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Fanfic Chapter 65: Parasite Paracide Pt 1: Bugs & Thugs
Episode Basis: Playing with a Parasite Pt 1

Previously on Yu-Gi-Oh! Harold brought out his most powerful monster, Wingweaver, a fairy-type monster with over 2700 attack points. But even Wingweaver wasn't a match for the combined power of Yugi's Dark Magicians. While Yugi was sympathetic towards Harold (more so than Tristan), he was dead set on continuing in the tournament. Despite losing, Kaiba allowed Harold to participate in the tournament thinking it would be amusing to see Yugi and Harold duel again. We all know Kaiba's going to eat those words.


The second day of the tournament started with not as much fanfare as the first day. This was partly because a lot of participants were eliminated. But there was one player that was added: Harold Kumara, now dressed in an red short sleeved unbuttoned collared shirt over a white tank top and blue jeans with a black slide buckle belt and sneakers.

Okay, I need to get six of these locator cards, Harold figured. The problem is that most of the players already have head start so I'll need to move fast.


Tea and Tristan arrived at the Game Shop. Solomon was, as usual, sweeping.

"Good morning, Mister Moto," Tea greeted. "Is Yugi home?"

"Hello, Tea, Tristan, I'm sorry but Yugi already left for the tournament."

"What?" Tea cried, disappointed. She furiously turned to Tristan. "This wouldn't have happened if you didn't spend so much time on the phone with Serenity!"

"Hey, can I help it if she finds my voice so attractive?"

"You won't be able to help it when my fist gets in your mouth if I don't get to see Yugi duel. Now I'll have to search the entire city again."

"Calm down, Tea," Solomon said. "Let's all go find him."

"Good idea," Tristan said.


Yugi, at that moment, was meeting up with Joey and Mai in the center square.

"Check it out, guys," Joey said displaying his locator cards. "Two locator cards!"

"You sure are taking your sweet time," Mai said displaying four locator cards. Yugi displayed his three: the initial card he got, the one he got from the Exodia-using Rare Hunter and the one he got from Arkana.

"Aww, you're kidding me," Joey groaned. "I'll never make it to the finals at this rate."

"Don't worry, Joey, there's still plenty of time left before the finals," Yugi assured him. "And I'm sure there are still plenty of opponents left."

"Tell you what, Joseph," Mai said. "If I get my six locator cards early, I'll come help you out."

"Uh… thanks, Mai," Joey said. He then turned to Yugi. "Hey Yug, did I hear things wrong or did Harold try to axe you from the tournament?"

"No, you heard right, Joey, Harold was afraid for my life so he tried to get to me before something bad happened, the same way Mokuba tried to eliminate me from Duelist Kingdom so he could save his brother's company. I know Harold was only looking out for my safety, but he didn't realize how important this tournament is to me."

"Don't be too hard on the kid, Yugi, I'm sure he doesn't hate you for it," Mai assured him.

"Try telling that to Tristan," Joey commented. "Serenity told me that he was griping about how Harold betrayed them and he used some terms that not even I would use."

"Ouch, that's harsh," Mai said.

"I tried calling him last night," Yugi said. "But he wouldn't answer his phone. I think he was too ashamed to talk to anybody."

"Well, I'll go see if I can find him," Joey said. "Maybe I can cheer him up. Smell 'ya later."

"See you later," Yugi and Mai called as the three split up.

As Joey walked down the street looking for Harold, a voice called out, "It's you!" Joey turned and saw a little boy running up to him. "You were the runner-up at Duelist Kingdom! Joey, right?"

"Yeah, that's me."

"Could I have your autograph?" The kid asked.

"For you, kid, sure."

"Actually, it's not for me, it's for my big sister. She has a big crush on you."

Score! Joey mentally shouted. The kid handed Joey a notebook and pen. While, Joey signed a brief message, the kid kept glancing down at Joey's Duel Disk.

"Wow, a real Duel Disk," the kid said in awe. He looked up at Joey with puppy dog eyes. "Can I try it on, just once? It's just that only Battle City contestants get Duel Disks and I wasn't invited."

Joey empathized with the kid, he technically wasn't invited either. "Well… all right, anything for a fan." He took off his Duel Disk and handed it to the kid. A large monitor was displaying the Duelists and their current standings. No surprise, Yugi and Kaiba were towards the top followed by Mai and somebody named Katy. He didn't see his name, which was a surprise. It was like Kaiba didn't even know he was participating. Joey heard footsteps scampering away. He turned and saw the kid making off with his Duel Disk. "Hey, come back here! Lousy runt, I bet he doesn't even have a sister." Joey ran off after him. "Come back here, you thief!" Joey cried. "Hey, somebody stop him!"

At that moment, Tea, Tristan, and Yugi's Grandpa were crossing a footbridge when they saw the chase. "Whoever that kid is, it looks like he's making off with Joey's Duel Disk," Tea observed.

"Not if I have anything to say about it." Tristan jumped down right in front of the kid. "Hey kid, didn't your mother ever tell you it's not nice to steal?"

Joey caught up to them and caught his breath as well. "Thanks, Tristan," he said.

"I'm sorry I stole your Duel Disk," the kid apologized as he returned Joey's Duel Disk. "I just wanted the deck because mine was stolen."

"What's this world coming to when people are forced to resort to stealing cards?" Tristan cracked.

"Who was this person who stole your deck?" Solomon asked.

"Well, he had bugged eyes and a head like a blue beetle."

Joey, Tea, and Tristan tried to imagine the boy's description and came to the same conclusion: "Weevil Underwood."

"Looks like that gnat is up to his old tricks again," Tristan said.

"Don't worry, kid, we'll squash that bug brain for you."

"I heard him talking about heading for the park."

"Let's go, guys." As Solomon and the kids ran off, the boy smiled evilly and ran off in a different direction.


The kid ran down the alleyway, looking back twice. He thought he was alone so he jumped when someone stepped from his shadows. But it was who he was waiting for: Weevil Underwood. "I did what you said," the kid said. "Joey Wheeler's on his way to the spot right now. Now how about showing me that rare insect card you promised?"

"Of course," Weevil said holding out a Duel Monster card. "Being an insect master, I have tons of insect cards."

The kid took the card and looked at it hopefully. His hopes were dashed. "Hey, this isn't rare at all, it's a normal insect card, what…" Weevil squirted him with a slime gun and ran off laughing.

"Everything is all set," Weevil said to himself. "Now, Joey Wheeler has fallen into my trap!" He recalled the last time he saw the guy.


"Don't waste your breath on this slug, Yug," Joey said getting in Weevil's face. "He's a dueling disgrace."

I'll show him who's a dueling disgrace, Weevil thought.


Being blinded has given Serenity the opportunity to focus her other senses including her hearing. So when the door creaked, she could hear it as plain as someone who was in the room.

Seconds later, a nurse poked her head in. "Serenity, did you hear anyone come inside?"

"No, why?" Serenity asked.

"Oh, there's a little boy named Kenta who's supposed to have his tonsils removed today, but he just seems too scared."

"Poor kid," Serenity empathized. The nurse left. As soon as her foot steps faded, Serenity said, "Its okay, you can come out, I won't hurt you."

A little boy stuck his head out. "How did you know I was here?"

"I could hear you breathing," Serenity explained.

"Well… thanks for covering me."

"Say… could you do me a favor? Could you check the Battle City web site and see how my brother's doing."

Kenta decided that for covering him, it was the least he could do. "Sure."


"Well, here's the park, now where is that snake?" Tristan wondered as he, Joey, Tea, and Yugi's Grandpa arrived at the said destination.

"I'm not a snake, I'm an insect," Weevil protested revealing himself.

"There you are, you little pipsqueak," Tristan said enraged. "You'll pay for taking that kid's deck."

"I'd like to see you try, you big gorilla," Weevil came back.

"Wait, Tristan," Joey said solemnly. "The only way this kid will learn his lesson is through a duel, and I'm just the guy to teach it to him. Weevil, I challenge you to a duel!"

"Just what I wanted to hear," Weevil said donning his Duel Disk. "Eject holo-emitters!"

"Duel Tray transform!"

"Scan deck!"

"Life points set."

(J: 4000)
(W: 4000)

"Lets up the ante a little," Weevil suggested. "We'll each wager all the locator cards we have. For me, that's two locator cards."

"I've got two locator cards also," Joey said. "Fine, we'll make this all or nothing!"

"Joey, be careful," Tea warned.

"Are you nuts, man? You could be eliminated from this tournament."

"I'm not worried," Joey said. "Yugi already squashed this little rodent and now it's my turn to do the same!"

Weevil scowled. "The least that you can do is call me by an insect name. Let's duel!"

"Right, I'll start things off by summoning my Swordsman of Landstar in attack mode! And I'll place one card face-down and that's it."

"Then I'll summon Flying Kamakiri #1 (1) in attack mode! Flying Kamakiri will make quick work of your Swordsman, attack!"

"Wait a second," Joey said. "Take a look at this…" he activated his face-down card. "It's my Shield and Sword magic card, it swaps the attack and defense points of our monsters."

(SL: 500-1200, 1200-500)
(FK1: 1400-1000, 1000-1400)

The Swordsman of Landstar sliced through the insect.

(J: 4000)
(W: 3800)

"Nice shot, but when Flying Kamakiri #1 is destroyed, its special ability lets me summon the more vicious Flying Kamakiri #2 (2)!" A larger insect appeared.


"You said your brother's name was Joey, right?" Kenta checked.

"That's right, Joey Wheeler."

Kenta finally brought up Joey's profile. "Let's see… oh no, he's dueling the National Champion!"

"I'm not worried," Serenity assured him. "My brother came in second at Duelist Kingdom. I know he'll win."

But Kenta wasn't so sure.


"My move, wormy," Joey said drawing a card. It's Jinzo, the card I won from Espa Roba! This could knock down his life points a few notches. "I sacrifice my Swordsman of Landstar so I can bring Jinzo to the field. Jinzo, attack his bug with Cyber Energy Shock!" Jinzo's attack brought Weevil down 1000 life points.

(J: 4000)
(W: 2800)

"Oh no," Weevil cried. "I didn't realize you had such a powerful monster at your disposal. I guess I'll just have to set a monster in defense mode."

"This'll be a piece of cake, Jinzo, attack!" Jinzo blasted the card but it wasn't destroyed, instead a strange wormy thing came out and wrapped itself around Jinzo. "What the heck is that?"

"That is Kiseitai (3), a parasite that attaches itself to whatever monster attacks it. It then takes half of the monster's attack points and adds it to my life points. In case you're too stupid, to figure it out, that means that during every one of your turns, I gain 1200 life points!"

"Oh man, Joey walked right into that one," Tristan commented.

"Now I'll set another monster in defense mode and that's it. And since it's now your turn, I gain another 1200 life points."

(J: 4000)
(W: 4000)

"Jinzo may have a leech on him, but he can still attack." Jinzo attacked Weevil's face-down card. It was destroyed.

(J: 4000)
(W: 4500)

"Hold on, is it my imagination, or did your life points just go up again?"

"That's because you attacked my Skull-Marked Ladybug (4). When it's destroyed, I gain 500 life points."

This isn't good, attacking could only end up helping Weevil.

"I set another monster in defense mode. And since it's your turn now, more life points, please." Weevil cackled as his life points went up again.

(J: 4000)
(W: 5700)


"Weevil's life points just increased again," Kenta reported. "It looks like he's in serious trouble."

"My brother's been in tough situations before, but he's always managed to come through."

"Maybe…" Kenta muttered.


"I summon Panther Warrior in attack mode," Joey called out. "Panther Warrior can't attack unless I sacrifice a monster, so I'll choose to sacrifice my Jinzo." As a result, Kiseitai was destroyed.

"Good, now Weevil can't raise his life points any more," Solomon said.

"Panther Warrior, attack his face-down card now." Panther Warrior sliced Weevil's face-down card.

Weevil let out a little chuckle. "It's time to get serious."

"You mean you weren't serious before?"

"Correct, I play Larvae Moth (5) in defense mode." A little green worm appeared.

"It's the card he used against Yugi," Joey realized.

"I'm glad your insect-size brain can remember things, Wheeler," Weevil said. "So you know what comes next. I play Cocoon of Evolution (6)." The Larvae Moth was encased in a flesh-colored cocoon. "Over the next five turns, it will evolve to its ultimate stage! It's all over for you, Wheeler!"


"If your brother's as good as you say he is, now is the time for him to prove it," Kenta commented.

"I think it's only fair to warn you," Weevil told Joey. "That you have a parasite in your deck."

"Huh? What are you talking about, I don't have any insect cards," Joey argued.

"You think so? I play the magic card Reckless Parasite which brings the Parasite Paracide (7) in your deck to life. Joey gasped as a card with green tentacles coming out of it appeared. The tentacles latched onto Panther Warrior by going directly through its back.

"Joey, why did you include that card?" Tristan asked.

"I didn't," Joey protested. "I've never seen that card before, unless… that kid must've been working for Weevil! He probably snuck it into my deck when I wasn't looking."

"A great Duelist prepares for a duel long before the duel begins," Weevil said.

"That's cheating!" Tea complained.

"It's not my fault Joey didn't check his deck before the duel began. Now to finish my turn, I place one card face-down."

"My Panther Warrior may be infected, but he can still attack."

"No he can't. Any monster you summon will become infected by the parasite and infected monsters can't be sacrificed. And since all my monsters are in defense mode, you can't affect my life points."

"You wanna bet? I summon Little-Winguard (8) in attack mode!"

"Are you brain dead?" Weevil asked. "You can't attack my monsters."

"Not even your cocoon, which has 0 attack points? Little-Winguard, attack his cocoon!"

"Oh no, I forgot to switch my cocoon into defense mode… or so you think. I activate my face-down card Insect Barrier. Insect Barrier protects me from being attacked by all insect monsters. And since Parasite Paracide turns all your monsters into insect monsters, that means you can't touch me!" The tiny blue-caped warrior was repelled and turned into an insect.

"Hang in there, Joey," Tristan called.

"Insect monsters can be very tricky," Solomon commented. "If Joey plays his cards right, he can use Weevil's own trick against him."

"Are you senile?" Weevil asked. "His monsters are infected and in four turns, my ultimate moth will emerge and crush Joey once and for all!"


"How's Joey doing?" Serenity asked.

"Well, his monsters are infected with a parasite and his ultimate moth will emerge in four turns. It'll take a miracle for him to win."

"Come on," Serenity urged.


"My move, and I summon Leghul (9) in attack mode! Leghul, sic him!" Leghul dashed forward and bit down on Joey's leg.

(J: 3700)
(W: 5700)

"Hey, I still have monsters on the field!"

"Leghul can bypass your monsters and attack your life points directly."

Joey grunted. "I switch my monsters into defense mode."

"That's pretty much all you can do. Leghul, attack his life points directly!" Once again, Leghul attacked.

(J: 3400)
(W: 5700)

Joey passed the next two turns during which Leghul continued to nibble away at Joey's life points.

(J: 3100)
(W: 5700)

"One more turn and my moth will be fully grown!"

"You stupid rat," Tristan insulted.

"Insect," Weevil corrected.

"Joey wouldn't be in this mess if you hadn't slipped that parasite into his deck!"

"That's enough, Tristan," Joey said calmly. This is just like how I acted during Yugi's duel with that Rare Hunter. I was furious, ready to jump right in there and pound the Rare Hunter into next week. But Yugi showed me that a true Duelist keeps his calm, even when he knows his opponent is using underhanded tactics. So if I keep my cool and trust in my deck like Yugi does, I can squash this little pest right out of the tournament. "I summon Alligator Sword in defense mode. Okay, I'm ready to face your moth," Joey said in a sing-song voice.

"As you wish!" The cocoon cracked and a huge green moth with large wings appeared. "Behold, my Perfectly Ultimate Great Moth (10)!"

Joey gasped at the monster; it seemed to be even bigger than when Yugi faced it.

Weevil burst into maniacal laughter. "It's all over for you, Wheeler!"

To Be Continued


Duel Monster Database

(1)
Name: Flying Kamakiri #1
Level: 4
Type: Insect/Effect
Attribute: Wind
ATK: 1400
DEF: 1000

(2)
Name: Flying Kamakiri #2
Level: 4
Type: Insect
Attribute: Wind
ATK: 1500
DEF: 800

(3)
Name: Kiseitai
Level: 2
Type: Fiend/Effect
Attribute: Dark
ATK: 300
DEF: 800

(4)
Name: Skull-Mark Ladybug
Level: 4
Type: Insect/Effect
Attribute: Earth
ATK: 500
DEF: 1500

(5)
Name: Larvae Moth
Level: 2
Type: Insect/Effect
Attribute: Earth
ATK: 500
DEF: 400

(6)
Name: Cocoon of Evolution
Level: 3
Type: Insect/Effect
Attribute: Earth
ATK: 0
DEF: 2000

(7)
Name: Parasite Paracide
Level: 2
Type: Insect/Effect
Attribute: Earth
ATK: 500
DEF: 300

(8)
Name: Little-Winguard
Level: 4
Type: Warrior/Effect
Attribute: Wind
ATK: 1400
DEF: 1800

(9)
Name: Leghul
Level: 1
Type: Insect/Effect
Attribute: Earth
ATK: 300
DEF: 350

(10)
Name: Perfectly Ultimate Great Moth
Level: 8
Type: Insect/Effect
Attribute: Wind
ATK: 3500
DEF: 3000