Chapter Text
~-~Martlet~-~
The steamworks were big, but Martlet’s will to find Clover was bigger. She wouldn’t stop until she found them, or gods above cry for mercy, because she was willing to tear the world to tiny little pieces just to see them again.
Seeing solved puzzles frustrated Martlet, but the lack of signs of a struggle encouraged her to keep going, to push forward to see them again. Too-warm vents on the ground with a switch at the end frustrated her, but she just knew that they would be ok so long as she didn’t stop moving forward, so long as she plowed through without hesitation.
The signs of a struggle, followed by a pitfall down to an empty room- well, Martlet didn’t even bother to fly down. She let herself fall, along with Starlo and his posse, only spreading her wings to soften her fall at the very last second.
Staring out into a lake of pink acid lake while in a search for her late mentor’s wife was not on Martlet bucket list. Then again, neither was taking in a human child as her own. Martlet was learning a lot of things about herself, actually. She was pretty sure Starlo still didn't trust her, though. That was… fine. It was fine. She would fix this, fix everything.
“How are we meant to get past this?” asked Moray, who was on Starlo’s other side.
“I dunno, but it's really pretty and glowy…” Mooch sighed as though she'd just spotted a treasure, trying to ease her way off of Ed’s head. Ed, however, did not want to risk her jumping into lava just because it was pretty, and he put her right back onto his shoulder.
Starlo looked up from his concentration, looking out at the lake. “We can ride the manta ray. If one of us is small enough to ride both there and back, we can get across to the next platform one at a time.
Ace and Moray immediately looked up at Mooch, who had been examining the shiny coins she kept in her little bag.
“Hey, Mooch…” Moray began to speak, a mildly teasing look on their face. “You know, we could use your help here. I mean, after all- you're very tiny.
“Huh?!” Mooch looked up with an offended look, glancing around at the group, then the bot. “Oh, ok.” She hopped down, scrambling over to the thing. She then looked over at the group and smirked menacingly. “And since you offered so nicely, Moray, you're goin’ across first to help me solve the puzzle.”
Moray’s face went pale- well, pale for a blue fish monster and made no move towards the manta bot.
We don't have time for this… Martlet sighed.
“O-oh, no, that's fine. I think… I think Starlo would enjoy the puzzle more, y'know?” They protested, taking a step back.
“Er, no.” Starlo shook his head. “I'm gonna go last. I hafta make sure ‘o somethin.’”
The other members of the Feisty Five nodded, clearly understanding something that Martlet did not.
Moray reluctantly stepped towards the ray, placing one foot on it to make sure it wouldn't topple over, before finally stepping onto it all the way.
“Please don't crash us.” They requested in a quiet voice. “I didn't plan on dying today.”
“No promises!” Mooch smiled and began to steer forward, testing out the bot's controls before speeding on ahead with a terrified Moray.
Ace sighed, putting a hand over his face, and Starlo suppressed a chuckle.
“It was nice knowing them.” Ed spoke up, speaking as though they were both already dead. Honestly, from what Martlet had learned about Mooch, they most likely were.
Martlet turned towards the sheriff, hesitant to speak up about what was on her mind, but knowing it had to be said.
“Starlo,” she began, “you know I can fly, right?”
“Yes, I'm aware. Birds tend to do that.” Starlo dismissed with a wave of his hand.
“I mean- don't you think it would be smarter if I flew across and got the manta bot, drove it back here, and then we could transfer two across at a time? It's just-” Martlet began to pace, anxiety surging through her. “I'm worried about Clover, and Ceroba could kill them at any moment.”
“I'm worried about them too, Mar’, I really am, but I don't trust that- I mean, what if your wings give out?” He asked. “What if you fall into that acid lake and die? And then the manta bot is stuck in the middle of it, and nobody can get to Clover. It's just not safe.”
His reasoning made sense, it really did, but Martlet couldn't help but feel even more worried. There was anxiety building up in her chest, as it usually did, but she couldn't help it. She couldn't help Clover- her child. She thought she was getting better at being responsible, and yet they were kidnapped right under her beak. What was she doing about it? Standing around here when she could fly after Clover, stop Ceroba in her tracks.
Martlet let out a frustrated sigh, sitting down uneasily. She couldn’t help feeling this way, seriously.
Mooch wasn’t back for another ten minutes. Ten minutes wasted with the Feisty Four and Starlo. Ten minutes in which Clover was suffering. This whole process could’ve been going twice as fast if it weren’t for Starlo’s weird distrust. Honestly…
This time, Ace was driven away, despite his own distrust, directed towards Mooch’s driving skills. Martlet shook her wings out, standing up and turning to face Starlo.
“I’m going to go take a walk. Call me back when I’m needed.” She didn’t wait for a response before going back across the all too narrow pathway towards the distant building.
What if Clover had fallen off of the pathway and into the acid lake? What if they had gotten into an argument with Ceroba and been dangled over the edge and threatened? What if there really were evil robots here ready to destroy humans?
Martlet shoved these thoughts down, crouching down by the door and waiting. A tiny little flower revealed himself. “Howdy, Martlet! Anything you need?”
Martlet looked at the ground, taking a deep breath, before speaking.
“I could use some advice…”
Flowey’s smile grew impossibly wider, his tone going darker. “What do you need to know?”
~-~Clover~-~
The longest of Clover’s adventures lasted around a month, and it had been spent in the Ruins, living out their days with a monster who they couldn’t remember the name of- they just knew that it had happened a while ago, and that she was warm, kind…
Most of them, the fun and the terrifying, only went on for a day, but they were wonderful days. Moments spent pretending with North Star and his posse, days in which they spent the day eating pancakes with Martlet, or playing in the snow. They never made it past the Wild East.
But, starting a few cycles back, they’d gotten frustrated and angry. They knew there was something they had forgotten, but they couldn’t for the life of them put their finger on just what it was.
Suddenly, they felt tired. The weight of whatever it was wore them out.
It was Decibat first- they’d been walking too loudly due to their exhaustion, and they just couldn’t seem to get him asleep for long enough. They raised their gun, and...
Dalv was the next to go- Clover had barely acknowledged the poor guy last time they’d seen him, but now they had memories of spending time with him as well. Eating literal sponge, and letting him read one of his stories to them. But now they remembered the look on his face as Clover shot him in the head, not even giving him a moment to turn around.
They didn’t get much further than Snowdin, as far as they could remember. But oh…
Martlet’s sympathy was so underserved in the last timeline that Clover actually wanted to cry. Or stab something.
Clover…
“What are you?” They whispered aloud.
Is that really important? C asked.
“What are you?” They asked again, slowly dragging themself to their feet. “If there’s anything else I don’t remember, you have to tell me.”
I… I don’t know. It confessed. I don’t remember much when I’m here. Just that I’m… someone. Someone important.
Clover laughed bitterly.
Then again, everyone is someone, and everyone is important... At least, in their own world.”
They laughed again.
In the end, is anyone really important? A restaurant owner is only important within the bounds of her shop, a leader, only within his group… A child is important within their mind, pretending that everything is ok when it isn’t. Even a war is insignificant when you look at the big picture. Nothing is permanent. Once playtime is over, it all goes back to the beginning.
Clover hugged their arms to their chest, falling back to the ground. They knew C was right. That’s…
If everything was a game, then it couldn’t hurt to hurt everyone else. If they were hurt, everyone else could stand to crumble as well. Everyone could fall, just like them.
After all, that’s how Clover had thought for so long.
A tear dripped down the side of their face. So pathetic. They’d made the choice to kill, there was no denying it. Clover wasn’t the pure soul that Ceroba needed to save her daughter- they were a monster. Kanako deserved more than that.
Everyone deserved more than that. More than them. Anyone but them. Clover or Ceroba- those were the only two exceptions. Ceroba was unforgivable in her own way.
C went silent, probably feeling guilty about their nihilistic rant upsetting Clover.
Clover- oh the poor child. They curled up on the floor, burying their face into their yellow bandana. It had been a gift from Melody, an attempt to make them a little less miserable when their stepmother sent them off to that weird church camp for the weekend while she was out. It worked back then- the blue polka dots reminded them of their sibling- they still had it even after all these years, but now it just felt like something they didn’t deserve.
They shook with tears, huddled on the ground, until they heard footsteps and Ceroba’s voice. They sat up, wiping their eyes with the bandana before tossing it to the side. Now all they had was their hat- actually, where even did their gun go? Clover must’ve dropped it sometime around when North Star’s posse ganged up on them. That felt like it had happened so long ago, so how could it have happened less than an hour prior?
Ceroba reentered the hallway, looking tired, as though she’d just run a mile. Right, Axis had been chasing them both.
“You’re a mess.” She observed with a sigh, taking Clover’s hand gently and beginning to lead them back towards the other room with more kindness than she’d treated them with all day. They were a little confused- after all, she’d been so cold before, and they’d already been conditioned to believe they didn’t deserve basic compassion over their lifetime, so what had changed? Did she finally realize that Clover was a kid?
“Axis is gone for now. We’ll be fine for a little while.” Ceroba informed them. “I led him out of here.”
Clover couldn’t find it in themself to want to shoot her for just a little bit. She was unforgivable, just like them. They were the same, in the most terrifying, messed up way. For now, they could tolerate her presence, just because they knew that at the end of all of this, Ceroba would kill them. She would deliver justice. Better yet, she would save an innocent life using their very soul. It was nice to know that they could be good for something.
Martlet wouldn't want them thinking like this, not at all, but… right in that moment, it was all that Clover had. In their mind, they could justify anything just by saying that it would be better that way, that it was right, it would fix things. Besides, it wasn’t like Martlet, or C were there, it wasn’t like they had anything to fall back on. In that moment, Clover made the biggest mistake of all, as they painted themself the bad guy, and decided that they had to atone.
~-~Mooch~-~
Things were working out, all things considered. Moray and Ed were both at a pretty good stopping point, and she was heading back to pick up Martlet or North Star, or whoever was going next. All the while, Mooch was fidgeting with a piece of gold she’d taken from Martlet’s bag when something on the manta bot malfunctioned, and smooth sailing turned into rocky, dangerous sailing. Just as she thought nothing could get worse, Mooch’s bag of money slipped from her paws, landing on the edge of the little platform, as the manta bot stopped at a wall.
Cautiously, Mooch lowered herself down, reaching her little paws out and trying not to jostle the bot too much- all of her hard earned (stolen) cash was in that bag- she couldn’t lose it. Just as she thought she was in the clear, she leaned back too far, the bot beginning to move forward again, nearly throwing her little squirrel body off of the ray and into the acid lake. Mooch let out a screech as a burning sensation hit her tail, followed by the feeling of the raft hitting another pillar, and a splash of acid hitting her arm, singeing the fur there. She quickly scrambled up said pillar, curling up around her bag.
Tears welled up in her eyes- that really, really hurt.
In the distance, she heard North Star calling out her name, sounding panicked, and she was only left to her devices for a minute or two before a bird landed right on top of the ray.
“What happened?” Martlet asked, concern in her voice.
“I- I dropped my bag and then I reached out to get it but then I got splashed with acid, and-” Mooch curled up tighter, beginning to cry. This was so pathetic- Starlo had only taken her in because she was a 17 year old wandering around the Wild East with no family, he would be so disappointed to see her crying over something so trivial.
“Ok, ok, lets…” Martlet sighed, glancing out in the direction in which Moray and Ed were waiting- Clover, too, if Starlo was right. “Lets get you back over to Starlo and Ed, ok?” Mooch looked up at her, wiping the few tears from her eyes using her uninjured hand. Very carefully, she hopped back onto the ray, behind Martlet.
After only a minute or so, Mooch was able to get off of that horrid thing, instantly running over to Ed and climbing onto his shoulder.
Martlet and Starlo exchanged some words, before leaving her and Ed behind. Ed said something about how he probably wouldn’t fit on the ray either way, so he was fine with staying behind. So, with Mooch sitting atop Ed's shoulder, the two headed back to the Wild East.
Mooch just hoped that the others would be able to find Clover. She had a bad feeling that things were going to go very, very wrong.