"The High Priestess!"
Stanton watched as another ball of flames shot from his hand and crashed into an old wrecked car. It was hardly big enough to do any serious damage, but it was the best he could do without tiring himself out too much. He had tried to fire a much larger blast earlier and had barely been able to catch his breath.
He sighed and then looked down at his other cards. Arcana had recommended that he stick to just three a day, but since he was testing them he'd spent just a bit of time with each one. So far he had figured out that the two that drained him the most were The High Priestess and The Magician. He guessed it made since. Their abilities were the most out there and versatile. In his opinion at least.
The Fool and The Emperor seemed mostly like defensive or passive abilities. Though he could alter them just a bit, and combined with the others they would be super useful. The most straightforward one was The Empress. It just healed things. He wasn't about to say it wasn't useful, because it definitely was. But there really wasn't any different way to use it in combination with the others.
As far as how exhausted it made him, it seemed like the smaller the wound the less stamina it took. As long as he avoided big injuries he should have been fine.
"Not bad Stanny." He looked up on top of a nearby pile of junk and saw Maggie smiling down at him. It had been her idea to bring him here so he could practice with the cards. Apparently this is where she had come to practice with her own abilities. "But you really have to workout more. You're way too out of breath," she said.
"I know..." he muttered.
She jumped down and landed next to him. "I know you're tired of hearing it, but if we don't stay on you you'll never get around to it," she said patting him on the head. "If you've ever going to use those things for something, you got to be ready... by the way, what are you going to use them for anyway?"
Stanton shrugged. "I don't know..." he said. Part of the reason he had wanted to talk to her before now was because he didn't know what to do with these things. "How did you decide to get into ghost hunting?"
Maggie hummed and rubbed her chin. "Let's see. I came across Will-O in Grunkle Ford's old stuff, and at first she was just good company. Then there was some ghost possession stuff with mom, and we ended up working together. The rest was history I guess."
"So it was just an incident that happened, and then you decided to just start doing it on a whim?"
Maggie shrugged. "Well, when I started seeing just how many ghosts were harassing people through town, I felt like I had to do something about it. I guess it was my sense of justice or whatever."
"So why didn't you join the Vanguard then?" he asked. "Their heroes. They deal with ghosts too."
She waved him off. "Those guys really aren't my style. I'm better off on my own. Besides, they capture ghosts, I get rid of them," she said, making a small flame in her hand. "Sending them back to the ghost zone or whatever just lets them come right back here. I've seen a lot of people hurt by ghosts that just don't get the message."
Stanton stared at his cousin. "So... what should I do?"
"Whatever you want," she said as if it was the simplest thing in the world. "If you want to roll with the Vanguard, that's fine. If you want to do your own thing, that's fine too. Of course I wouldn't mind you tagging along with me either. I could always use a partner in crime," she said nudging him. "The Pines cousins, ghost hunter duo."
Stanton looked down in thought. Ghost hunting? It wasn't too different from what his father did. "I'll think about that."
Maggie smiled and put an arm around his shoulders. "Look Stan, you can do whatever you want. You don't even have to do anything at all. Just take some time to think about how you wanna use those cards."
"You don't think I should tell anyone else about it though?"
Maggie scratched her cheek. "Uh... I would say you should tell uncle Dipper but that'd be kind of hypocritical of me considering I haven't told mom. Just don't get into anything too reckless, yeah?"
"I won't... not by choice anyway..."
"In this family it's hardly ever a choice..."
Stanton's visit to the Vanguard base had started to become a more regular thing. At least three times a week he'd hitch a ride with Renee and stop by to either hang out or watch some of the others practice. Today however he found himself... a little more involved than he'd like.
Renee had still been on him about his bully problem. He had managed to convince her not to tell his father about it, but she insisted that that and the other Vanguard members keep a closer eye on him. And that he learned a bit of self defense.
Stanton had never been much of a fighter. Honestly when it came to anything but running away he was pretty uncoordinated. So the sparring lessons were... well, going about as well as he expected. "Guard your left kid!" Cayenne said as he lightly jabbed at his side. The boy was barely able to keep up with the combat officer. Even though it was obviously she was holding back.
"C'mon kid, if you don't get that guard up I'm gonna keep hitting you. At some point those reflexes got to kick in," she said swinging again. This time Stanton just barely managed to get his guard up, but he sent stumbling back by the hit. "Keep those feet planted kid. No point blocking if you end up getting knocked on your ass anyway."
Stanton frowned. "You're swinging too hard..."
"You think those assholes at school are going to pull their punches? Either plant those feet or move em!" Stanton began moving a bit lighter on his feet, and managed to move out of the way of the next few swings. "There you go kid! Now try swinging back!"
Stanton threw a punch, only for her to catch his fist and knocked his feet from under him. He groaned and looked up at her. "You didn't say you were going to do that..." he muttered.
"Nobody is going to say what they're going to do in a fight," Cayenne said before offering him a hand. Stanton looked hesitant. "Oh relax kid, we're done for the day," she said. He reached up and took her hand before being pulled up to his feet. "We got a lot of work to do with you kid. You fight almost as bad as Kingsley."
Stanton dusted himself off. "I'm not a fighter..."
"Obviously," she said, rolling her eyes. "But if you want that piece of shit Neville to stop messing with you you're going to have to make it clear you're not dealing with his shit anymore," she said, turning to leave. "We'll pick this up next time. Until then you might want to practice at home or something."
Stanton watched as she left the room, and then fell back and sighed. He didn't think he'd ever had to physically work that hard in his life. "Water?" Stanton looked up and then saw Damian smiling down at him, holding out a bottle of water. "I would have made some tea, but with how exhausted you seem I'm not sure you'd last that long."
He gratefully reached up and took it before opening the bottle and guzzling down the drink. He gasped after drinking most of it down and then turned back to Damian. "Thank you," he said. "I don't think Cayenne likes me very much."
Damian hummed. "No, I think she's growing pretty fond of you actually."
"Really? What makes you say that?" The way Stanton saw it, him getting beat up wasn't really a sign of fondness.
"Cayenne is very strict about her training schedule. That fact that she takes time, even a little, to train you says something."
"She only did it because Renee asked her too..."
"Stanton, believe me. Cayenne isn't someone who's so easily swayed. Not even by us," Damian said. "I think she sympathizes with your bullying situation. She used to be quite the bully herself you know. Or maybe you just remind her of Kingsley."
Stanton got up and tilted his head. "Well, you know her better than I do."
Damian put a hand on his shoulder. "By the way, since Renee asked us what we could do about this bullying problem, I thought perhaps we could discuss some less violent ways to approach this," he said.
"I'm not sure there is a not violent solution to Neville besides running away," Stanton said.
"Well, you won't know unless you try. Oftentimes bullies have their own personal problems they have to deal with. Maybe you should try talking with him," Damian suggested.
Stanton looked at him with a blank expression. "Are you... are you serious?" he asked.
Damian shrugged. "Or not. I simply thought it might be worth a shot. I like to try and think the best in people. At least for as far as I can anyway," he said. Stanton looked at him curiously. Damian was an odd guy... not that he was one to talk.
But from what he had observed of all the departments, Damian's seemed to be the ones who were the most cohesive. Despite all of their clashing personalities, there were very little arguments. And when they were it was usually just because Ezra pulled a prank on someone. So obviously he was doing something right. Every one seemed to be on friendly terms when it came to him. Maybe...
"You're pretty good at forming bonds, aren't you Damian?" Stanton asked.
Damian looked at him curiously. "I'd like to think so, yes."
"Can I ask you for advice about people? I'm not... very good at social things."
Damian chuckled. "Is that so? I think you're doing a pretty good job around here so far. But feel free to ask me for any advice whenever you feel like it. I might be a little busy with my Vanguard duties, but I'm happy to give a listening ear or some words of wisdom whenever I can," he assured.
The young boy nodded back to him. "Thank you. I appreciate the help. Do you know where Ezra is?" he asked.
"Probably in the rec room playing video games. Or off somewhere plotting another of his pranks. If it's the second I'm sure he'll end up finding you."
Stanton nodded once more and then turned and headed off. He was tired, and right now he wanted to just sit back and maybe play some games. As he walked off he noticed a light coming from his pocket. He quickly reached inside and pulled out the cards, eager to see which one had activated.
"Congratulations Stanton. You have now gained the ability of 'The Hierophant'," Arcana informed.
Stanton looked over the new card. This one was numbered 5, and had a picture of Damian on it, sitting and meditating. "Wow, really?" he asked. He didn't even know Damian that well... then again, he didn't think he knew Renee or Ezra that well either.
"You confided and trusted him to give you advice. It is a sign of trust."
"But that was so small."
"The strongest bonds can be formed over the smallest of gestures..."
Stanton put the cards back in his pocket and then turned back around. He could play video games later. Right now he had to find out just what this thing could do.
"Maybe you should try talking with him..."
Stanton looked down as he made his way through the halls. It couldn't really be that simple could it? There was no way Neville would just be willing to sit down and chat things over, would he? But thinking back he had never really tried talking to him before. It had just never crossed his mind.
"Hey Pines!"
Speak of the devil. He looked up and saw Neville walking towards him, an angry expression on his face. Stanton was surprised to see that he wasn't being flanked by his goons this time. It was just him. "Hey Neville," he deadpanned. It wasn't like he could run right now anyway. His class was up ahead and if he did he'd have to circle around the whole school. Besides, Neville couldn't waste too much time on him either. He might have been a brute but to stay on the football team he had to keep his grades up, and therefore actually attend class.
"You and me are going to talk, like right now!" he said pointing down at him.
"But I have to get to-"
"Fuck class! You're up to some weird shit, and I'm finding out what!" Oh, right. It might have been unintentional but he had tricked him with the cards twice now. "First you just vanish into thin air when I'm chasing you, then I corner you and you pull another vanishing act! What are you? On some magician shit or something?"
Stanton blinked. "Y... yes..." Technically the cards were magic, so it wasn't a complete lie.
Neville looked even more annoyed. "You really think I'm stupid don't you?! Do you really want me to have to beat it out of you?!"
"I mean... I'd rather you didn't," Stanton said stepping around him. "If you do want to walk we can do it after school or something... in a very public place where assaulting someone would be very frowned upon."
He walked past him and Neville looked curious. He stepped after him and went to grab the back of his shirt. "Damn it, get back right now you little-!"
"The Heirophant..."
As Neville's hand was about to grip the back of his jacket collar, something happened. His fingers just... slipped right through it. He looked shocked as he stumbled forward and fell face first onto the ground. Everyone who'd been walking by stopped and turned towards the fallen jock, a few of them smirking and chuckling at him. Neville groaned and looked up as he watched Stanton walk off. What in the hell just happened?
He was sure he'd grabbed the back of his jacket. But his fingers just... how had...? It was like the little freak suddenly turned into a ghost.
"That was quite risky back there Stanton."
"Nobody was paying attention. Nobody ever bats an eye when Neville is bullying someone. Besides, I got to test it on a person," Stanton said looking down at the card. He really wasn't all that surprised that the card Damian appeared on let him phase through things. This was definitely going to be a handy card. He couldn't wait to test it out more.
He also made a note to meet back up with Damian. With his advice unlocking the other cards might go quicker than he'd thought. Of course, it might not hurt to ask him advice on other stuff too...