7. Yu-Gi-Oh Arc-V: A New Story of Pendulum (Fusion Arc)

Chapter 27 Ambush and Capture

Dust drifted through the corridor's broken windows as Yuya, Vivian, Reiji, Hana, Yusho, and Cronos left the Duel Monsters' Lab behind. The dim lights flickered across steel panels where old monitors still crackled with static. Far inside, Samejima remained beside the injured Barret, while Dr. Zweinstein adjusted readings from a portable scanner, his coat rustling in the stale air.

"Let us handle the path ahead," Yuya said quietly, his eyes narrowing toward the exit. "You two keep watch here."
"Understood," Samejima replied, already returning to the consoles.

Outside, the wind carried faint mechanical echoes—Duel Disks powering up in the distance. The group followed the sound until a line of silhouettes appeared, stepping from behind a collapsed transport truck. Their uniforms bore the insignia of Academia, though the students' movements were stiff and unnatural, their heads turning in perfect unison toward the approaching team.

Cronos raised his hands, his voice cracking as he called out, "My beloved students, stop this instant! You are walking toward danger!" His words trembled, swallowed by the humming disks. None of them paused. The crimson glow from their visors painted their faces with ghostly light.

He stumbled backward, sweat beading down his temple. "This has never happened before," he muttered, disbelief twisting his features. "Never!"

Yuya took a cautious step forward beside Vivian. The glimmer from the students' eyes caught the light—green, veined, and alive. Something inside those pupils moved. Tiny legs scraped against the glass of their corneas, twisting like insects clawing for release.

Vivian's stomach clenched. Her voice burst out in horror. "Their eyes! It's the Parasite Fusioners!" she shouted, pointing toward the advancing line. The echo of her cry hung in the air like a warning bell.

The word struck everyone at once. Yuya's breath quickened as old memories surfaced—the chaos of the XYZ Dimension, the shrieks of controlled duelists, and the blank stares of Ruri and Rin when those same parasites had fused into their eyes. "The same creatures that took over commanders back then," he said under his breath, anger rising beneath his fear. "The Doctor's still using them."

Hana's eyes flashed with rage as she gripped her deck tightly. "How many people has that monster infected this time?" she growled, her voice trembling between fury and disbelief. "This is getting out of hand!"

Cronos staggered forward, his expression contorted between shock and heartbreak. "Il Dottore did this... to my precious students?" he cried, clutching his chest. "Unacceptable! Unforgivable!"

The infected Academia students drew closer, their synchronized footsteps echoing like a drumbeat of approaching war. Their Duel Disks ignited fully, casting long crimson streaks across the cracked pavement.

Reiji adjusted his glasses, his tone calm but heavy. "If we hesitate, they'll surround us. We have no choice," he said, eyes fixed on the enemy line. "We must defeat them—otherwise, we cannot move forward."

The wind roared through the ruins as every duelist raised a hand to their disk. The next move would decide whether they saved the hosts or joined them.

The metallic doors of the abandoned warehouse groaned as they slid open, spilling a thin veil of mist into the cold night. Yuzu, Bruno, Ryu, Sarah, Victoria, and Gorm stepped out together, their footsteps echoing softly against the wet concrete. From the opposite side, Yuto, Rio, Shark, Thomas, and Chris emerged from the shadows, regrouping beneath a broken sign flickering with weak blue light.