I do not own Yugioh, as that's Konami's business. I do own my wonderful OC however!
EDIT: 7/20/21; Not to much editing for this one, thankfully.
"LEO!" Shouted out a silhouetted woman, one who was currently running towards Carmine and the kid in his arms, the silhouette of a man running after the women could also be seen.
After making it to the entrance of the tops, Carmine was first stopped by one of the guards who initially refused the two entrance. But after explaining the situation, and the fact that Leo lived here, he allowed them passage, where they found themselves walking down one of the hallways towards Leo's home and in this new situation.
"Mom, Dad!" Leo shouted out upon seeing the strangers, and then proceeded to jump out of the shopkeeper's hold and immediately run towards his parents.
His mom, having had a head start, was the first to embrace her son, falling to her knees while pulling him in. Leo's father arrived next, and soon he too was embracing both his wife and son. During the touching moment, Carmine had decided to awkwardly shuffle over, not entirely sure what to do at the moment.
Now that the light wasn't right on the parents backs, he could make out their appearance. The women had long dark blue hair, which freely cascaded over her back, while the father had styled up dark green hair, and both of them were also wearing a grey suit and tie, which seemed quite wrinkled and used.
"Oh Leo," Leo's mother told him while simultaneously pulling away, but still keeping her hold on him. "Where have you been? We've been so worried about you". Leo's mother demanded.
"I'm sorry mom, but I was trying to find help for Luna after she collapsed! But while I was looking for someone to help, some weirdo trapped me in an alley and tried to get me to hand over everything I had!"
"Oh Leo-" Leo's mother whispered, her face full of horror.
"No mom, it's ok, because you see I was saved by a superhero!" Leo said, while pointing at a very embarrassed Carmine.
"Ah… well you see- I mean…" Carmine stuttered out, obviously off put by the sudden attention.
"You should have seen him! He came out of nowhere, and was like, "Let him go!", and the weirdo was like, "Never, he's mine!", and then the superhero was like, "Then I challenge you to a duel!", and then the weirdo was like, "You'll never beat me!", and the Mr. Superhero and the weirdo dueled and and obviously the hero one because he's the hero and sent the weirdo running away in tears and it. Was. Awesome!". Leo Shouted out. In one breath. But the weirdest part? His parents were nodding along the entire time, like they actually understood what was just said.
"Is this true young man? Did you really save my son?" The Father asked, speaking for the first time since this little gathering.
"Ah, well, yes- I mean kinda, like if you made it out to be more realistic… and less hero worship…" The obvious embarrassment while also trying to remain modest was almost blinding, and if Carmines' red face was anything to go by, he knew that all too well.
"Just kill me and get it over with". Was the only thing he could bring himself to think at the moment. But much to Carmine's surprise, Leo's father just gave off a hearty laugh.
"Well then, you have my, and to an extent my wife's, gratitude for saving our son. I only wish I knew how to repay you for your actions". The last part was posed more as a question for me, than in general, but much to the fathers surprise, Carmine just simply shook his head negatively.
"There's no need for you to repay me, after all I didn't help out little Leo there because I expected a reward, just getting him back safely is reward enough". Carmine replied while wearing a modest smile in an attempt to to appease the man before him.
"Well, while I appreciate your modesty, I must insist that I reward you somehow-" But the father was interrupted when an elbow found its way into his ribs.
"Stop pestering the poor child Romeo. If he says he doesn't want anything right now, then he doesn't want anything right now". The mother said to the now named father of Leo, while removing her elbow from Romeo's gut.
"But Juliet..." Romeo replied weakly, a response that went unheard as the mother turned towards Carmine.
"Once again I thank you for rescuing our son Mr…" Juliet said before trailing off, having realized that the teen who had saved their son had yet to introduce himself yet. Carmine, having also realized this, suddenly straightened himself out.
"Ah, introductions are in order I believe." Carmine then threw his hand out to his side, while throwing part of his cloak to the side as well, before bringing his hand back over across his chest and taking a bow.
"My name is Carmine Fuhai of the Millennium Cards shop, it's a pleasure to meet your acquaintance". After coming up from his bow, Carmine saw that Leo's parents stood up from their position on the floor, and after a quick dust off they introduced themselves in kind.
"My name is Juliet Lockhart, and this here is my husband, Romeo Lockheart". Juliet introduced.
"It's a pleasure to meet you". Said Romeo while offering his hand, which Carmine took, both giving a hearty shake.
"Well then, Romeo, Juliet, Leo". Carmine addressed while noticing that Leo still had stars in his eyes, and was barely containing himself from doing only God knows what.
"I must be departing, as I have a store to run in the morning". Carmine finished, realizing that it was extremely late out at the moment.
"What! But why?" Leo suddenly asked, only to be scalded by his mother a moment later.
"He's obviously a busy man Leo, don't be rude". Leo's face fell a second later, obviously embarrassed about his comment, before it did a typical one-eighty.
"Maybe he can stay the night?" Leo asked his parents with a face full of hope, and to his ever increasing hope, they seemed to be considering it.
"I'm afraid I can't". And like that his hope was once again extinguished.
"But whyyyyy!" Leo shouted out.
"I'm afraid I have to get up quite early in order to open my shop, and unfortunately the tops aren't anywhere near my store, so I have to wake up even earlier than normal to get there on time… and I already miss enough sleep as it is." Carmine finished, the last part more as an afterthought than anything else.
"Aww…" Leo said while hanging his head in disappointment.
"Don't be too down kid, it's a small world out there so I'm sure we'll meet again". Carmine said in an attempt to cheer up Leo.
"Yeah!" Leo suddenly said, "You can bet on it!" He continued on, a new light entering his eyes.
"Come on Leo, let's head home". Leo's mom said, while gently steering Leo away.
"Hmm? Oh yeah, ok then, by Mr. Superhero!" Leo shouted while walking away from his family.
"I'm not a superhero!" Carmine shouted back, though they were gone by this point, disappearing among the many hallways that connected the tops.
"Superhero huh?" Carmine thought while making his journey back to his apartment.
"Can't say I don't entirely dislike the title though…" But he gave his head a quick shake at that thought.
"I'm far too busy to even consider the title, besides, I'm just a shopkeeper, nothing more, nothing less. And most certainly no superhero." And although he tried to convince himself otherwise, he still couldn't get the image of little Leo looking up to him and calling him a hero…
Silence.
Once again Carmine found himself behind the front desk of his shop, and once again he was met only with silence. It was a familiar silence of course, and one that had only been broken by the random and occasional customer. Nothing major shattered it, not since those two weeks ago, and he honestly hated it.
True, he almost lost everything right there and then, but at least it was something… different. Not the soundless store he loved and not the same routine he performed night and day, but something new and exciting.
Of course he knew he couldn't just abandoned his store and play hero to those in distress, it was unrealistic and stupid, and not only that but without his store he would very quickly run out of funds and go bankrupt, not a fun proposition for sure but still, it didn't stop him from daydreaming while he awaited for who ever came through his door next.
*DING*
"And speaking of the devil…" Carmine thought while quickly wiping the drool from his mouth.
"Greetings and welcome to millennium cards- Leo?" And indeed there he was, After all there was no mistaking that green ponytailed hair, nor those wide sparkling yellow eyes.
"Ha! I knew I'd find you Mr. Superhero! After all, the magnificent Leo never breaks a promise!" He shouted out while pointing to himself with his thumb.
"Leo, what on earth are you doing here- no, how did you even find me… and I'm not a superhero!" Carmine asked, looking deeply confused.
"Well you see, it all started last week when I told my friend Dexter about what happened right? But you see, he didn't believe me and said I was lying, which I wasn't! So then we got into a big argument and eventually Dexter told me that he wouldn't believe me unless I showed him the superhero that saved me, and I was going too to! But then I realized that I didn't know where you lived or where to find you which really made me sad, but then I remembered that you said you owed a shop called Million Cards-"
"Millennium" I corrected.
"Whatever" Leo ignored. "Anyways, I then tried looking everywhere for it, but couldn't find it no matter what I did, so I then asked Dexter, my friend, to help me out and he agreed in exchange that I get him a rare card, and then today he managed to find you and now we're here, which means!" Leo then spun around, and pointed to another kid I had somehow missed behind Leo, a mousy little child with short brown hair and glasses, who was also wearing an academy uniform of some kind just like Leo, and was currently looking with stars in his eyes at one of the shelves next to the entrance.
"You owe me an apology Dexter!" Dexter, after looking away from whatever card had caught his fancy, proceeded to give Leo an annoyed look.
"Fine Leo, I'll admit that you were right and I was wrong". Dexter begrudgingly gave.
"And…". Leo continued while crossing his arms while wearing an extremely triumphant look.
"And that you are the greatest duelist to ever duel and that I am unworthy to be in your presence… my Lord" While the words were said with a straight face, the look in Dexter's eyes practically screamed murder.
"Ah, to be young...er" I thought with a smile. But then Dexter's mood did a quick one-eighty.
"And you owe me a rare card" Dexter reminded Leo, whose face fell at that little reminder.
"Well" Carmine spoke, catching the kids' attention. "If it's a rare card you're looking for, then look no farther cause you'll find nothing greater! My store houses possibly one of the greatest collections of rare cards the world has ever seen!" Carmine finished with a flourish of his cape.
"Whether what I just said is true or not is beyond me, but it's not like they can prove me wrong, besides its great PR!"
"Normally I'd be skeptical of such claims". Dexter said while he and Leo started looking around the store.
"But in this case I might just have to agree with your statement". Dexter finished while looking over a certain card.
"Of course he's telling the truth, Dex, he's a superhero after all, and everyone knows that superhero's can't lie." Leo said while also looking over some cards.
"Man" Leo said after a couple of minutes had gone by, "These cards are so cool! How are you not more, I don't know, popular?" Leo said while turning my direction.
"I must admit, I'm in agreement with Leo on this one, why is it so hard to find this place, I mean it took me over a week to nail this place down" Dexter finished while also turning my way.
"Trust me kids" I said, unable to stop my eye from twitching. "I know full well how hard it can be to find this place".
"It's not my fault this building doesn't officially exist in the city's database, nor the fact that I can't afford to put it in it… or the fact that I can't afford to create a website… I hate being broke" Carmine thought while shedding silent tears.
"Huh, well if you're aware of it then I guess-" Dexter began, but was cut off when the store's bell rang.
*DING*
"Oh, hello there and-" Carmine began his greeting but stopped when he saw who it was.
"What, cat got your tongue?" smugly grinned the man who had tried to mug Leo and Carmine.
"What are you doing here?" Carmine asked, while trying to keep his emotions under control, something that Leo was incapable of it seemed.
"Dexter, it's the weirdo, the one that tried to mug me!" Leo called out, grabbing the man's attention.
"Well well, if it isn't the brat, I remember you, we still have unfinished business you and I" The man said while giving Leo an evil grin, causing Leo and Dexter to take several steps back in fear, but were surprised when a figure suddenly stood in front of them.
"Carmine..." Leo whispered as Carmine stood in front of them, an action that only brought a smile to the man's face.
"How cute, well Mr. Carmine, it was Carmine right?" The man asked, but only got a glare in response.
"Touchy touchy, well then "Carmine", I was actually just wandering the streets with my posy when I saw the kid enter this store, and decided to introduce you to the gang".
"Oh no." Carmine thought with no small amount of fear. And just like the man said, a small gang of six entered the store, though out of all of them here only one stood out the most. He was tall, muscular, wearing your typical street outfit, and most importantly had a yellow mark under his eye, just like all the other members of this gang. His green eye trailed over me, before giving a snort of disapproval.
"So this is the kid who beat you huh? Doesn't look like much to me… but then again neither do you". The Leader said in a deep voice, and what else could he be but the leader, while addressing our attacker at the end, which elected a laugh of the other members at the man's expense, who in turn gave them all a death glare.
"Oh I'll show you all, just let me at him and I promise I'll win for sure boss!" The man asked his leader.
"No" And like that he was struck down without a second thought.
"You had your chance Logan, and you wasted it". He said to his subordinate, before tuning back to address the non-members in the building.
"Normally I couldn't care less if one of these fools messed up and lost a duel, but you see words been spreading on the street about Logan's defeat, and as a gang of some renown around these parts we have a reputation to uphold, so you see I can't let it be known that some nobody defeated one of our members, or other gangs might start getting the wrong idea". The man finished, while eyeing Carmine expectantly. Something He caught on to very quickly.
"So you want to duel me, is that what I'm getting at?" Carmine asked, a small spark of hope igniting.
"Of course, I'm glad you can use that noggin of yours at least, means this duel might be promising".
"A promise of defeat that is." One of the goons suddenly said, electing a laugh from the rest, though not the leader.
"And if I refuse?" Carmine asked, already guessing the answer.
"Hm" The leader said while eyeing the store around him for the first time.
"You have quite the collection here, it would truly be a shame if something… tragic was to happen, wouldn't it." The leader finished while holding out his hand.
"Wait Carmine, You can't!" Leo suddenly shouted while stepping in front of me, his hands folded together in an attempt to plea.
"These guys look really dangerous, what if you get hurt! Please don't duel him." Leo begged, and it was obvious that tears were starting to form. But Leo was unprepared for what happened next. Carmine, understanding Leo's distress, took a knee in order to look Leo in the eye.
"I have no choice Leo." Carmine replied simply.
"But-" Leo began, only for Carmine to interrupt him.
"Leo, this shop is all I have you see. To me, shop IS my life, and I would do anything to protect it. Do you know that feeling Leo? Of having something you hold so dear, that you would risk everything to protect it?" And this time, Leo did begin to cry.
"Y-yeah. I d-d-do". Leo said through barely managed tears.
"Then remain strong, it'll be hard to focus if you're crying the whole time, ok?" Carmine said while giving Leo his biggest smile, which was quite hard considering the circumstances.
"Yeah *sniff* I'll try my best".
"Good Lad, and don't worry. Since when does the superhero lose huh?" Carmine finished while giving Leo a quick pat on the head.
"Now then" Carmine said, this time addressing the gang members, who were all snickering and pointing to Leo. Their leader, who hasn't even moved an inch, was still waiting patiently for a response..
"If I win, you or your associates will never show your face around here or around me and the kids again, agreed?"
"Agreed" The leader didn't even think for a moment about the proposal, just simply accepted the agreement and shook.
"There's a spot open for us down the road, be there in ten minutes or else."
"I'll be there." I responded, and then they were gone, heading down the road to where I assumed the location was.
"Carmine…" Leo whispered out again.
"Well" Carmine said before turning back and addressing the kids.
"It seems I have a duel to prepare for." Carmine said, "And I think it's time you both went home as well". He finished.
"What! No way!" Leo screamed out.
"Leo-"
"But Leo nothing! If it wasn't for me, those guys wouldn't have ever found you! And now it's my fault that your store in danger, so now I'm going to help you anyway I can, get it?" Leo finished, a strong conviction in his eyes, one that Carmine recognized instantly.
"He's feeling guilty that I'm in this situation, and in doing so blames himself for the outcome. And now he believes that he has to stay and see this through."
"And you Dexter?" Carmine asked Leo's friend.
"Ah, well initially I was thinking of leaving as soon as I could, but now I'm interested to see you duel. Plus I can't just leave Leo alone, I mean he wouldn't be able to find his way out of a paper bag without my help." Dexter finished with a smug smile.
"Yeah, what Dexter said- wait, what! That's not true at all!" Leo shouted and began to chase Dexter around the shop.
"Kids. The most bipolar creatures in the world."
"Alright then". Carmine said, snagging back the attention of the two running kids, while simultaneously walking over to the coat hanger next to the door.
"It's time to duel!" Carmine shouted while flourishing his cloak, top hat secured on his head.
"So, you came." Said the leader of the gang, while said gang was hanging around the large dueling court.
"Like I had a choice." Carmine responded while holding out his duel disk, Leo and Dexter right behind him.
"Fair enough." The Leader responded with a smile while holding his own duel disk up.
"LETS DUEL" Both Carmine and the leader shouted at once, their life points automatically setting themselves to 4000.
"As I'm the reason this little gathering is happening at all, I'll take the first turn!" The leader shouted while drawing his card.
"First, I'll set one monster card face down." And like he said, the backside of a card was shown on the field.
"Then, I'll set another card face down and end my turn." And then another card materialized, this time behind the first one.
"Don't worry boss, you've got this in the bag!" One of the gang members shouted.
"Yeah, crush him boss!" shouted out another. Leo, tired of all these guys shouting, decided to do some of his own.
"Come on Carmine! Kick his butt!"
"My turn!" Carmine shouted, appreciating Leo's enthusiasm.
"First, I'll start by playing one card face down." And just like the gang leader's side, a card suddenly appeared in Carmine's backrow.
"Then, I'll play the field spell known as Fusion Recycling Plant!" And the moment the card was inserted into the field spell slot, a junkyard appeared out of nowhere behind Carmine, and quickly spread out to the rest of the field.
"What's going on?" The leader Said, surprise flashing across his features.
"This here is my Fusion Recycling Plant field spell, it allows me to discard one card from my hand, then I can draw one Polymerization card from my deck and add it to my hand". Carmine then sent a card to his graveyard, before a single card pooped itself out of the deck, which Carmine grabbed and placed into his hand.
"Then, I summon Gamma, The Electromagnet Warrior, in defense mode!" All of sudden, many of the parts from the junkyard surrounding them came to life, and started flying towards a single spot on the field, until at last, when the last part connected to reveal a very large and bulky metal humanoid with a magnet wrapped partially around his head.
"No way, 2000 defense?" one of the gang members said.
"Yeah! Way to go, Carmine!" Leo shouted out
"And with that i'll end my turn."
"Then it's my go!" shouted the leader while he pulled his card.
"First, I'll start by summoning Wrecker Panda in attack mode". But what came out of the quick burst of light was most assuredly not a panda, but a raccoon with a crane on its back, holding a small box with a rabbit inside.
"Doesn't look like much of a panda to me…" Dexter spoke, saying what everyone else was thinking.
"Next, I reveal my face down card, come forth, Hane-Hane!" And then the face down creature card turned into some kind of floating Indian styled mask, with two floating hands each holding onto a scythe.
"Then, I activate Hane-Hane special ability! When Hane-Hane his flip-summoned, he can return one creature on the field to its owner's hand". As he explained, the monster then suddenly started flying towards Carmine's monster.
"Wait, what! But that means Carmine wont have monsters to protect him!" Leo shouted out in worry.
"Ya boss! You've got him right where you want him!" the goons shouted out again.
"Not so fast, I activate Gamma The Electromagnet Warrior's special ability!" Carmine shouted, and just as Hane-Hane was about to attack, Gamma The Electromagnet Warrior suddenly split into hundreds of floating parts.
"Now what." The leader expressed.
"Once per turn, during my opponent's turn I can tribute my Gamma, The Electromagnet Warrior, to special summon one level 4 "Magnet Warrior" from my deck." A card popped out Carmines deck, which he proceeded to instantly place on his disk.
"Come on out, Delta The Magnet Warrior!" And once more pieces around the junkyard assembled themselves to form another metal humanoid, this one smaller than the other, though it did still have a magnet around its head, as well as magnets coming out of its knuckles.
"Not only does the summoning of this new monster negate your monster's ability." And indeed the Hane-Hane proceeded to fly back towards its place on the leader's field now that its original target no longer existed.
"But I can also use Delta The Magnet Warrior ability as well, which allows me to send 1 level 4 or lower "Magnet Warrior" monster from your deck to the graveyard." Which Carmine proceeded to do.
"What, you think me finished?" The leader said menacingly.
"I've only just begun to fight!" He suddenly shouted
"First, I activate Wrecker Panda's special ability! By paying 500 of my life points I can send the top card of my library to my graveyard, and if it's a monster card, then Wrecker Panda gains attack equal to 200 times the monster level!" He then quickly drew his card, before shouting triumphantly.
"A level four monster!" and then Wrecker Panda suddenly gained an extra 800 attack points upon the creature going to the grave.
"But that only makes our monsters even". Carmine pointed out, seeing as both creatures had 1600 attack points.
"Not for long. I then reveal my face down card, Beast Rising! You see by removing from play my Hane-Hane'', which proceeded to suddenly explode into light, "I can have my Wrecker Panda gain attack equal to my Hane-Hane's!" The Wrecker Panda's attack then increased to 2050.
"Now my Wrecker Panda, attack his Delta The Magnet Warrior!" The ferret then suddenly lunged towards Carmines monster.
"Carmine!" Leo shouted as the ferret dodged the magnet man's punch, before tail whipping the monster in the head and causing it to explode into particles.
"Are you finished yet?" Carmine asked.
"Huh, still willing to fight huh? You've got guts kids, I'll give you that much. I'll throw one card face down and end my turn".
"Then it's my go, I draw!" And much to everyone's surprise, Carmine's eyes widened, followed closely by a wide triumphant smile.
"Carmine?" Leo asked, confusion etched into his face.
"Alright gang leader what's your face-"
"Kevin" Kevin responded, also looking confused. He had the advantage after all, so why was he smiling?
"Kevin then, are you ready to lose this duel? Cause I'm not holding back!" Carmine stated.
"Are you insane kid? I've got the creature and a health advantage, while you have nothing! How could you possibly be this confident?"
"Because of this!" Carmine shouted while playing down a single card.
"I summon Alpha The Electromagnet Warrior!" And just like before the junk scattered around the junkyard seemingly pulled itself together to form another metal humidor, this one armed with a shield and a double sided staff with a half circle at its center, a grip in between.
"You see, when Alpha The Electromagnet Warrior is summoned, I can add 1 level 8 "Magna Warrior" monster from my deck to my hand".
"A level 8 monster? Uh oh, that doesn't sound good". One of the goons uttered out.
"Fools, he needs two tributes for a level eight, plus he's already used his normal summon for the turn". The leader explained, though there was some small amount of hesitation in his words.
"And normally you'd be right, however, you forgot one thing".
"And that would be…" The leader said, already not liking what was coming.
"This!" Carmine said while playing a single card.
"I activate the spell card known as Polymerization! And with it I will now fuse together two monsters from my hand, Berserkion the Electromagna Warrior, and Valkyrion the Magna Warrior!" And in a flash of light, two monsters appeared, one looking like The Alpha monster currently on the field, but more bulky and armored, while the other could be compared to a winged robotic warrior with a wicked sword.
"Now my two mighty monsters, combine your strengths into ONE!" And as Carmine spoke, both of the monsters seemingly dismantled themselves, before the pieces began to reassemble themselves into a single monster.
"Come forth, Imperion Magnum the Superconductive Battlebot!" And as Carmine finished the introductions, the Monster was fully formed only reveal a massive centaur like creature made completely of metal, armed with the sword from the earlier, while the double sided staff of the other had folded itself to form a massive U, or in this case a cannon mounted on the creatures shoulder.
"No way, 4000 attack?" One of the goons said, while taking several steps back from the behemoth.
"No way"
"Impossible!"
"That can't be!" These and several more were uttered by the goons around the field.
"Woah!" Came the reply of the only one behind Carmine, Leo's and Dexter's mouths gaping open like fish, eyes sparklingly at the scene before them.
"It's over" The leader finally said, eyes full of defeat.
"It's over". Carmine agreed.
"Now then Alpha The Electromagnet Warrior, attack his Wrecker Panda!" Alpha then brought his spear up before throwing it out like a javelin, which seemed to guide itself to its target before spearing the ferret all the way through.
"And because your Wrecker Panda's effect only lasts one turn, as well as your Beast Rising's effect, your Panda's attack is only 800!" which was proven true when Keven's life points dropped to 3100.
"And now Imperion Magnum the Superconductive Battlebot, end this with a mag-molecular slash!" The Centaur machine then raised its sword up, and watched as the entire junkyard started tearing itself apart, the polarity of the area being annihilated in preparation for this attack, and when it brought it sword down, the world gladly split itself, the magnet properties of the sword severing the the courtyard in two".
"AHHH!" Kevin shouted as the attack blasted him backwards, his life points draining down to zero. But only when the junkyard disappeared, followed by the damage done to the courtyard and finally the monsters themselves, did Carmine breathe a sigh of relief. He had done it. He had one.
"THAT WAS AMAZING!" Leo screamed out while running towards Carmine, Dexter hot on his heels.
"Thanks Leo" Came the simple reply of one drained Carmine, who was now ready to take a nap.
"Indeed, I must say I've never seen something like that before. And neither have they if there reaction is to go by". Dexter said cryptically.
"You mean the gang?" Carmine questioned, slightly confused.
"Oh, well they look surprised, but who I really meant was them". Dexter said while pointing. Carmine, who had been so focused on the duel that he had not once even considered looking around him, finally noticed the crowd of bystanders that had stopped to watch the duel, and were now talking to each other excitedly while pointing in his direction, some even taking pictures or video.
"Where did they come from!?" Carmine asked Leo, hoping to learn why a crowd had gathered.
"What do you mean? Everyone loves a good duel, and that, Mr. Superhero, was the greatest duel I've ever seen!" Leo squealed out like a little girl. But before further comments could be made, they were interrupted from behind.
"So, I lost". It was Kevin, having recovered from the duels aftermath.
"Yeah, which means…" Carmine stated, hoping that Kevin would understand what he was asking.
"Which means me and my friends will be leaving". Kevin finished before turning and walking away towards a nearby ally.
"Come on guys, let's get out of here". Kevin said to his mates as he walked past him, all of them silently obeying and quietly following along.
"And good riddance" Carmine thought, glad to be rid of them.
"What a weirdo" Leo said, earning a nod of agreement from Dexter and Carmine respectfully.
"Uhm, excuse me?" And like that a new voice spoke up behind Carmine and the kids, pulling them towards it to reveal a girl about Carmine's age, long black hair hat and trifocal glasses covered her face, her outfit consisting of a blue and white striped shirt which is covered by an orange vest.
"Ah, uh, hello there… can I help you?" Carmine asked the girl, unsure of what to do in this situation.
"Ah yes, well, you see my name is Carly Carmine, and I'm a reporter and I was wondering if I could get your picture for my blog I'm starting up.".
"Blog?" Carmine asked, obviously unsure and perhaps a little uncomfortable.
"That's right, you see I recently started it up, but haven't really had too many hits on it recently and so I've been looking for something big! Or at least something bigger than normal".
"And you think I'm big?"
"Well of course, that was some grade A dueling right there, let alone that ending which was both literally and metaphorically explosive. You'd be a huge hit!" She then looked at him expectantly.
"Umm, I'm really not so sure that-"
"What are you doing!" Leo then shouted out to Carmine, catching him off guard with the comment.
"What do you mean?" Carmine asked, extremely confused.
"What do you mean? What do I mean? This is your big moment, your final reveal to the world, and you want to waste it? That's so stupid! You have a chance to make your big debut and you're going to push it off?"
"I'm not a superhero Leo" Carmine repeated once more, only for Leo to give him a knowing look.
"Says the guy who saved me twice in the last two weeks".
"..."
"..."
"Touché" Carmine responded before turning back to a confused looking Carly.
"Alright Carly, I accept, and not because I'm a superhero" The last part being directed to Leo, who only stuck his tongue out in response.
"I just have one request beforehand".
"Oh um, sure, I guess, what would that be by the way?" Carly asked, not really expecting the question".
"Oh, it's really quite simple you see, nothing too complicated". Carmine finished before cracking his knuckles.
"Time for some free advertising". Carmine thought triumphantly, before another thought struck his head, or more a feeling and less a thought.
"I've got a strange feeling that things are about to get even busier than normal, and I don't mean through the free advertising, but something… nah, probably just my imagination. Carmine reasoned, before stuffing away the thought to focus on the camera in front of him.
Well hello again guys… I'm tired… I'm going to bed. Just a quick note before I do so; however, if you guys see a bolded word or sentence during the reading, it's a card name. Now, while I will try to give some kind of accurate description, I would recommend quickly looking up an image so you know what I'm really talking about. Other than that if you have any questions, or just want to let me know how much you enjoy the story, or anything else that doesn't match the mentioned criteria, send me a review or PM me, and I'll respond as soon as I see the message! Other than that, Have a good rest of your day. Peace.