After the incident with the creature, Stanton knew he had to sort some things out. First off he had to ask Arcana about those creatures. If they were going to be a constant problem, he needed to know how to deal with them. The spirit had told him that creatures like that tended to come far and few in-between, and even then it was rare they were able to sniff him out.
It wasn't exactly reassuring, but at least Stanton figured it wouldn't be such a constant thing. He'd added a few more charms around the house in the hopes that next time they'd see something like this coming and maybe keep it out. He decided he would talk to Maggie about this as well, since she seemed to have some knowledge of the spirits and such in Townsville. And maybe subtly ask and investigate the Vanguard when he got a chance.
The second thing he needed to do was start working to improve his abilities with the cards. Last time he'd just happened to get a perfect set of cards at the perfect time to get him out of his situation. But he knew he might not always be that lucky.
Arcana said that the stronger the bonds he made with people, the more powerful they'd become. But he also mentioned that using them would cost some stamina too. He knew from his day with Pacifica trying to force his bonds with the others wouldn't do him any good. So he decided to focus on the second thing. His stamina.
Stanton had never been the most athletic kid. He was good at running, mostly because he had to constantly flee from certain situations. But he lacked in pretty much every other department physically. He was going to have to start doing some sort of physical activity to help get himself in shape.
"Man, you really are out of shape..."
Ezra looked over at Stanton who was clearly struggling as the two rode their bikes to school. He looked fine at first, but about halfway through he started looking totally gassed out. It was clear he wasn't used to having to move for this long.
"You sure you don't need a break man?"
Stanton shook his head. "N-no, I'm good. We're almost there." They were almost at school anyway, there was no point in stopping now.
Ezra hummed, keeping an eye on his friend to make sure he didn't fall over and pass out. Luckily the school really wasn't much further away, and they made it there before putting their bikes on one of the racks out front. "You know, if you really want to get more exercise in you could probably just stop by HQ and get some warm up stuff in with the combat department."
Stanton hummed. "Maybe..." He had to see what they actually did. He didn't want to end up... well, actually he probably couldn't end up any worse than he was right now. He looked up at the clock at the front of the school and frowned. They weren't late, but they'd gotten there about ten minutes later than usual. He always liked to arrive early to avoid Neville. At least when he was on his own anyway.
Ezra handed him a bottle of water. "Here dude, you look like you need it."
He took the bottle muttering a quick thanks, and then took a sip. "Stanton. Be weary. I sense an incredibly malevolent presence nearby." Stanton looked towards Ezra. Was he talking about the power of Kur that was in him? If so he was a little late on the update. "No. Another presence. One very close by."
Stanton quickly looked around, seeing if another one of those creatures from last time was around. It certainly wouldn't have been hard to spot out in the open like this. But all he could see were his fellow students making their way to the middle and high school building. "There."
Stanton squinted his eyes to see just who he was talking about. It was some boy, maybe fourteen or fifteen. He had light brown skin and black ruffled hair that had red highlights at the front. He wore a black shirt and a red hoodie which had a very familiar looking stitched heart on it. Stanton felt like he had seen it somewhere before, but he couldn't quite place it. The thing that stuck out about him most however was the eye patch covering his left eye. It had the same stitched heart symbol as his hoodie.
The boy was crouched down near the sidewalk and seemed to be staring intently at something. He had a hand out and looked to be concentrating. "Hey Stanton, you good?" Ezra asked, checking up on his friend.
"Do you know that guy?" Stanton asked, nodding towards him.
Ezra followed his gaze and spotted the boy in question. "Him? Uh... I see him around sometimes but I don't really know him. Kind of a loner I think," Ezra explained. He then narrowed his eyes. "What is he doing?"
The two boys both tried following his gaze to see what he was focusing on so hard. It seemed like he was eyeing two senior girls passing by. The one eyed boy then smirked and flicked his finger upwards. Stanton and Ezra both grew wide eyed as the two girl's skirt suddenly flipped up. They both yelled before pushing them back down and running off, while the one eyed boy snickered to himself.
"W-whoa! Did you just see that?!" Ezra asked blushing.
Stanton put a hand on his chin. "How did he do that?" he asked. That was definitely no coincidence. Could he be some kind of wind manipulator? A psychic? Or maybe it was some sort of magic?
"Hey nerd!"
Both Stanton and Ezra looked over to see Neville making his way down the stairs. Stanton sighed, while Ezra narrowed his eyes. "You and me have some catching up to do pipsqueak!" he said looking angry. "Now I don't know how you pulled that shit you did the other day, but I want some answers right damn- GAH!"
The two boys watched as Neville suddenly tripped and fell. They both winced as he landed face first onto the ground. Ezra walked over to him to make sure he was still... alive, and then nudged him with his foot. The bully let out a groan. "Wow, for a football player you're like super uncoordinated dude," Ezra said, smirking.
Stanton looked closer and then saw that Neville's shoes had somehow been tied together. That was... odd. Neville wasn't the brightest guy, but he wasn't that stupid. He turned and looked over towards the one eyed boy, who was once again smirking to himself. He stood up and then began walking off.
Yeah, there was something up with him for sure. And Stanton wanted to find out what.
When lunch time had rolled around Stanton couldn't help but make his way over towards the high school campus to see if he could find the one eyed boy. Ezra, who had been equally curious about this new superpowered kid, decided to tag along with him. Stanton honestly didn't mind. It wasn't like one middle school kid on the high school campus was going to blend in any less than two. Besides, Ezra was someone he found himself pretty tolerant of. There was just something... nice, about hanging out with him.
Arcana had been able to guide them to where the boy was supposedly at, though he did so with great reluctance. And eventually they were led to the roof. "Aren't these things supposed to be locked?" Ezra asked as Stanton turned the knob and opened the door.
"Maybe someone is just slacking on the job. I mean we walked through here without any of the teachers bothering to ask why... or maybe they just don't care," Stanton reasoned as they walked out.
"So how do you know this guy is here again?" the half-ghost asked.
"Magic tracker..." he lied.
"You have a magic tracker?"
"Uh... yeah."
"Cool."
"Not cool, like at all." Both of the boys jumped as the door slammed behind them. They both turned around and saw the one-eyed boy glaring down at them. "What are you twerps doing here? The roof is my spot. "Ezra opened his mouth to speak, but the boy cut them off again. "Wait, never mind. I don't really care. Just get the fuck out of here and let me enjoy my lunch in peace."
Ezra frowned while Stanton looked around the roof. "You don't have any lunch."
"I don't have to eat lunch at lunch. Now scram."
"You have psychic powers," Stanton stated. "We saw."
"So?" the boy asked, crossing his arms.
Ezra whistled. "Whoa, so we weren't just seeing things. That's seriously cool man. How long have you had them? How strong are you? You should totally come by the vanguard and-"
"Let me stop you right there kid," he said holding his hand out. "I'm not in the mood to play twenty questions, and I'm damn sure not interested in joining your little superhero club. So why don't you two runts just get out of here before-"
"That's the stitched heart from the cipher wheel," Stanton suddenly said. He knew he had seen it somewhere. His father had told and taught him about it just in case the worst case scenario ever happened.
The boy seemed to recognize that. He glared down at him. "What did you say?!" he asked, moving towards him.
Ezra stepped in front of him. "Hey, whoa! Back off man!"
He shoved him out of the way and then grabbed Stanton by the front of his shirt. "You said something about the cipher wheel?! How the hell do you know about that?! Who are you?!" Stanton tried to pry his hand off, but the boy had him in a death grip. Ezra tried to move in to help his friend, but he was once again shoved aside. "You better start talking or-!"
"Let him go Vincent!"
All three boys looked over and saw Maggie standing in the doorway. She glared towards the one-eyed boy who raised an eyebrow. "The hell? You know this kid?" he asked.
She walked over and pulled Stanton away from him before shoving him back. "He's my cousin you dweeb. You seriously couldn't see the family resemblance?" she asked.
He clicked his tongue. "Oh, so this is Dipper's kid huh? That explains why he knows about the cipher wheel," he said.
Maggie narrowed her eyes. "Whether he was or not you shouldn't just go manhandling middle school kids. Seriously, what is wrong with you?" she asked looking down at Stanton. "You okay?"
He nodded. "I'm fine." He'd been through much worse.
"What are you guys even doing here?" she asked.
"Looking for him," Stanton said pointing towards Vincent. "We saw him use powers to flip some girls skirts."
Maggie sighed while Vincent scowled at the younger boy. "Gee, thanks a lot you little snitch. Seriously man, haven't you ever heard of bro code?" he said shaking his head.
"We're not bros..."
"Fuck you."
Maggie shook her head and turned towards him. "You know you're not supposed to do stuff like that. If you keep screwing around the Vanguard is going to notice and do something," she warned.
Vincent grunted. "Like I'm scared of them..."
Maggie turned back towards Stanton and Ezra. "Listen you two, you should head back to your building. And do be a favor and don't follow this clown anymore. He's not going to lead you to anything but trouble."
"The hell, you act like dragging them along or something. They followed me," Vincent said, scowling.
Stanton hummed, and then pulled out his notebook. "Okay, but can I ask him stuff later? I want to know about your powers," he said looking towards the teen.
"Kid, trust me. You're the last person who wants anything to do with what I got going on. Listen to your big cousin and steer clear," he said as he turned and began walking off. "You too shrimp," he said, nodding towards Ezra as he passed.
Maggie watched him walk off before turning towards the boys. "Alright guys, head back. Stanton, you and I need to talk about something later," she said.
Ezra winced, fearing the boy had gotten in trouble with his older cousin. But Stanton just nodded. "Okay." With that he turned and walked off, and Ezra followed alongside him.
"Man, I can't believe that dude actually had powers. But what was he talking about with the cipher wheel and all that stuff?" Ezra asked, turning towards him. Stanton and Maggie both seemed to know what he was talking about.
"Oh, that? It's some old history with a demon my dad and aunt helped destroy years ago. Don't know why it would be important to..." Stanton stopped as a thought slowly sunk in. Why would that guy know about the Cipher wheel? And Arcana told him he felt something dangerous coming off of him. Could he have something to do with...?"
"Yo, Earth to Stanton. You okay dude?" Ezra asked, waving a hand in front of him.
"Yeah, I'm fine. It's nothing," he said. Now he really wanted to figure out what Maggie knew about that kid. If he really had something to do with Bill, then he had to let his dad know about it.
Dipper groaned and palmed his face as he closed out yet another window from his computer. He'd been spending almost all of his free time searching, and found nothing but dead ends. This was infuriating.
He knew she would be hard to track down. It'd been downright impossible years ago. But he figured knowing she was here in the city would give him something. Just a single clue to point him in the right direction. But no. It was obvious when she didn't want to be found, she wasn't going to leave anything behind.
But he couldn't just give up. Not when he was this close. He wasn't likely to ever get another chance like this again.
"You okay?"
He looked up and saw Pacifica walking into his study, carrying a cup of coffee. He took it and smiled at her. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just... working on a little side project is all," he said.
Pacifica frowned. "Dipper... you know you've never been a good liar right?" she asked. "I understand if you don't want to tell me what's going on, but you look so stressed out. I'm not buying that this is another of your little side projects."
Dipper clicked his tongue. "Yeah, being a terrible liar is one of the few things Stanton actually got from me."
Pacifica smiled. "Now that's not true. He got that big beautiful brain of yours too," she said kissing his cheek. Dipper smiled and returned the gesture. "So, you want to talk about it, or...?"
Dipper hesitated for a moment, but then sighed. If he didn't tell her, it could end up being a real issue later. "I'm looking for Sarah..."
Pacifica flinched. "Uh... oh..." She had known all about his past relationship. Dipper had filled her in on all the details. But... she thought he had given up on finding her years ago. At least that's what he had said anyway.
"She called yesterday, and she's in town," Dipper explained. "I have to find her. I'm not going to get another chance like this. If she gets away I'll never..."
She frowned and patted him on the back. "I know. Just keep looking. I know you'll find something. You're you after all," she said trying to encourage him. "Do you want to let Renee know. She's already used to going through lots of info around town. She might be able to help. We don't have to give her the details."
He shook his head. "No, no. She's already so busy with the work for Vanguard. I don't want to dump something else on her plate."
Pacifica sighed. "Alright then... have you told Stanton?" she asked.
Dipper flinched. "No... I don't plan to either. Not anytime soon anyway."
Pacifica frowned. "Dipper, he's a smart kid. If she's planning on sticking around town then there's more than a good chance that he'll pick up on something. If he finds out before you tell him then-"
"I know," Dipper said, cutting her off. "I know. I just... he's doing so well right now, and I don't want to set him back. I'll find the right time to let him know, but for now I think he's got enough to deal with."
She didn't look very convinced. "Alright, you know him better than I do," she said before shaking her head. "God, how did we end up marrying the people we did...?"
Dipper gave her a small smile. "Hey, it all worked out. We got some pretty awesome kids out of it at least," he said putting his hand on hers. "And once I'm done with this, it'll be over. No more exes to deal with. Just you, me, and the kids..."