DISCLAIMER: If you recognise it from somewhere else, it isn't mine.

Playing With A Parasite Part II

Joey stared up at the Great Moth. He remembered Yugi having to deal with this. He'd managed to beat this bug, so Joey could do it. Then again, Yugi had managed to crack the cocoon before it hatched. There was still a way to win this. He just had to find it – as well as the way to attack, which Weevil felt the need to remind him of.

'Your parasite-infected monsters still can't attack me!'

'Well, it's not over yet,' Joey insisted.

'Give it up, Wheeler. Now that my Ultimate Great Moth has emerged, you're as good as squashed and your two locator cards are mine!'

Tristan spoke behind him. 'You wish.'

'Zap that big bug, Joey!' Téa called.

'Stay focused,' gramps coached.

'You'll be saying goodbye to Battle City in no time, Wheeler.'

'Whatever.' Joey was barely listening to him, his mind racing.

Weevil pointed. 'Prepare to witness the devastating power of my Great Moth. Destroy his Alligator Sword, now!' The Moth flapped its wings and such a gust came out and at his monster that it was destroyed. Joey raised his arms and grunted against the after-effects of the blast. Weevil sneered.

'Come on!' Tristan called. 'You must have some kind of giant fly swatter or something in your deck.'

Sharee spoke up, sounding incredulous. 'Who has a giant fly swatter in their deck?'

'What are you?' Weevil asked him. 'His pom-pom girl?'

Tristan could have blanched. 'Don't make me come over there.'

'Look, thanks to the parasite living off his side of the field, all of Wheeler's cards are now insects, allowing my Insect Barrier to block every one of their attacks. Besides, only Gate Guardian and the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon have enough attack points to defeat my Great Moth. And I doubt you have either of them in your pathetic deck.'

Joey ground his teeth. How am I ever gonna crush Weevil's Great Moth? That thing's too strong and none of my monsters can attack anyway. Come on, deck, show me some love. He drew. His eyes narrowed. Yes, just the card I needed, baby! Look out, you little vermin. Joey's got a plan. He set the card. 'I play one card face-down and switch all my monster cards to attack mode.' The monsters shifted.

Behind him, he knew all his friends were startled. Gramps even asked if he heard right. Téa expressed her confusion and Tristan was sure the pressure had finally gotten to him. Sharee was, as normal, silent. Joey didn't react to any of it. Weevil sniggered.

'Bring it on!' Joey called to him.

'You got it!' Weevil drew and laid the card. 'I doubt that a fool like you could have anything sneaky planned, but just in case I'll place this monster in defence mode.' The card appeared on the field. 'Now you remember Leghul, don't you?' He sniggered. 'Perhaps I should refresh your memory.' He called the order. 'Leghul, bypass his monsters and attack his life points directly!' The purple worm attacked and Joey fell back as it slammed into him this time. He hit the ground hard.

'Get up, Joey!' Téa called.

Joey's life points dropped down to 2800. He pushed himself up.

But Weevil wasn't done. 'Now, since you put your parasite card in attack mode, and it's technically the weakest monster on the field, I'm going to attack it which will knock your life points down to zero.' The Moth begun to attack. 'Finish him off, my Great Moth.'

Joey activated the card he'd just played and it flipped up. 'Nice try, bug-brain. Reveal Skull Dice!' The sprite and its die emerged from the card and it rolled. 'This card will reduce your monster's attack power depending on the roll of the die. So, the higher the number, the weaker your Moth gets.'

Weevil cried out in alarm.

The die landed on a two. Darn! 'What? A two?' Although it wasn't all bad. 'Oh, well, it still cuts the attack points of your oversized pest in half.'

The Great Moth's attack went down to 1750. Weevil didn't seem worried. 'That was a sad attempt to survive, Wheeler. My Moth can still blow your parasite to pieces.'

'Don't count on it.' Joey reached for his duel disk. 'I'll reveal my other face-down card. The magic card Graceful Dice.' The card in question flipped up and, again, the sprite and die emerged. 'Part two of my ingenious master plan.'

Weevil made a sound and drew back.

'The higher I roll, the stronger my parasite monster will become, you little termite! Bet you're sorry you snuck that into my deck now, huh?'

Weevil cried out in shock. 'It can't be!'

'I need a four or higher to swat your Moth.' The sprite rolled the die and they watched as it went. It came to rest at four. 'All right! Parasite Paracide's attack points multiply by four to 2000.' The card grew.

Weevil cried out again. 'I can't watch!'

The arms of the parasite reached out and wrapped around the Great Moth. 'Say bye-bye to your bug.' It squeezed until Weevil's ultimate monster shattered. Weevil cried out and his life points dropped to 5450. Behind Joey, Tristan and Téa hit high fives.

'Great duelling!' gramps called.

Joey drew. 'That's right, Weevil. Joey's back.'

'My Moth!' Weevil whined. 'My precious, precious Great Moth! You squashed it like a common fly!' He glared and pointed at him. 'You'll pay! This duel isn't over yet, Wheeler, not by a mile!'

Joey scoffed. 'Bring it on, Weevil. I'll exterminate all your little critters.'

'You won that round.' Weevil took a card from his hand. 'But my next surprise will win me the duel and send you packing.'

'Heh, we'll just see about that!'

'Yes, we will. First I'll play this.' He held his card up before playing it. 'Ta-da! My Insect Soldiers of the Sky.' The card appeared on the field and the monster appeared on the field. Weevil held up as second one. 'Next comes a magic card, Eradicating Aerosol!' He played the card and it appeared on the field. 'This card has the power to destroy any insect card on the field! And since all of your parasite-infected monsters are still insects, I could take one of them out but I've got bigger plans.' His glasses flashed. His defence card turned to attack mode and flipped up. 'So I play Pinch Hopper.' The insect emerged from the card. 'And now I can destroy my own insect.'

Sharee finally spoke up. 'Uh…Why?'

'Yeah,' Tristan called. 'What gives?'

Gramps knew though. 'Once Pinch Hopper goes to the graveyard, Weevil can summon any monster from his hand.'

'Any monster?' Joey demanded. That wasn't good.

'Yes.' A hand with a can of insecticide emerged from the magic card. 'Eradicating Aerosol, now destroy my Pinch Hopper!' The finger went down on the trigger of the can and the poison was sprayed. The Hopper was destroyed, coming to pieces. Weevil sniggered. 'Now I can summon a creature whose attack power is virtually limitless.' He took the card from his hand and played it. 'Insect Queen!' The card appeared on the field. 'She's my rarest card and, if played the right way, is totally unstoppable. Prepare to lose it all, Wheeler!' The massive insect emerged from the card. 'You may have defeated my Great Moth but my Queen will trouse your puny defence and wipe out your life points. Now, you will face a power like no other!' The Insect Queen gave a battle cry. 'Say goodbye to Battle City!' He chuckled for a moment. 'If you think my Insect Queen is powerful now, just wait until you see her special function. She absorbs the attack points of every insect on the field.'

Joey drew back. 'It's still got less than your Moth and I creamed that thing.'

'You weren't listening.' Weevil pointed at him, in full gloat-mode now. 'She absorbs the points of every insect, yours included.'

'Mine?' Joey looked at his side of the field and realised. 'That's right! My monsters are still considered insects because of that stinking parasite.'

'Exactly! Now, absorb their power, my Queen!' As Weevil's Queen's power grew, so did her size.

'That's a thousand more attack points!' Joey insisted.

The Queen was sitting at an attack of 3200.

'Come on!' Tristan called.

'Oh, no!' Téa cried.

'Joey!' Gramps called out advice. 'Remember, insect cards can be extremely tricky. And to battle an insect duellist, you have to think like an insect duellist. You destroyed his Great Moth and you can destroy his Insect Queen!'

Weevil sniggered again. 'And now I give my Queen another power boost.' He pointed to one of his other monsters. 'I sacrifice Leghul!' The Insect Queen's mouth glowed and Leghul came up and was slowly eaten. 'The more she feeds, the more powerful she becomes.'

Joey blanched and his stomach turned.

Téa and Gramps exclaimed in disgust. Tristan was in complete agreement with them. 'Now, that's just disgusting.'

'Yeah, really.' Even Sharee vocalised disgust. 'I'm just glad my dad's not here.'

'Insect Queen, attack!' Weevil ordered. 'Annihilate his Tiny Guardian!' The Queen roared and the attack shot out of her mouth. Joey's Guardian was destroyed. What was left of it fell to the ground as purple sludge. Weevil chuckled and adjusted his glasses. 'Now, your monster is…bug juice. And you lost some serious life points.'

Joey ground his teeth as his life points dropped to 1000.

'And it gets better,' Weevil said. 'With every monster my Queen destroys, she lays an egg.' She did just that. It was gross. Weevil cackled triumphantly. 'These eggs let her keep the extra attack points even after the monster's destroyed.' He sniggered. 'Plus, when these eggs hatch I'll have an entire insect army.'

I gotta scramble those eggs before any munchkin monsters hatch. They'll be on me like a swarm of killer bees. But as long as Weevil's Insect Barrier's in effect, I can't attack! Even if I do summon a monster, that parasite card will turn it into a bug and then his Insect Queen will absorb its attack points and get stronger. Joey narrowed his eyes. There's gotta be a way out of this. Joey drew. 'Here goes nothing.' He looked at the card. He had an idea. 'I'll place one card face-down on the field and end my turn.' He did just that.

Weevil smirked.

'Joey, you forgot to switch all your monsters back into defence mode!' Gramps called.

Well, yeah, that was the point. But he couldn't have Weevil knowing that. Joey blanched like he hadn't done it on purpose. 'Huh?' He didn't doubt that Sharee hadn't fallen for it though.

'Tough luck.' Weevil certainly didn't see through it. 'Now there's nothing defending your life points against my attacks. Time to finish you off, Wheeler!'

Joey steadied himself, like he was preparing for the final blow.

'Oh, no!' Gramps cried. 'If Joey's attacked now, his life points will drop to zero!'

Weevil sneered and held up a card. 'So long, Wheeler.' He played it. 'I summon Cockroach Knight…' The card appeared on the field and the monster emerged from within. '…to feed my Queen.' The Insect Queen gobbled up the next bug. 'And whenever my Cockroach is destroyed it returns to the top of my deck so I can keep sacrificing it to increase my Queen's strength. And now, my Insect Queen, destroy his Panther and knock him out of the Tournament for good! Attack!' He gloated at Joey. 'Your life points are history.'

Joey smirked. 'Don't be so sure, Weevil.'

'Huh?' Weevil drew back.

'Let's see if you can guess what's beneath card number one.'

'No!' Weevil stumbled. 'Not a trap card! You kept your monsters in attack mode on purpose, didn't you?'

'On the nosey.' Joey put his finger to his own nose. 'And because you fell for it and went for the kill, it's time to pay.' The card flipped up. 'Activate Magic Armshield.' The Armshield emerged from the card and went up, grabbing one of Weevil's bugs.

'My Insect Soldiers of the Sky!' Weevil cried.

'My Magic Armshield lets me defend myself against your attack by using one of your monsters to deflect the blow.' The Armshield brought the insect down in time to catch the Queen's blast. The Insect Soldiers of the Sky fell to the ground as sludge. The Armshield vanished.

Weevil screamed. His life points dropped to 3250.

'Now whose points are history?'

The Queen laid another egg. Weevil ground his teeth. 'You may have blocked one attack, but you're just prolonging your defeat.'

Behind him, Téa groaned in annoyance. 'I can't stand him!'

'Joey'll shut him up as soon as he destroys that Insect Queen,' Tristan said.

But Joey knew he had a problem.

'What's the matter, Wheeler?' Weevil crowed. 'Did your flea-sized brain run out of ideas already? There's no way out. As my Queen gets stronger, she'll continue to lay eggs that'll hatch into a swarm of insect warriors. And as if that wasn't enough, to ensure my victory in this duel, Wheeler, thanks to my Insect Barrier you still can't attack.'

Joey drew. 'Don't count your eggs yet. To protect my life points, I'll put both my monsters in defence mode.'

Weevil sniggered. 'Looks like someone's running out of options, but relax. I promise that I'll finish you quickly.' He drew and held up the card. 'You recognise this? It's Cockroach Knight again.' He played it. The card and monster appeared on the field again. 'Eat and grow strong, my Queen.' The Insect Queen ate it again too. 'And, now, attack his Panther Warrior!'

The Insect Queen roared and attacked. The infected Panther Warrior was destroyed.

Weevil sniggered again. 'Another bites the dust!'

Aw, man. The only thing standing between Weevil and my life points is that parasite card. I gotta summon another monster if I wanna squash him, but whatever I summon will become infected by the parasite and feed his Insect Queen.

The monster in question laid another egg.

And once those eggs hatch, I'm in real trouble.

'Time to hand over your two locator cards and go home, Wheeler!' Weevil threw his head back and laughed.

Joey tensed. Maybe bug-boy's right. I used up my best cards already and that Queen's way too strong. He jammed his eyes shut.

'Hang in there, Joey!' Téa called. 'We're all behind you!'

'Trust yourself, Joey,' gramps said. 'Trust your deck.'

Tristan threw his two cents in. 'Focus, Joey! You've gotten out of tougher situations than this before! And, remember, Serenity looks to you for strength so you gotta stomp this termite for your sister.'

'Huh?' Serenity? Tristan's right. Serenity's never given up on me. When I duelled that psychic fraud, Espa Roba, and the odds were against me, she never stopped believing in me. So I'm not about to let my sister down by letting this bug-eyed freak get the best of me. Plus, the whole gang's rooting for me and, with my friends behind me, there's no way I can lose.

'You can do it, Joey!' Téa called out again.

So did Tristan. 'Don't let that little bug push you around!'

'Believe in yourself, Joey,' gramps told him.

'Just give up, Wheeler!' Weevil snapped. 'It's over.'

Joey fixed him with a hard stare. 'Joey Wheeler doesn't quit. Maybe you'd understand if you had friends.' He drew. 'Come on…' He looked at the card. That's what I'm talking about! Belief in the Heart of the Cards would get you everywhere. There as a serious flaw in Weevil's strategy – if you could call it that. Heh, looks like things are starting to turn around. Joey looked across the field.

'You're finished,' Weevil said. 'You know Parasite Paracide will affect any monster that you summon.'

Not quite. Joey took two cards and played them. 'I'll place one card face-down and summon Gearfried, the Iron Knight!' The card appeared on the fields and the monster emerged from it.

'You fool!' Weevil crowed. 'Once your Knight has been infected by my parasite card, he'll just be another snack for my ravenous Queen!'

The snort of amusement behind him told Joey that Sharee got it. The parasite came at the Knight and wrapped around him. It squeezed and attempted to find a way to infect him.

'Don't be so sure about that, Weevil,' Joey said. 'Some cards are bug-proof!' As he said that, the parasite retracted.

'What's wrong?' Weevil demanded, stumbling back a step. 'Why can't the parasite feed on it?'

'If you're gonna bend the rules, make sure you know everything that could possibly go wrong,' Sharee said.

Joey elaborated. 'He's Gearfried, the Iron Knight. And that slimy parasite's helpless against his metal armour.'

Weevil seemed like he could hardly believe it. 'How'd you figure that out?'

'He did his homework, Weevil,' gramps said. 'You should've known that Parasite Paracide wasn't able to feed off of metal. And you call yourself an expert insect duellist?'

'Awesome!' Tristan cheered. 'That means the Knight can smash through the Insect Barrier and attack.'

'And I got a perfect plan to wipe out your Insect Queen, Weevil!' Joey finished the explanation up. 'And my plan starts with those eggs.'

'No!' Weevil cried.

Joey called the attack. 'Gearfried the Iron Knight, attack his Queen's eggs and lower her attack power!' The Knight shot forward, right past the Insect Queen and sliced through the first of the eggs, destroying it.

'That's it!' Weevil yelled. 'Next turn, you're bug food!'

Behind Joey, his friends cheered.

'Every time the Insect Queen chows an opponent's monster, she boosts her attack points and she lays another egg,' Joey said. 'But, until they hatch, those eggs are defenceless. And, now that your Insect Barrier can't stop my attacks, I'm free to wipe them out. So, tell me, Weevil. Does Insect Queen like her eggs poached or sunny-side up?'

Weevil growled and then smirked. 'Enjoy this while it lasts, cause after my turn I'll be one duel closer to the Battle City Finals.'

Joey ground his teeth.

'No one gets away with disrespecting my Queen like that,' Weevil insisted. 'Prepare to be pulverised as I power up my mighty Insect Queen with even more attack points.' He drew a new card. 'First off, I will summon Soldier Ant.' He did just that and the card and monster appeared on the field. 'Then activate the magic card Ant Reproduction.' That card appeared on the field as well. 'Watch them multiply into an ant colony!' Soon there was a swarm of Ants on the field.

Joey frowned. 'What now?'

'I'll explain. This card takes one Soldier Ant and turns it into an army of ten Ants for the length of my turn. I bet you know what's next, right, Wheeler?'

'Queenie's gonna absorb the attack points of each one and then get even stronger,' Joey said.

'That's right.' Weevil's Ants all began to disappeared. 'And now that my mighty Queen's done powering up, it's the end of Joey Wheeler once and for all!' The Queen opened her mouth and attacked.

Joey drew back with a yell.

Weevil was back to gloating. 'Goodbye, Wheeler. And now, my lovely Queen, destroy his scrap heap of a Knight and what's left of his life points.

Joey smirked. 'You grub, I was hoping you would attack me.'

'You were?' Weevil's shock really was amusing.

'All part of my plan,' Joey said. 'Activate the trap card!' His face-down card flipped up, revealing what it was. 'Grave Robber!' The Robber emerged.

'Not Grave Robber!'

'Yup. He can take a card from your Graveyard and use it against you. And he just nabbed your can of Aerosol.' The Grave Robber turned the card so Weevil could see it. The hand and spray can emerged. 'Time to exterminate your Queen!' The poison was sprayed out and the Insect Queen cried out as she was destroyed. 'Yeah! There goes my pest problem.'

'What have you done to my Queen?' Weevil whined.

'But wait. I'm not through with you yet, Weevil Underpants. Gearfried, destroy his last egg and the rest of his life points.' The Iron Knight ran forward and Weevil drew back. Gearfried slashed through the last egg. 'Welcome to Loserville, Weevil. Population: you.'

Weevil's life points dropped all the way to zero and he dropped to his knees. 'I…I…I lost? I don't believe it!' He groaned.

Behind Joey, his friends cheered for his victory. Joey himself walked across the battlefield and stood over Weevil. He planted his hands on his hips. 'All right, Weevil, cough 'em up: your Insect Queen and two locator cards.'

Weevil looked up at him reluctantly. 'Have mercy.'

'Mercy?' Joey asked. 'No way. You should have thought of that before you decided to cheat. Now, just like a Duellist Kingdom, you're out of the Tournament!'

Weevil cried out and fell back, like a snivelly child.

YGO

Yugi looked up at the screen over the street with a smile. Joey had kicked Weevil's butt, just like Yugi himself had back at Duellist Kingdom. Around him, people talked about it. He heard one person's very telling comment: 'He wasn't second at Duellist Kingdom for nothing!'

Awesome! Joey's almost made it to the finals. He'd gotten two more locator cards in that duel. Yugi looked down at the card his friend had given him at the start of this whole Tournament. And he did it all without his Red Eyes. I know it's my destiny to help the Pharaoh save the world and I get the feeling Joey's Red Eyes is gonna help me do it. It won't be easy, especially with Marik's Rare Hunters out there looking for me, but I'll be ready.