A/N: Ack.. the lack of reviews for this are killing me... but I would like to thank Coin ward, Dreamer-Of-The-Omniverse, Fuad Abdi, M1nhTre37, Melodysora, Shadowtalon62, Skywolf99, TheBlackAngel07 (Clock), Thunderskyt, pokemanik671, Delta prime2, Kirino Tsuki, and ringtaillemur0 for following and favoriting! I really appreciate it, guys. :3

I'm glad you are enjoying it, but reviews would also be nice. I love talking. And I don't and won't bite either. :3

With that said, it's time to start the show!

Arcana of Tricks
The Surgeon and The Rebel
Chapter Three

It had been several minutes since Joker decided to sit down and wait. Asgore had come in to check on the patient, frowning slightly. But he brightened when he saw Joker, smiling, "Well, howdy again!"

There seemed to be movement under the sheets. Eduardo had clenched his hand into a fist, the movement wrinkling up the area. And his eyebrows furrowed slightly too. Despite being high as a kite, - or perhaps he was slowly coming down off it - he knew exactly who this was. He looked exactly like the goat he attempted to kill and leave for dead. Asgore pretended not to notice.

The "Howdy" got his attention. He didn't smile, but the look in his eyes was mildly friendly as Joker waved. He still didn't know what these guys were, but they were helping at a hospital. So it was worth being kind and relaxing a bit. He watched for a moment as Asgore stepped in. Then his attention was drawn to Eduardo clutching the sheets. Had these two met before? did that guy really try and kill a nurse? "Do you know him?"

"Only as an in-and-out patient here at the clinic," the goat monster shook his head. "But Flowey vented to me about him so I'll probably be able to tell you more. The name's Asgore, by the way. We didn't introduce properly." He walked past Joker to check the IV and the other equipment, make sure they were working properly, ignoring the scrawny human's incriminating and prejudiced eyes all the while. His touch was gentle, but Eduardo felt like he was in hell, and it was only emphasized by the drugs. "Not while we're in the room with him though."

Joker wasn't quite sure what that last comment meant. He decided to pencil it down as Asgore wanting to talk more about it later, not while he was around the Eduardo guy. And if this was anything like a standard hospital, Asgore probably wouldn't talk about why the guy was in here until given patient consent. Flowey might be under the same obligation, but he proved before that he didn't follow it all the time. Until Flowey was done, and he was told to move, Joker would stay here. He nodded for a moment. "Frequent flyer," he murmured. Then, Joker took a good look at the guy's eyes. "Is he on enough pain killer?"

The monster nodded, "He should be." He took a deep breath, and stepped back, watching the man visibly relax, but not by much. "Though he seems to be coming down from the high much more quickly than expected," Asgore supplemented. He really wanted to talk to Joker even with someone listening, but he was too polite and he was due back in the operating room very soon, he thought. They were already on their fifth patient today. And the giggles were everpresent. If there was the time to talk to Asgore about anything, including about his boss, now would be the time. If he waited, he'd most likely have to wait for hours.

Coming down from the drugs already. The guy hadn't been here very long. So how? was he given less than normal? or was it tolerance? "Think he built up a tolerance to the drugs?"

Joker then idly wondered if the medicine he'd gotten from Tae that increased health would heal Eduardo. It healed him and his friends after all.

"After all his instances here, that would be something that happens," the white fluffy goat responded dully, frowning and keeping an eye on Eduardo all the while. It should be noted that the goat in the memory wasn't white, but gray, and had no hair on his head like Asgore did.

Tolerance indeed. How unfortunate for the guy. Joker dug in his pocket for the medicine he kept on him. Futaba and Makoto tended to carry a lot of their supplies, but he was the one who bought it. He always had something on him. He pulled out a small vial of pills. A single pill could help. It wouldn't heal all the way, and Joker didn't intend to do so. But he did want to see if it would work. "Think something else could help?"

The Dreemurr tilted his head as he saw the pills, blinking softly. "What are those?"

He hoped they wouldn't react badly with the drugs already in his system. The guy wasn't even concerned with the prospect of something else offered to a patient. Which showed how loosely Flowey ran this clinic. Joker shrugged. "Health pills." That was really all Tae ever told him. They weren't painkillers or antibiotics, just pills for general health as far as she said, and as far as Joker knew. And they did their job. Then again, he didn't take other medicine.

Asgore stared at them, and soon nodded, understanding. "I see. Do they dissolve? Someone else should be bringing in the food and water in about a minute."

He seemed wrong about being due back very soon. Flowey would have been screaming for him. Working here was somewhat taxing to his memory, and he sighed. Speaking of someone, yet another patient was wheeled to their room, the wheels rolling almost silently through the hall. The same patient who seemed to have a hole in their chest.

"You swallow them whole," he replied. In the metaverse, they healed right after swallowing. But in the real world, they'd likely take a few good minutes, and needed to be taken with water. He'd need to wait for that person before giving the guy a pill.

Joker had watched as the person was wheeled past. Was that Asgore's cue to go back, or not?

The buttercup wasn't screaming, so it probably wasn't. Asgore sat down in the chair opposite Joker, looking down, "Interesting.. but I was asking if they dissolved in water, because he's in no condition to be swallowing pills whole."

And he was right. Eduardo was out of it, and while he wasn't tense anymore he was still staring wordlessly and vacantly, eyes looking awfully crazed due to the slowly diminishing high. There was the sound of wheeling coming from the other direction. And an amazing smell too. Definitely the food. The young man looked back to Asgore as he got one out and placed it in his hand. "Don't know." They'd never tried, after all. They'd never needed to try and dissolve the pills before. Just swallowed them.

"Well, I suppose it never hurts to try," the goat monster shrugged, just as the tray came in, a human colleague carting it. It was ground up lobster with mashed potatoes on the side, and there was a glass of water too. The patients truly did eat well here. She glanced between them both.

Joker, without looking, gave a brief wave, which was returned slightly. He handed Asgore the pill. Then, once that was done, he looked over to Eduardo to gauge the man's reaction. If he was conscious enough to glare at Asgore and feel pain, he might be conscious enough to react to being given unknown drugs. And react to such expensive food brought in.

But he didn't really react. He'd been here often enough, after all. Plus, he was too busy staring at Asgore's face. Perhaps the hatred and prejudice were that deep. The goat monster took the pill and whispered something to the lady. She nodded and grabbed the pill, dropping it into the water. The blonde then spoke up in a mildly thick French accent, "Oui, Monsieur Eduardo, your doctor has prescribed a new medication for you to take."

Seeing a human say this must have meant a lot, and the scrawny man nodded. She placed the tray down on the table attached to his bed and moved it to sit in front of him. Ed refused to be handfed, slurring his first words today, "I can do it myshelf."

Stubborn, Flowey would note, just like the goat man he attempted to kill. The woman nodded without debate and headed out, smiling at Joker and Asgore before leaving officially. The attempted murderer lifted his hand carefully and guided it towards the fork so he could eat. The one time his eyes weren't on the monster, and Asgore tossed Joker a knowing look.

The young man watched the entire exchange silently. Either the guy was an idiot, or just that high on drugs. Surely the guy knew that pill was from Joker, or at least handled by Asgore. Did the guy not think it possibly poison? or anything strange? he hated monsters a lot, after all. Which made Joker wonder just what the guy would think of Arsene. The eager rebel spirit did have a hellfire face after all, and was far too large to be human. The thought o f the man reacting to his persona made him grin with mischief. Joker glanced up at Asgore as the goat monster looked at him. After a second, he stood up to whisper, "Does he not know who gave that medicine?"

Asgore leaned over and whispered back, with a sigh, "He didn't see me procure it myself. He trusts Flowey a little more than me." That put things in perspective, though didn't change the fact that he had attempted to kill someone. But the very fact he'd trust someone who sadistically hurt him physically, even though it was partially in the right, more than a monster who'd done nothing was alarming. At the very least, though, it seemed to say Eduardo subconsciously regretted that action if he trusted Flowey. Maybe not by that much though.

Joker glanced at Eduardo. So he trusted the creepy flower surgeon more. It made sense, considering Flowey's operations kept him from dying. But it still spoke to his prejudice and vile heart that he hated a man trying to comfort and help him. He looked back to Asgore. Of course, Eduardo hadn't given Joker himself a harsh look, which brought something to mind. Once again whispering, "Does he trust me more than you?"

The Dreemurr looked the young man up and down, almost sadly. "You're human," was his only response. Of course he trusts Joker more. Eduardo kept eating, paying no mind to the two talking now, noting to himself the ease his actions now had. A few sips were taken of the now bluish, health water. The pill had dissolved.

Joker stared at Asgore for a moment. Human. He was human. That was what this came to. Shadows or not, Joker and the gang weren't going to hate these people if they were kind, much less attempt to kill them. Attack, maybe. But not murder.

That didn't matter to this guy. For him, it was a matter of species, race. Like someone who abused and killed animals just because they weren't human. No wonder he had a palace. "Then maybe I can change his heart," he thought aloud.

Were Asgore Flowey, he would have chuckled. Even still, he did, but for a different reason considering Eduardo just had heart surgery. Oh, Toriel would have mildly loved that joke were she standing in this room right now, but she was currently at home. He then shook his head. "I wish you good luck with that. Most people are very hard to change…" It was clear he thought Eduardo was "most people", and the scrawny adult was getting better thanks to the dissolved pill meanwhile. But he wasn't aware, at the same time, that Joker had different, more thorough, foolproof ways.

Another patient had been guided back here through the hallway. Flowey was still working his stem off, and still enjoying it, particularly if the patient had a person with them, as was the case with that one. His sadism and blood lust would hopefully be taken care of to the point that he wouldn't have to worry about them till morning, till the time he would start work again.

Joker chuckled to himself at that. He knew very well that some people were hard to change. Almost impossible in person, sometimes. His entire year of probation was proof of that. But in person wasn't what he had in mind. His gaze turned back to Eduardo. "I won't need luck. Just to talk to him," was his confident, almost smug reply.

He waited to see how quickly the man ate and drank, waiting to see if he'd get well enough to talk from that medicine pill. Whether or not Asgore was here, Joker felt he could get what he needed out of the man with a simple conversation.

Or not. But considering Joker was human, he just might.

The goat monster blinked, but smiled in the end. If a mere talk helped, who was he to complain? and then he got up, "I should check on the other patients in the urgent care rooms. I'll see you later, Joker." He'd gotten the name from before and only just now remembered it. And then he left, Joker nodding to him, and Eduardo noticeably dropped the tense body language.

"Good.. he's gone.." the man grinned silently, his slightly Hispanic-textured voice muffled and given a breathy effect by the respiratory mask. Think Darth Vader, but less. "I thought he'd never leave." He seemed to be doing a lot better, even with only four sips of the healing water.

Joker then walked over, one hand in his pocket as he put the bottle of pills back, the other pulling the chair over. Gone for the moment, at least. He pulled the chair up beside Eduardo's bed and sat down. He leaned forward, arms draped over his legs as he did so. His eyes lingered on the mask for a moment. An interesting mask indeed. But that wasn't his focus. He looked Eduardo in the eyes, an intense, powerful look to his own. "I heard you visit this place a lot."

"Yeah, I'm an adventurer," the attempted murderer casually replied after a few more bits and a swallow, those eyes still crazy-looking but at least they were focused, on Joker. "Tend to get problems a lot. But what are you doing associating with these monsters? they're real trouble, ya know, not that I'd seen you before." There was a frown then, think eyebrows drawn down. He'd spat out the word as if they were actual monsters instead of a species, a race. In other words, he was being racist.

Joker shrugged at that. He still wasn't sure how he got here. He'd just ended up here while traveling after all. "Ended up here by mistake. I've just been trying to avoid a fight since. But what about you? why're you here if you hate them so much?" And the guy couldn't play innocent about hating them after those comments and looks.

"This is the only clinic in town," the man said simply, taking another swallow of the glass. "And there isn't another town for miles. As much as I hate to admit, that creep of a flower is one of the best of the doctors around." And he wasn't just talking about the food. He still was a little out of it in that he didn't notice his question being dodged.

So this guy wasn't willing to try and move for some reason. He'd rather stay here with the things he hated than move. Or he didn't have the money for some reason. Joker idly twisted some of his hair before letting his hand fall again. "How'd you end up in the clinic?"

"Heart issues," Eduardo nodded, and he soon finished eating. He took this time to down the rest of the water. Strength was coming back to him and he was able to sit up at this point. "I guess it's karma for what I did to my goat partner. More than what that flower did to me anyways." He shrugged. "But I ain't no believer in karma. It's an adventuring problem. That goat got what he deserved." He'd thought about finding something else to do but none gave the thrill of adventure and finding treasure.

What he did to his goat partner. Certainly sounded like murder to some degree. Or assault if that goat was still alive. Why? what was the guy's justification? it was suspicious that the guy came in for heart issues with a crowd, but that could wait. "Mind if I ask what happened?"

"Well, before I got admitted for this, and after I got out with a broken nose…" he pointed to his uneven nose. Seems Flowey couldn't fix it to the way it was before. "...I had this goat partner named Arton. We were adventuring for treasure together. He wanted to take the treasure for himself," a lie, "so at the end I pushed him off a cliff. He ended up surviving." The truth, and he grimaced. But he didn't show any signs of lying at all, grinning. Not only was he racist, but Joker was probably dealing with a chronic liar. Or worse, a sociopath.

His partner tried to take the treasure for themselves. Not a good thing, but it didn't warrant being shoved off a cliff. Perhaps if the goat tried to kill him, or did something worse, or tried to kill others, Joker could see it. But then, even the Phantom Thieves had spared such filth before. It had been to make them confess, but still spared. This person must be some kind of unstable or highly emotional person. Or, like other palace owners, lying.

Break him for being so trivial.

Yeah, break him while he's already broken. Seems like a good idea.

Joker wasn't going to do that, at least not now. Instead, he said, "You better not be lying."

"Aha," the man chuckled softly. "What makes you think that? monsters are terrifying, monstrous creatures and I don't care if Arton isn't one." His prejudice was showing massively. He leaned forward, pushing the table to the side as he did so pretty casually. "They all deserve to be dusted, even if they did nothing."

"Is that attitude what got you back in here with a crowd?" he countered without any hesitation. Joker didn't have much reason to trust monsters himself aside from Asgore's kindness, but he wasn't going to deem them all in need for killing from that. "If you hate monsters, then move away."

He shook his head to answer both questions. "I'm still here to make sure they don't get unruly. They have their own press, ya know. Could easily lie about us." Just like he was doing now. With the money he'd gotten, and forced to share with the goat he'd wronged since his confrontation with a certain flower, he could easily move out. But what he said would make both zero sense and all the sense in the world. Irrational hatred and prejudice were just that. Irrational. And as long as he had "proof", no matter how minor, he'd stick to his guns. And hatred was just the kind of thing that made you stick around.

"Don't know about you, but I've never read it." Or heard it, whatever their form of press might be. Not to belittle the monsters, but he was trying to put it into perspective for this jackass. Joker leaned back, kicking one of his heels against the floor. He didn't care to talk much more on the subject. He knew this guy was here because he was racist and cruel, and that it probably wasn't just heart issues. And he didn't trust the guy to be honest about it. "I take it both humans and, as you call them, monsters run this place."

Eduardo rolled his eyes, and nodded, "They really are called that, though. Fortunate." He grinned, folding his arms, but didn't lean forward. "But we're the ones who actually run this joint. Monsters just moved in one day, led by a young child." Frisk. "Dunno where that flower came from, however. He just appeared one day, a few days after they got here actually, and opened up this here clinic." He shook his head, closing his eyes. "Most of us are smart enough not to trust them. We warred against them and sealed them at Mount Ebott for a reason." The legend came into play once more, but.. he was wrong. They used to live in harmony, after all. Something happened though.

Well, that matched Asgore's story about monsters being underground for a while. Perhaps it was good for the monsters they were locked away if people like this guy existed. Then again, that was just a prison for them. A prison decided by false gods. Joker wasn't going to let that happen again. He tugged the ends of his red gloves. A war. Was that the keyword? "And the clinic? is this clinic just a continuation of that war?"

"No," Eduardo frowned. "The war had ended long ago when we claimed victory and sealed them away. If there's gonna be another, I'm not sure, but with the scarce amount of magic users I doubt we can seal them again. A shame."

Joker had no idea the nature of said prison, and would only find out if he traveled there himself. The monsters were free to do as they wanted, but they'd been trapped, living under false seasons and stars in a limited area, never to see the sun again. And for the young ones, never to see the sun ever. And indeed quite a few monsters hated the humans for what they did, but Frisk changed all that. Now they were hoping to restore that harmony, and for the most part, the movement had been succeeded, particularly with the younger humans and children.

So he didn't think of this place as a war zone. That was at least good - they wouldn't be sprinting through fields of bullets and landmines. So what did he think of this clinic? Joker couldn't be sure. He didn't quite know how the guy thought. For now, he'd play the part of someone who didn't know better - not entirely a lie. "Mind telling me more about this place, then?"

"What do you want to know?" the man gave him an incriminating stare, but it was more curious than anything. He seemed fairly amicable now that the topic wasn't on monsters.

Joker shrugged. His eyes revealed nothing - they held the same intense gaze as before. "Whatever you can tell me," he replied. He hadn't exactly been here very long, after all. Not knowing anything about the clinic or the town would be believable.

Eduardo laughed. "You must be new then. This is the second village settled away from the mountain. In fact, if you take a look outside, turning to your right as you exit, you can see it." In other words, opposite the way he'd come. "Soveriehn Town has its name for a reason - a safe haven for humans. The mayor, Fitzgerald, worked hard to ensure that. Unfortunately, monsters came into this town," his face darkened, "and ruined that. The mayor has only the humans' interests in mind, after all." Whether this was a lie was debatable. The own did look bad and injuries occurred often and were quite serious too, even among humans. Could it have been that he abandoned the town altogether?

...so the mayor was a human. The young man had assumed the mayor to a monster when Flowey and Asgore spoke about him. "Safe haven," he murmured. If that was how Eduardo thought of the clinic, the nav would buzz and tell him.

And possibly automatically drag him in if it was still registering the words from earlier.

But he had put his phone to sleep, so hopefully not. "Doesn't seem like a safe haven anymore," was his comment."

"Course not!" he seethed, and soon winced. It would take a while for the pill to truly work on his heart, so until then he had to tone down the exertion. "It's all drab now and had been for a couple years." But that was all Flowey remembered. Something wasn't right here. Someone wasn't telling the truth, and Flowey wasn't a liar anymore.

Joker watched him for a moment. Not a war zone, not a safe haven. Battleground? what was his palace? what was that last word? Joker could worry about lies later - shadows loved revealing their secrets and gloating in a palace. But what did Eduardo consider this place? Joker stood up and walked around the room. Might as well try and ask the guy directly. If this didn't work, he'd talk to Flowey later. He turned back to Eduardo. "What do you consider this place, then?"

Eduardo looked directly into his eyes and whispered harshly, narrowing his own, "A war just waiting to happen." Yep, he thought it was a war, all right. A war, not of violence, but of prejudice and hatred. And of course, those two often led to violence. He was at constant war with monsterkind. It was sad how he didn't truly realize it and thought he was in the right.

How curious. A war waiting to happen. Joker idly kicked at the floor with one foot. He wondered what that would look like, a war waiting to happen. Bunkers? military bases? it was far more vague than anything else he'd used as a keyword, aside from Mementos.

"I could see that." Particularly with how this guy acted. If a war started, it would be because of people like Eduardo. Not that he could tell; Joker's gaze and tone remained the same as ever. "'Take it you're glad for the new medicine?"

"I really am," the guy nodded. "I can actually move now. I might not even need this room anymore."

In that time span, more patients had been wheeled or walked past this room, and the number of patients treated rose to ten. Asgore came back in at that moment, and smiled sadly at both humans. Eduardo clammed up, huffing through his nose.

"Sorry it took so long, Joker," the goat monster apologized, bowing slightly. "How was your meal, Eduardo?" No response except a stare. "Great? that's good."

Joker looked back to Asgore and, this time, offered him a smile. It was more of a knowing smirk since he had what he figured he needed, but it was still a smile. As he stepped out of Asgore's way and looked back towards Eduardo, the smile fell.

"The new medicine worked." Then he leaned forward a bit, as this next comment of his was more for Asgore, though it could apply to either of them. "I'm heading out - be careful." He walked out of the room after that.

Asgore took a deep breath right before the young man left, and kept smiling at Eduardo. He'd taken his vitals via a monitor set in the corner and deemed him ready. Moving the chair back to its place, he asked, "Would you like to be moved to a regular patient room?"

There was only the slightest of nods. Asgore then nodded back and carefully undid everything, being careful with his huge hands. Eduardo, once he saw the chance, snapped his hand forward and nabbed the monster's snout. A serious intent to harm radiated off the man, and the goat couldn't scream, but he muffled one, blue eyes wide. "Only humans can touch me, Asgore.. former King of Monsters. I've been waiting for this day though.."

Asgore started to sweat, placing his hands on the brown one holding him. Was he talking about the six human children who disappeared and were subsequently…? he paled, gulping.

"It's a shame I didn't get to dust you when you were still leading them. You're pathetic now."

The goat monster squirmed, managing a "Who are you..?" under a muffle. The man only grinned, now glimmering and apparent amethyst eyes flashing. Asgore could only stare. A magic user..?

Joker stopped when he heard what sounded like someone screaming into a pillow. He hadn't walked that far just yet - by now, he was in the doorway of the hall at most. Was that someone in danger, or someone just venting out frustration? should he even stick around? was it any of his business?

What a familiar scenario. Are you just going to leave them and risk harm? would anyone else here help if you didn't? are you going to listen to society, or think for yourself?

Joker ducked over to the wall of a patient's room rogue-style and crept along. Despite the length of his coattail and his heels, he kept surprisingly silent. He snuck through the area towards the spot he heard the muffled scream, listening for anything else that might clue him in to what was going on.

He only heard the man talking. Eduardo. "What does the monster community think of their king now? slave to a mere flower surgeon?"

Asgore narrowed his eyes, and finally tore his snout away, rubbing it gingerly, "I'm no slave, Eduardo. You are, to your own prejudice against us monsterkind."

"Tell that to the six other children who disappeared," he hissed, and Asgore flinched. He couldn't say anything to that. Even though Toriel had finally forgiven him, he still felt awful about what happened and what he ordered of his people after the death of his son. There was no justifying killing six children. He could have merely taken one soul. But what would happen? he sighed, and lost all the fight. Eduardo noticed and grinned, "Of course that would do it - suck the fight right out of you. Just face it, you're a murderer, worse than I."

The Dreemurr screwed his eyes shut and repeated what his wife told him on the eve of her forgiveness, "I did what I had to do… none of that would have happened if humans hadn't killed our son or locked us up in the first place…"

There was another flash in Eduardo's eyes and a whoosh like a weapon being summoned, a purple book, and he literally hopped onto his feet on the bed and threw himself at the goat monster with the book in front to take the blow, an angered expression on his face.

Joker had been listening to the voices in the room he'd left. Listening carefully… and then he heard it. The sound of the bed moving, creaking. It was all he needed to hear to know a fight was breaking out.

Asgore simply stood there, expression unwavering; he was prepared to meet his end...

A/N: Hehe, I'm evil. Left you guys on a cliffhanger. WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT? find out next week on Arcana of Tricks: The Surgeon and The Rebel!

But seriously, guys, I need reviews. :3
I had Flowey, Eduardo and Asgore, and Clock had Joker and Arsene. Hope you enjoyed!