"Man, I'm pretty sure I'm gonna fail that math test…"

"Really? The material doesn't seem that hard."

Stanton and Ezra made their way down the hall as headed for the exit. It had been a few days since the former had unlocked The Lovers card. He still hadn't gotten a chance to test it out yet. Not knowing what effect it would have meant the places he could risk activating it were limited. But he'd been keeping himself busy with talking with the members of the Vanguard, and hanging out with Ezra and his friends.

He'd found out quite a lot of things while hanging out with them. Things that had apparently been common knowledge to other boys his age. Some of them he found pretty confusing, like how they struggled with taking tests he himself breezed through.

Ezra rolled his eyes. "Yeah, not to you maybe. You totally seem like the super genius type. I bet you get straight A's and stuff too," he complained.

"I do. But I'm not a genius," he clarified. He was pretty smart, but most of that was because of his father's tutoring. "Do you need help studying?"

Ezra growned. "I should probably say yes, but I totally don't want to…" He'd rather head to the arcade or the Vanguard base than crack open the books.

"Alright then," Stanton said simply. There was no reason to push him if he didn't really want to do it. "Are we going to head to the base today?"

"Well, I am. Damian said I'm supposed to head on patrol with him today, so I'm not gonna be able to hang today. Don't know if you wanna come along anyway and chill with the others."

Stanton hummed in thought. He'd wanted to be there when Ezra practiced with his powers, but if he wasn't going to be there then this might be a chance to find out what the lovers card did instead. "Probably not," Stanton said. "I have something I've been wanting to work on for a while now. I'll probably catch up with you tomorrow."

"Cool," Ezra said holding his fist up. Stanton just stared at him for a moment, but then realized he wanted a fist up. He went along with it, bumping his fist as they made their way out of the front doors. They went over to their bikes, and Ezra gave him one last wave before pedalling off.

Stanton stood and rubbed his chin, thinking of where he should head to test the card out. Maybe he should head down to the junkyard. He was pretty sure nobody hung around there at this hour, and if the lovers turned out to be a handful he wouldn't have to worry about property damage.

"Pines!"

He sighed and looked over his shoulder to see a rather unfortunate site. Neville was stomping towards him, an angry expression on his face. He had been ducking the bully for some time now, and it seemed like each time he had it only aggravated the bully even more.

He thought about just leaving his bike and making a run for it, but then he wouldn't be able to ride back in the morning. He guessed he could get Renee to give him a ride, but-

Neville grabbed the front of his shirt, snapping him out of his thoughts. "Ah, I wasn't paying attention again," he muttered.

"That is a very serious problem Stanton. You really should focus more."

Before he could ask him why he hadn't told him that before he'd been caught, the bully yanked him forward, glaring down at him. "Alright Pines, you're not giving me the slip this time," he said angrily. "You and I are gonna have a chat about all the weird shit that keeps on happening around- GAH!"

Both Neville and Stanton were surprised when a hand reached out and grabbed Neville's wrist, gripping it tightly and causing him to wince in pain. Of all the people who they had expected to see cut in, first guess would have been Cayenne, or maybe even Renee. But neither one of them had expected to see Bianca.

"Put him down perdedor," she said, glaring at him.

"What the hell are you-?"

Bianca twisted his wrist again. "Eres sorda? I'm not asking twice," she said sternly.

"Ah! Fuck!" Neville let go and Stanton and pulled his wrist back, rubbing it in pain. "What the hell?!" How did a tiny little chick like this have such an ironclad grip on her? And more importantly, why was she stepping in to help him in the first place?

Stanton was… somewhat surprised to see Bianca. He had seen in her the halls and around the Vanguard base, but she hadn't been hovering over him like she had a few days ago. Or at least she wasn't being so obvious about it anyway. He would notice her staring sometimes and giving him these odd looks, but she hadn't confronted him again.

"Get lost," Bianca said, showing him off. "Unless you want me to call Cayenne and tell her you're picking on her baby cousin. Or I should call my dad and tell him you were bugging on me. He's got connections with some bad people you know. He could have your kneecaps broken with a snap." She snapped her own fingers for emphasis.

Neville looked down at her with a mix of confusion and shock. "I… what the hell? Why are weird shit and weird people always around you?" he asked, looking towards Stanton. "I'm gonna get answers out of you Pine. One way or another."

Bianca narrowed her eyes as he turned and left, and then turned towards Stanton. The boy flinched at her gaze, and then offered a small wave. "Hello… and thank you."

She huffed and crossed her arms. "You shouldn't let him pick on you, you know. He's only gonna keep coming back if you don't stand up for yourself," she said.

"I'm not good at fighting," Stanton said bluntly.

She sighed. "Whatever. If you don't do anything it's gonna get worse. You should at least be smart and not walk home on your own," she said. She then blushed and looked down. "If… if you want, even if it'd be annoying, I could walk with you. Just for today."

Stanton rubbed his chin. Having her with him might discourage Neville. But he didn't want to waste time stopping home before going to the junkyard. And if he took her straight there, she might get curious and want to stick around. "I think I'll be fine." Bianca felt a ping of annoyance at being shut down yet again, but honestly had already figured he would turn her down. "But maybe some other time. When I'm not that busy."

There was no telling when Neville would come after him again, and he wasn't always going to have Ezra and the others around. So it'd be nice to have another person to have to ward the bully off.

Bianca's eyes widened. "Oh… fine, sure, whatever," she said, turning and making her way off. It wasn't a yes, but it wasn't a no either… not that she cared either way!

Stanton watched her leave, and then began unchaining his bike. "She's odd…"

"With all due respect, I don't think you're in a position to judge."

"I wasn't judging. Just an observation."

"You're not as observant as you think…"

Unbeknownst to the young boy as he muttered to himself, a cloaked figure watched him from a distance. Close enough to keep him in sight, but far enough to be able to keep himself hidden from Arcana's senses. "That's him?" the figure muttered to themselves. "That's the wielder of the deck… pathetic."

They couldn't believe he was being sent to deal with this runt. There was no worth in testing him. They could tell with a glance that he wasn't worth the dirt of their boots.

But orders were orders, and they would follow them. If they wanted the loser to be tested, then test him they would…

The junkyard was empty, just as Stanton had hoped. There were a few dogs around guarding the place, but since he always kept a number of animal treats in his bag for situations like this, it wasn't all that hard to calm and win them over. He found an empty spot to test it out, and began pulling the cards out.

"Any idea what this power might be?" he asked.

"As I told you before, I have no idea how your version of the cards will manifest."

"Could you at least tell me what power the last user had?" he asked. Maybe it would give him some kind of clue as to what he could get. For a moment there was silence, and Stanton wondered if Arcana had been forbidden about talking about it. But then the spirit spoke.

"For the previous wielder, it allowed them to make things float. There is a chance something similar will manifest for you as well, but no guarantee. For some it has proven to be similar, while others are drastically different. I can do nothing but advise caution."

Stanton nodded. "Right. Thanks." If he was lucky it would at least be in the same ballpark and not be anything too destructive. He lifted the card up and got ready to call out his name, but Arcana spoke again.

"Stanton, be weary. Danger is near."

Before Stanton could ask him what he was talking about, a figure walked out from a nearby pile of scrap metal. Now, Stanton was not very good at reading people, so he tried not to jump to conclusions too quickly. But… when he saw the cloaked figure before him, something in his head told him he should be on guard.

"Don't bother trying activating the card now. You're frozen for the moment," the figure said. The voice sounded like a young male, and judging by their height he was probably around the same age as him. But every other feature was hidden.

The hood of his cloak covered his head, and Stanton could see just the barest hint of a white mask which he assumed covered his face. He wore long sleeves and pants, along with boots and gloves. Anything that he would have been able to identify him by was hidden. Everyday people didn't dress like this in his experience. This was not good.

"Stanton, I would suggest retreating. I can't tell what it is for sure, but there's an incredibly strong and nefarious aura around them."

Stanton began reaching for the Magician, but the figure chuckled and held his hand up. All of a sudden, Stanton's hand seemed frozen in place. "And just what do you think you're about to do?" they asked tauntingly. "You weren't trying to go and leave already were you? I just showed up and you're trying to ditch me. That's pretty rude."

Whatever unseen force that was holding his hand in place was ironclad, and Stanton couldn't even move a finger. "At least let me explain just what I have planned before you try to run off. You might actually think it's pretty fun."

"Who are you?" Stanton asked. "What do you want?"

The cloaked figure chuckled. "Who I am, I can't really answer. I sort of want to, but rules and all that. As for what I want… I want to hurry up and get this over with so I can get back home," he said, now sounding annoyed. "So just cooperate with me and make it easier on the both of us, yeah?"

Stanton stared at him for a bit. "I might, depending on what you want." Something told him this guy was trouble, but if he could bargain his way out of this he might as well try.

"Well, don't you have an open mind. Anyway, what I want is pretty simple. I'm going to attack you, and you just need to defend yourself," he said. Stanton's eyes widened. "I mean, that sounds pretty simple, right? Given that you look pretty weak, I don't imagine it'll take long. But do your best I guess."

"Wait a second..."

The figure snapped their fingers, and suddenly Stanton heard what sounded like scraping metal. He looked around him, and was shocked to see a number of items in the junkyard all begin floating up into the air around him. "I'll start on three. One…"

"Why are you doing this?" Stanton asked.

"...two…"

"Is this about the cards? Are you the old wielder?"

"...three."

The figure snapped their fingers, and all the rather heavy items that had been circling around him all began rushing in to crush him. Luckily, Stanton seemed to be able to move his hand now, and he quickly grabbed one of the cards. "The Magician!"

CRASH!

Stanton's heartbeat raced as he leaned against the wall of the alleyway he was not in. He was pretty sure he was a few blocks away from the junkyard, which would at the very least give him a little breathing room and a headstart. Had he been just half a second late using The Magician, he likely would have been crushed.

"Arcana, do you know who that is? Do you know what they want?"

"There is something familiar about that fellow, though I can't say for certain who he is. Nor do I understand what they want with you. But it's very clear they are dangerous. I advise you to keep using The Magician to flee until you either reach home or the Vanguard Base."

Before Stanton could respond, a voice spoke out. "Wow, you're a slippery one." Stanton looked over and felt his stomach drop as he saw the cloaked standing just a few feet away from him. "I thought for sure I would break a limb or two before you escaped."

Before he could react, the figure snapped their fingers, and suddenly Stanton was knocked off his feet and sent flying back. It was like some unseen force had crashed right into him. He hit the ground, immediately pushed himself back up and began running. He had no idea how he'd managed to cover the distance between them so quickly, but it didn't matter.

His fight or flight was kicking in, and very much telling him to go with the ladder. "Hey there, not a moment's hesitation in getting up. Not bad. But what are you running away for?" The figure once again appeared right beside Stanton, casually running alongside him. "I told you to defend yourself. Unless this is part of your strategy, you shouldn't be running. You're not still trying to ditch me, are you?"

Stanton turned around and broke off in the opposite direction, trying to shake him. But the figure once again teleported in front of him, cutting him off. "And now you're even giving me the cold shoulder. It's sort of pissing me off…" They raised their hand, presumably to blast Stanton like they had earlier.

But he pulled out another card. "The Emperor!" A barrier suddenly appeared around him, and the figure hummed curiously. So, just making a run for it wasn't going to work. But maybe if he shielded himself and kept using The Magician, he could-

"A barrier? Seriously? You're just going to try and shield yourself. You really do clam up when you're in a pinch, don't you?" The figure said dangerously. "I hate guys like you the most. No guts at all."

Once again, he vanished. And just a split second later, he appeared within Stanton's barrier. He brought his fist back and punched him right in the stomach. With far more force someone his age should have been able to punch with.

Stanton felt the blow ring through his entire body as the air was knocked from his chest. He fell to his knees, struggling to take in air as the masked figure stood over him.

"I'm not gonna say it again. Start showing me what you got, or else I'm seriously gonna kill you…"

A/N: Been a minute since I updated this one! But yeah, little hints of the plot are about to start kicking it! Feels good to be writing for the plain old Callyieverse again. Gonna have to wait a bit longer to see what the Lovers can do thanks to this new mystery kid? Who do you think it is? And who are they working for? Why does Stanton need to be tested? Keep reading to find out!

Hope you guys enjoyed!