowly fade as he returned her kiss.

They broke apart, steamy breath tickling their faces, and stared deep into each other’s eyes for a moment before they eagerly rejoined lips. Clover leaned further into the embrace, pulling Kanako into a warm hug by her waist. She gently caressed his face, and then wrapped her soft arms around his neck.

The couple’s tongues intertwined, gently dancing together, and their hands delicately wandered. Palms met, fingers interlocked. Small sparks of affection blossomed into blazing passion. Cherry petals drifted down from above, resting on the soft forest floor. They spent a long, intimate time together in the secluded grove…

(((Huge thank you to RennGote again!!)))

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