Chapter 38: Parasitic Infestation


Content Warning: This chapter features the 'Parasite' archetype, an archetype of creepy mind-control insects, so if you aren't a fan of those, please do be advised. Furthermore, the end of the duel has a rather graphic depiction (By this fic's standards anyway) of some body horror (I guess) so also be advised of that. Also talk of non-consensual mind control or whatever, it's the Doktor, you should know what I mean.


"Oh, my child, allow me to show you the true pinnacle of evolution!" The Doktor laughed, creeping Yuya out.

"Let's duel!" Yuya and the Doktor declared.

The Doktor: 4000 LP

Yuya Sakaki: 4000 LP

Turn 1: Yuya

"I'll go first and set the pendulum scale! Scale 3 Xiangsheng Magician and Scale 8 Xiangke Magician, use your powers to build beyond the ether! Now, swing far pendulum, and call upon my monsters! I Pendulum Summon! Turn up the heat, Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon! Scratch your way to victory, Performapal Silver Claw! Kaching and do your thing, Performapal Coin Dragon!" Yuya called,

"Ah, a very Xyz focused combo. Do you intend to set up on this turn and then defeat me on your next with Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon, perhaps?" The Doktor inquired,

"How do you know about that card?!" Yuya exclaimed, Odd-Eyes seemingly looking confused as well,

"Did you really expect that the Professor didn't have eyes on you? After all, you are one of the reincarnations of the man that stole his daughter from him."

"You can go on all you want about who I was before but that doesn't define me anymore! Coin Dragon gives Odd-Eyes an additional 500 attack points on the field and then I end my turn. Do your worst!"

Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon: Level 7, 2500 ATK - 3000 ATK

Performapal Silver Claw: Level 4, 1800 ATK

Performapal Coin Dragon: Level 4, 1700 ATK

Turn 2: The Doktor

"Gladly! I draw! First, I shall activate the Parasite Discharge spell card to summon a Fusion Parasite from my deck. Then, using my lovely bug's effect, I can fuse it with Alternate Parasitefrom my hand. Created from two parasites, watch as my creation goes beyond! I Fusion Summon! Parasite Prince! Parasite Prince has an effect which now activates. It allows me to take one monster from your extra deck and summon it to my field but should it not have a Fusion Parasite equipped to it during the end phase, it is automatically banished! Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon shall serve me now!" The Doktor laughed, brown and pink insects appearing on his field, the articulation of their limbs putting Yuya slightly on edge,

"WHAT?!" He exclaimed as the fusion monster cried out and a portal appeared. Reaching into it, Yuya saw the appendages of his Pendulum-Xyz monster emerge and with glowing pink eyes, the dragon was under the Doktor's control.

"Now, I activate the spell card Parasite Fumigation! I now send all copies of Fusion Parasite and Alternate Parasite to my graveyard. Then, I use another spell! Parasite Reborn! This equips two Fusion Parasites to the Rebellion Dragon under my control. Next, a continuous spell, Parasite Factory. This allows me to send Parasite Prince, who's effect can treat it as a Fusion Parasite for a Fusion Summon and Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon, equipped with at least one Fusion Parasite, to the graveyards. Queen of the insects, rise to take your throne! I Fusion Summon! Parasite Queen!" A regal looking bug crawled out from the Fusion Portal, "Next, Factory equips as many Fusion Parasites from my graveyard to the queen, so I equip three Fusion Parasites and one Alternate Parasite, which is treated as Fusion Parasite in the graveyard and on the field. Parasite Queen's effect then give itself an additional 300 attack points for each Parasite on the field, meaning my Queen has 3000 attack points!"

"That's still not enough to destroy Odd-Eyes though!" Yuya informed the Doktor,

"I know. That's what this last card is for. Parasitic Decimation! This allows me to equip as many Fusion Parasites as possible to your monsters, placing the Parasites in your spell and trap zones. Then, the Queen reduces your monster's attack by eight-hundred for each, gaining 300 for each as well! I equip them to Odd-Eyes!" Crawling out from the graveyard, two insects latched onto Odd-Eyes.

Parasite Queen: Level 8, 1800 ATK - 3600 ATK

Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon: 3000 ATK - 1400 ATK

"No!" Yuya cried,

"Then, Parasitic Decimation's second effect activates. I can banish it and any number of 'Parasite' spell cards from my graveyard, then add half as many 'Parasite' cards to my hand. I shall simply banish two, Parasite Discharge and Fumigation, to add Parasite Generator to my hand. Go, my Queen! Attack Odd-Eyes with Parasitic Praise!"

"The effect of Fusion Parasite," Yuya declared, "Thanks to you giving me this, I can destroy it instead."

"That doesn't prevent the damage, you do know?" The Doktor rhetorically asked.

Yuya Sakaki: 4000 LP - 1800 LP

Parasite Queen: 3600 ATK - 3300 ATK

Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon: 1400 ATK - 2200 ATK

"I shall set a card and end my turn."

Turn 3: Yuya

"You won't win! I draw! You made a mistake by leaving my Pendulum Scales up and my level 4 monsters undestroyed, you know? I overlay level 4 Silver Claw and Coin Dragon! Cloaked in shadow and relentless in its objective, I call upon the most dangerous of dragons! I Xyz Summon! Rise Up, Rank 4, Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon! Now, I use Dark Rebellion's effect. I detach its materials to drain your monster of three-quarters of its attack points. Treason Discharge!" As the purple lightening struck out, it hit a shield,

"Parasite Queen is unaffected by monster effects because of Parasite Factory." The Doktor declared, "It is a shame that you have been taken down by this, isn't it?"

"I can survive your turn!"

"Can you? I activate my face-down Parasite Generator. This card treats all Fusion Parasites on the field as if they were two! So now, instead of there being five Parasites, there are TEN!" Yuya's eyes widened at the Doktor's proclamation.

Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon: 2200 ATK - 1400 ATK

Parasite Queen: 3300 ATK - 4800 ATK

"Its such a shame that it comes to this. Come to think of it, if you betrayed the Lancers and joined us, I'm sure that the Professor will be merciful. Perhaps he'll give you Yuri's old role."

"Like I'd join you!" Yuya shouted at the Doktor,

"But what if it was the only way to save those precious to you? Your friends, your family; They'll all be gone once the Professor turns his attention to the Standard Dimension, won't they?"

"If you dare touch them…" Yuya muttered, a dark inflection seeping into his tone, perhaps a slight red glow visible in his pupils,

"You'll what? After all, you will be sealed in a card after this, and probably destroyed as well. So what could you possibly do to stop us? Furthermore, the Parasite Project is nearing completion. So who better to test it on than that girl you like?" As the Doktor was saying this, a small insect crawled its way into Yuya's ear, making its way to his brain. Digging its legs into the fleshy organ, it attempted to take control. Suddenly, Yuya felt a surge of pain, and a flare of dark energy surrounded both Yuya and the insect, burning it out of existence.

"Like hell you will!" Yuya screamed, his eyes exploding in red light. "I activate the Pendulum effect of Xiangke Magician. This turn, Dark Rebellion has a level equal to its rank. Then, the spell card Supreme King's Decree treats them both as the total of their levels, plus one for each 'Supreme King' card in my graveyard plus itself. Thus, their levels become twelve!" Yuya let out a laugh, the deep verbose spooking the Doktor out of his normal composure,

"And what are you planning? You have no rank twelve monsters, Yuya." The Doktor taunted,

"I guess you aren't as informed as you believe you are. Did you seriously single mind towards Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon? That was the least of your worries, as isn't Parasite Queen unaffected by monster effects? And isn't it level eight as well, thus making it immune in the first place?" The Doktor realised his mistake, his eyes widening,

"Impossible. I don't make mistakes." He declared delusionally, trying to keep his face as calm as possible, but internally, he was freaking out, concerned that he missed the true threat,

"Yet you just have. I now overlay level 12 Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon and level 12 Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon. Dragon with dichromatic eyes and Dragon of darkest revolt, give way to a new form to serve your King all the better. Be reborn with blazing supreme light! I Xyz Summon! Rank 12, Supreme King General Odd-Eyed Rebellion, become My Herald!" Emerging from the Xyz Galaxy was a ferocious dragon. It was so large that its pitch black talons, armed with gleaming silver claws, swept open the laboratory to have space to hover, carving the room out so that you could easily see it from overhead. Red and green eyes bore down on the Doktor who had taken a step back in shock. Glistening black scales coated the dragon, but there were accents of the purple lightning of Dark Rebellion and the red flames of Odd-Eyes. Its wings seemed to be made of space itself, star-like marks sparkling in amongst the black membrane, and its tail ended in a two-pronged fork, a light electrical current flowing between the points. Opening its mouth to roar, it revealed pearlescent white fangs and the roar was so deep that the Parasites on the Doktor's field started to cower.

Supreme King General Odd-Eyed Rebellion: Rank 12, 4500 ATK, 2 ORU

Parasite Queen: 4800 ATK - 4200 ATK

"My Parasites. They're scared? That shouldn't be possible!" The Doktor cried,

"When My General is summoned, I can destroy all spells and traps on the field. And since your Parasites are treated as equip spells, well, isn't this ironic. Your greatest strength is becoming your biggest weakness! Supreme Rebellion!" Lightning arced out of the dragon's tail, electrocuting the Parasites on the Doktor's field, as well as his continuous spell and trap.

Parasite Queen: 4200 ATK - 1800 ATK

"It doesn't matter anyway! I can't lose this turn! And I can defeat you on my next turn!"

"Do you really think that?" Yuya sneered, "What if I told you there is no next turn. By using a single overlay unit, My General increases its own attack points by the attack points of all other monsters on the field. So that means four thousand five hundred damage is headed your way! Annihilate him! Devastation Decimation!" Letting out another roar, Yuya's dragon started drawing on the power of Duel Academy itself, the lights that remained quickly going out in the lab, the energy pooling in front of the dragon's mouth.

"W-Wait! Please! MERCY!" The Doktor pleaded, rapidly tapping on non-functioning buttons, trying to save himself,

"You lost your right to mercy when you challenged Me. Challenged My honour. Insulted part of my Queen. And for that, the only possible punishment is eternal damnation!" Yuya roared as the energy was unleashed, the Doktor cowering slightly as the energy arced to him, evaporating the Parasite Queen on his field, the energy quickly engulfed him. As the electricity hit, he could feel his skin burn, his organs start to fail and he could feel a deeper pain, as if his soul itself was being destroyed. Letting out a scream that he would otherwise think uncouth, the Doktor closed his eyes, not like it helped, they'd already melted the instant the electricity made its way to his face, and tried vehemently to deny this fate. Such resistance was not enough though, and he felt his bones start to dissolve. Not a second later, the mad Doktor was no more, but a scorch mark on the floor of his now destroyed lab being the only thing that betrayed his now ceased existence.

The Doktor: 4000 LP - 0 LP (Deceased)

Yuya Sakaki WINS!

"Hehehehe! Oh, that felt good! You did well, my servant." Yuya maniacally laughed as Odd-Eyed Rebellion dissolved following the duel's conclusion, and Yuya's senses returned to normal,

"Wh-What happened?!" Yuya exclaimed seeing the devastation around him, and he checked the duel status screen of his duel disk, "'Deceased'?! What in the world?" Yuya could feel something in his extra deck, and opening it up, it revealed the card of Odd-Eyed Rebellion, Yuya's eyes widening, recognising the card. "Wait, don't tell me he took over… And wait, the last thing I remember him saying, wasn't it something along the lines of a mind-control project? And testing it on Zuzu… What could the Professor want from her?" Realising that she may be in danger, Yuya rushed away.

Outside the Throne Room

Declan had reached his father's throne room a while earlier. He'd since been defending the position from the various squads that had attempted to resecure the position, but he knew that he needed the rest of the Lancers to show up soon. Suddenly, the doors behind him opened, and he whirled around. Standing before him was a man in a regal purple coat, gold braided chains marking his status. Declan was now facing his father in a very much disadvantageous position. "Hello, Declan." His father greeted,

"Father." Declan cooly nodded, readying his duel disk,

"So you truly are trying to stop me. A shame your teammates aren't here right now. I could use the inevitable duel between us to demoralise your troops."

"Do you not see what you are doing, Father? If you continue, all four dimensions will be destroyed, and for what?"

"A cause you wouldn't understand. You don't know what its like to lose your daughter. Especially to him." Leo growled,

"You have a wife, a son and do you even know about Riley? About Mother's adopted child?"

"So she adopted? Good for her."

"You have a family here. I don't see what's so special about Ray to make you want her back this much."

"How did you learn her name?!" Leo asked, shocked,

"I also know that Yuya, Yuto, Yugo and Yuri are reincarnations of the man who you believe killed her. Zarc."

"So you know that an evil such as him must be stopped!"

"You do realise that this idiotic plan to reunite Ray will only bring him back as well? As far as I can tell, their fates are tied together closer than any others."

"Then I will be ready to defeat him once more."

"Then you misunderstand what I say, Father. So long as one exists, the other must as well, from my interpretations."

"Well, my son, it seems we cannot see eye to eye after all. Come in, and we shall duel. It wouldn't do to not show you my masterpiece, wouldn't it?"

"It seems we are agreed on one thing." And Declan followed his father into the Throne Room, the door locking shut behind him.

A Hallway Near the Throne Room

Alexis and Jesse were running through the halls, looking for the people that they recognised. From Zane Truesdale to other, less recognisable students, they wanted to save as many as they could. Suddenly, a large, barred fence emerged from the ceiling, trapping them in a small segment of hall.

"So it does seem like I've caught a few traitors." A familiar voice said. Alexis and Jesse turned around to see the black-clad form of Professor Y, a duel disk active on his arm,

"Jaden!" Alexis cried out, surprised to see her old friend,

"Ah. So you still delusionally believe that your friend is still alive, do you?" Y asked,

"It isn't delusional if it is true!" Alexis argued,

"Well, even if it is, I am simply 'Y' now. The Professor assigned me to attack the Synchro Dimension, but I returned here on a feeling. It seems I was justified."

"Jaden, snap out of it! Can't you see what's being done? What atrocities we committed in the Professor's name?!" Jesse called out,

"Atrocities? Surely you mean necessary sacrifices." Y responded,

"Duel us then Jaden. Prove you believe that with all your heart!"

"I was already planning to. After all, you can't card a duelist without beating them in a duel, can you?"

"Very well." The Yusho students said, activating their duel disks,

"Let's duel!"


Next Chapter Preview: It's a double duel! With Declan facing off against his father and Alexis and Jesse confronting their old friend, it is anyone's guess what will happen.


Custom Cards

Alternate Parasite

DARK

Level 1

Insect, Effect

This card's name becomes 'Fusion Parasite' if it is on the field or in the GY. If a monster this card is equipped to would leave the field: You can destroy this card instead.

100 ATK/100 DEF

Parasite Prince

DARK

Level 4

Insect, Fusion, Effect

2 'Parasite' monsters

This card is unaffected by the effect(s) of 'Parasite Queen'(s) you control. If you would Fusion Summon using this card, you can treat its name as 'Fusion Parasite'. You can only summon one 'Parasite Prince' per turn.

1500 ATK/0 DEF

Parasite Fumigation

Normal Spell Card

Send all copies of 'Fusion Parasite' and 'Alternate Parasite' from your deck to your GY.

Parasitic Decimation

Normal Spell Card

(This card is always treated as a 'Parasite' card.)

Target as many 'Fusion Parasite' monsters in your GY as possible; Activate them in your opponent's Spell/Trap Zone(s) as equip spells and equip them to a monster that your opponent controls of your choice. You can banish this card and any number of 'Parasite' spell cards from your GY (min. 2); Add one 'Parasite' spell/trap card from your deck to your hand, except a card banished by this effect. You can only use the second effect of this spell once per duel.

Supreme King's Decree

Normal Spell Card

Target two Dragon-type monsters you control; Their levels become equal to their total level plus the number of 'Supreme' cards in your GY, including this card. You can only activate one 'Supreme King's Decree' per turn.

Supreme King General Odd-Eyed Rebellion

DARK

Rank 12

Dragon, Xyz, Pendulum, Effect

Scale 12

2 Level 12 Dragon-type monsters

Pendulum Effect: You can target two 'Dragon' monsters in your GY who's levels equal 12; Special Summon this card from your Pendulum Zone, and if you do, attach those targeted monsters to this card as material.

Monster Effect: (This card is always treated as an 'Odd-Eyes' card) If this card is Xyz Summoned or Special Summoned by its own effect: You can destroy all Spells and Traps on the field. You can detach one material from this card; This card gains ATK equal to the ATK of all other monsters on the field. You can detach two instead to negate those monsters' effects as well. Cards and effects cannot be activated in response to this effect's activation or resolution. If this card would leave the field: You can place this card in your Pendulum Zone instead.

4500 ATK/4500 DEF


And that's all! Thank you all for reading this week's chapter! In this chapter we got a duel that gave me a lot of catharsis writing it, especially that conclusion. I hope you all got the same enjoyment from reading it that I did from writing it, and are satisfied with the mad Doktor's fate.

Onwards to reviews!

Malcom Obsidian – Thank you very much for your review! I think I answered your first question in a previous chapter, but I will restate that of the Bracelet Girls, Lulu is by far my favourite and among the Yu-Boys it is a tie between Yuto and Yugo. My opinion on Rush Duels however… I really can't phrase it any other way, but I hate them. From a gameplay point of view they ruin the pace of the game, and despite it saying that it is for younger fans who want to learn the game, it is arguably more complex than the TCG/OCG, and I'm also not the biggest fan of the card designs.

Scififan999 (Guest) – Thank you very much for your review! Well, on most counts you are right. As said last chapter, Ren and Izumi are currently not going to be romantically involved with each other, and Yuri/Celina I also have no plans for. In the Fusion Dimension's case, they are just fundamentally so different that I can't imagine a romance subplot between the two.

Aqua – Now would you say that it is stealing or more *ahem* forcibly requisitioning the cards? And I couldn't agree with you more about the Doktor. From the way his English voice sounds to his design to how he enraged Yuya in canon… Just ugh.

Now this chapter adapts my favourite moment from ARC-V, being Odd-Eyes Raging Dragon, so why didn't I include it? Literally despite it being one of my favourite cards design wise, I couldn't think of a good enough reason for it to exist here, as in canon, Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon was born from Yuya and Yuto's combined will to defeat the Duel Academy grunts in Standard, and Raging Dragon from their rage at the Doktor. One slight issue with that: Yuto has been free from Yuya for nearly 30 chapters at this point. Although the solution presented itself! A 'Supreme King' card I made literally 30 chapters earlier! Hence why it is used here and not Raging Dragon.

I hope you all are looking forward to next week's chapter where we get not one, but TWO big duels! I'll see you then – NightWingBOI