Chapter Text
*You Won! Got 0 EXP and 0 Gold.
“I… did not mean to make it that powerful.” Clover spoke after a brief period of silence.
“HUMANS CAN USE MAGIC?!?!?!?” Starlo yelled.
“I’ll be honest, I don’t know.” Clover explained.
After some time, Starlo and Clover returned to the saloon. Starlo met back with his posse as Clover grabbed a seat next to the Ketsukanes. Clover realized that she should probably save. So, she got up and went to the center of town.
“Howdy!” Flowey said as he came out of the ground wearing a cowboy hat. “Like the hat? It’s a disguise. I prefer not to get noticed so I took the hat. Also, I saw your little trick earlier! By golly, was that interesting! With that kind of power, the king stands NO chance! Let’s get back on track though, shall we?”
Clover LV 1 EXP 0
Dunes - Mines
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Clover LV 1 EXP 0
Dunes – Wild East
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“Like I said, don’t get distracted. Especially because that stupid star got you roped up on this ‘adventure’. But at least you can restock on supplies here, so I guess this pitstop isn’t so bad after all. And don’t get too distracted on your little fox friend, alright? Well, see ya later, pal!” Flowey then buried into the ground.
Clover made her way back into the saloon and went to Starlo for her next mission.
“Howdy, cowgirl! Ready for your next mission?” Spoke an ecstatic Starlo.
“You Bet I am.”
Cue transition to town center.
Starlo rang the bell and the posse came over to him. “Alright!” Starlo yelled. “It’s time for a good ‘ol fashion dual!”
“Uhh, you mean ‘duel’?” Asked a confused Moray.
“Boss, have you been skipping cowboy grammar class?” Ed asked.
“Duel, dual, who cares? Potato tomato and all that. Yall are really crushing my spirits here.” Starlo responded. “So, Clover, ya know how a duel works?”
“Yep!”
Starlo took Clover’s firearm and gave her a BB gun. The two walked 10 paces from each other. A member of the posse yelled ‘DRAW!’ as the two aimed. Starlo was too slow and got hit by the bullet, sending him flying back and onto the ground.
“Star! Are you okay!?” Asked Moray.
“Pretty much… the opposite of that.” Starlo responded. “Clover… This was your…”
Starlo then easily got up. “Emotional trauma test!”
After an explanation, Clover and the posse went back into the saloon. For some strange reason, Kanako and Chujin weren’t there. So, Clover decided to sit next to Ceroba for a bit.
“Hey, Clover.” Ceroba began. “How are the missions going?”
“Lovely!” Clover replied. “By the way, where’s Kanako and Chujin?”
“Chujin went home. And Kanako went with Star for something.” Ceroba responded. “Oh! And can you give me your hand? I want to try something.”
“Uhh, sure?” Clover said as she showed her hand.
Ceroba grabbed Clover’s hand and started to focus. She saw a brilliant and uncorrupted golden SOUL within Clover. It was burning bright with some sort of yellow fire. Ceroba then let go of the girl’s hand.
“I see that your SOUL is pure. You haven’t killed anyone.” Ceroba spoke after a brief period of silence.
“I am here to serve justice, not vengeance. Those kids are long gone. My job is to find the king.” Clover replied.
“Huh…” Said Ceroba. “You’re quite noble for a child.”
Clover went over to Starlo to begin the third mission. One PowerPoint slide transition later and the two were outside. Starlo rang the bell, and…
“Guys? Where are y’all?”
Starlo rang the bell and still, no-one. Then Ceroba started running in from the west side of town. “Starlo! What is happening at the west end of town?”
“What the-? Is anyone in danger!?” Yelled the sheriff.
“OBVIOUSLY” Ceroba angrily responded.
The three ran over to the west side of town and saw a train track splitting into two lanes. The first track had Kanako tied to it and the second track had Ed, Mooch, Ace, and Moray all tied to the track. Ceroba made it so that Clover had to choose. If Clover did nothing, Kanako would die, but if she flipped the conveniently placed lever next to her, four monsters would die. (“Fuck. Fuck. FUCK. How am I supposed to decide this?”) Clover thought.
In the distance, a train whistle could be heard. Clover knew that she was running out of time. So, in a moment of desperation… She flipped the lever.
A monster wearing a box with a train on it then bumped into Ed. “What was that for!?”
Clover sighed before responding, “I’d rather kill four people whose lives are already decided than to take a life of a child, someone who’s life has only just begun. In my eyes, that’s true justice.”
Ed just stared in shock. So did the entire posse, including Starlo.
“Again,” Ceroba started. “For a child, you are very noble. Wait, how old even are you?”
“12.” Clover responded.
“Same age as Kanako. But, Clover, don’t you seem… quite skinny for a twelve-year-old?” Ceroba asked.
Clover suddenly let her head down, hat shadowing her face. In a low, almost teary voice, said, “Star, I’ll meet you in the saloon for the last mission.” And with that, she walked off.
Starlo, after a prolonged period of silence, spoke up. “I don’t think she’s comfortable talking about her life back on the surface.”
“Yeah, I can see that.” Ceroba replied as the two jumped over the fence to untie everyone from the tracks.
Back in the saloon, Clover was sitting in a table near the corner, head down. Kanako, who had heard Clover’s talk with Ceroba, decided to approach her. “C-Clover? Are you okay?”
After a bit, Clover got up. “My surface life was awful. I don’t want to associate with it. I didn’t come down here just to find those children. I also came here to forget. Forget about those things that I was forced to call parents. To finally be called a hero instead of being neglected by those people.”
Kanako didn’t know what to say. She knew that Clover’s surface life was bad, but she didn’t know about any of this. Clover turned to look at Kanako. But before Clover could say anything else… Kanako hugged them tight. “I’m so sorry you had to go through all of that.” Clover hugged back.
Eventually, the two let go of each other. “Thanks, Kanako.” Said Clover before she went to Starlo for her final mission. One more PowerPoint transition later, and the two were outside. Starlo rang the bell one last time, and the posse came to the town center.
“Alright Clover!” Starlo began. “I actually tricked ya! There is no fourth mission. Well, there used to be one but we cut it out of the regiment. Congratulations, Clover! You are the new deputy of this fine town!”
“Wait, DEPUTY!?” Mooch yelled out.
“Boss, this is hardly fair.” Spoke Ed.
“Nothing in life is fair, Ed!” Starlo replied. “Besides, Clover passed her training fair and square. Now, I got to run to the mines to get Clover’s badge made, so stay here with yer new deputy, will ya?”
Starlo then went off.
“So, you just show up and Starlo already makes ya deputy?” Ed asked.
“We had to go through WEEKS of lasso lessons for this.” Moray said.
“Well, if that’s the case, how about this?” Clover started. “If I manage to beat the four of you in battle, I stay deputy. If you win, I’ll tell Starlo to give someone else the deputy position. Deal?”
“Deal!” Moray yelled. “Feisty four, let’s go!”
Ed went first. “So, you’re the new deputy, huh? Then you shouldn’t have a problem with this!”
Ed slammed his fists into the ground, rocks and debris launching out from the impact. Clover maneuvered her soul and dodged all of them easily. “That all you got!?” She yelled.
Next up was Moray. “Heya Clover! Sorry about this but, that deputy position is mine!”
Moray used a combination of spinning swords and blue and orange attacks. Thankfully, Decibat had already taught Clover how to dodge these kinds of attacks. Clover masterfully dodged and didn’t get hit at all.
Next up was Ace. “Hmph. Good Luck.”
Ace used cards to try and hit Clover. Clover easily dodged the attacks.
Then, Mooch came up. “Ready Clover?”
Mooch threw multiple coins in multiple directions. Clover dodged easily.
The Feisty four looked in horror as Clover dodged all of their attacks without getting hit. Then, Moray and Ed decided to team up. Suddenly, a lasso grabbed Clover’s soul, restricting her movement. Ed kept slamming the ground as more and more debris kept on flying out from the impact zone. Clover barely managed to dodge.
Then, Ace and Mooch teamed up. Mooch used coins as Ace used cards. This was by far the easiest attack to dodge.
Then, Ed came up. “You may have dodged all of our attacks so far, but how about my-“
“Hey!” Starlo yelled. “What in tarnation is going on here!?”
Then, the battle quickly subsided.