Hello! I wrote this story after I read the theory that the dragon boys were trapped in a dream world(sorry I can't find who came up with it). This was written a few days before episode 140, so it doesn't really follow the canon story line.
Warning for OOC characters.
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh Arc v. If I did, they wouldn't be suffering.
Yuya was just enjoying his peaceful day. The dimensional war was over. All his friends were fine. Zarc was defeated and all that. But something kept bugging him. He
wasn't sure what it was, but there was something wrong. Something missing.
He figured he was forgetting to do something and went through his day in his head. He woke up. He saw his friends. He went to school. He went to his duel school. Reiji showed up talking about that tournament. It would be him and all of his friends, but... something was wrong. Yuya couldn't place it but there was something wrong.
He remembered that everyone was at school. Him, Ayu, Furoshi, Tatsuya, and Sora. Sora chose to continue going there even after the war was over because he had fun.
Now Yuya had someone his age at the school. But being so much older never really bothered him before. He couldn't remember even thinking about it. Which was strange, because it seemed so glaringly obvious now. And then Yuya remembered.
Yuzu.
All of his memories came back at once. How did he forget her? Where was she? She didn't come back to standard with him, but she couldn't have gone anywhere else. If she did, she would have told Yuya.
Yuya decided to ask Reiji about this. He was the one with all of the access to interdimensional technologies.
As Yuya was making his way to the Leo Corporation tower, he realized that everyone else was acting a little strange. Shuzo didn't seem to miss his daughter. He hadn't seen Himika despite seeing Reiji several times. And no one mentioned anything about the dimensional war.
When Yuya got to Reiji, he noticed something else a little strange. Reiji smiled when he saw Yuya. And Reiji was not one to show his emotions so easily.
"Reiji, what's going on?" Yuya asked.
"What do you mean, Yuya?"
"Where's Yuzu?"
"Who's that?"
"You know who I'm talking about! She was the reason I became a lancer in the first place."
"You don't need to worry about that. Why don't you just get ready for the tournament?"
"What are you hiding from me?"
"Nothing important."
"Yuzu is important!"
"No, she isn't! She was never important and she never will be!"
That was very uncharacteristic of Reiji. He never got angry. Even when he did, he never shouted. He never acted like this before. There was only one
conclusion Yuya could come to.
"You're not Reiji," Yuya stated.
"Of course I am." Reiji had his calm demeanor back.
"No you aren't. Tell me who you are!"
"That is of no importance. Why don't you go have fun with your friends?"
"I'm not leaving unless I get answers!"
Reiji's appearance changed a little. He started growing fangs, and he got a little bit taller.
"You should go have fun, Yuya."
Yuya shook his head. He was starting to remember how the events really happened. There was a certain point where his memories stopped, though, and he guessed that that was when Zarc took control.
"No! Where are the others?"
"What others?"
"You know! Yuto, Yugo, and Yuri! Where are they?"
"I guess you've figured out what's going on then. Well, I won't tell you. And even if you did manage to find them, I doubt they would leave their paradises. You should just go have fun with your friends."
Yuya was angry. Only this time, he wasn't in danger of being controlled by a demon. Because that was already happening. Right now, getting angry was the only way to break free of this spell and find the others.
"No! I'm going to find them and I'm going to stop Zarc!" Yuya exclaimed.
"You really think you can stop me?" Reiji's voice was distorted now.
"Nobody can stop me! None of your friends have succeeded. Even Ray could only stop me by forcing me apart. You should just enjoy your new life in here. It's better than your reality is."
"If it's better in here than in reality, then I'm definitely going to try to stop you! To make this the reality!"
Reiji no longer looked like Reiji. He looked like some kind of monster. And Yuya was having none of that. This was his dream world, and he was going to break out of it.
Yuya closed his eyes and concentrated, ignoring Reiji screaming at him, and focused on finding Yuto. They were both trapped in the same mind, so it shouldn't be too difficult to find him.
Eventually, Yuya's dream world dissolved. He opened his eyes and found that he was now in Heartland. But there were no signs of destruction from the war. It was peaceful. Just like Yuto had shown him. This was definitely where Yuto was trapped.
Yuya knew it wouldn't be easy to break the spell on him. This was the world Yuto was fighting to regain. He wouldn't want to give it up. He probably wouldn't remember Ruri either, and that would definitely make things hard.
Yuya also figured there would be a "Reiji" in here to keep Yuto in check, but he didn't know who that would be. Probably Shun actually. This was not going to be easy.
Yuya knew that since this was a dream world, Yuto would have to be around here somewhere. He looked around a little bit and found Yuto watching Shun and Kaito as
they were surrounded by excited kids. Just like what Yuto showed him.
Yuya was about to run over to Yuto, but he stopped when he looked at his face.
Yuto looked happy. Yuya could count on one hand the number of times he's seen Yuto smile, and they shared a body for a while.
Yuya felt someone appear behind him, and he turned around. It was Reiji.
"See? Everyone is happy here. You should just come back."
Yuya shook his head. He knew that Yuto wouldn't want to be happy when he realized what was really going on. Yuya felt like a horrible person, but he ran over to Yuto.
"Yuto!" he called out.
Yuto looked over. He saw Yuya, but he didn't seem to recognize him. In this world, the dimensional war never happened. So he never met Yuya.
"Hey Shun, do you know that person?" Yuto asked.
"No. It's probably just someone who goes to our school," Shun responded.
"But he looks just like me! I feel like I would have heard of him before..."
"Don't worry about it."
Yuto looked a little suspicious. He decided to talk to this random stranger who looked like him and somehow knew him. Yuto was questioning his own judgement, but he was curious. Yuto was a little confused when he noticed Shun glaring at him.
"Who are you?" Yuto asked.
"You don't remember?" This was not a positive development.
"Should I?" Yuto wondered.
"Think, Yuto! Doesn't something seem off?"
"What do you mean?"
"Someone's missing, Yuto. You have to remember!"
At this moment, Shun walked up to Yuto.
"Don't listen to this guy, Yuto. He doesn't know what he's talking about." Shun was most definitely the "Reiji" of Yuto's world.
"Why are you acting so weird?" Yuto wondered.
Yuto was confused. This was not how he expected his day off to go. He had plans to go out with his friends, and maybe duel. He was thinking they might be able to have a small tournament. But how would they do that with only three people? Was someone missing? He didn't have many friends, and he couldn't really remember anyone else.
But. There was someone. Someone he was forgetting.
"Ruri," Yuto stated.
"Who's that? Yuto, you should ignore this guy!" Shun was getting angry.
"What's wrong with you, Shun?! Ruri is your sister! You wouldn't just forget her!" Yuto shouted.
He was starting to remember the true events of what happened. Yuto was glad Yuya made him remember, even if he had been happy. All of his friends were in serious danger right now, and Yuto wasn't going to stand around in dream land while it happened any longer.
"I don't have a sister, Yuto. Let's just go back to enjoying our day."
"No. I'm not going with you, fake Shun. I'm staying with Yuya, so we can stop Zarc!"
"Really? Wouldn't you rather stay here? Academia never invaded here. If you want to stay with Yuya, we could change this world to accommodate for that. You can have whatever you want in here."
"Apparently I can't have Ruri," Yuto retorted.
"You wouldn't want her! She's one of the ones who separated you! You shouldn't even think of her, much less care about her!"
Shun was starting to look and sound like Reiji.
"We're going to break out of here and stop Zarc! You can't stop us!" Yuto shouted.
Since Yuto was now on Yuya's side, Yuya knew it was time for the next step.
"We need to find Yugo and Yuri!" Yuya exclaimed
"How are we going to do that?" Yuto wondered.
"I found you by concentrating on you. That's how we'll find the others!"
Yuto was a little bit touched that Yuya went after him first.
"Then let's get Fusion. I would rather not deal with Yuri at all, but that can't be helped. And we'll have safety in numbers if we go after Yugo first."
Yuya nodded and they both closed their eyes. With the two of them working together, it didn't take long for them to find Yugo.
They weren't entirely sure what they expected, but they couldn't say they were surprised when they landed in the Synchro dimension. Only the entire City looked like the Tops. And, according to every single sign they saw, Yugo was the dueling king.
Well, it was his dream. And he might have actually won the friendship cup had the other dimensions not gotten involved. He never even lost it, really. He was just disqualified.
"Yugo should be around here somewhere," Yuya stated.
They were both wondering who would be guarding Yugo. He didn't seem to have many friends that weren't a part of Ray.
They didn't have to look too far to spot Yugo. He was sitting in front of a fountain, not too far away, by himself. Yuya and Yuto were about to run over there when Crow showed up.
"Hey, Yugo!"
"Crow!"
"Sorry I'm late, I was just fixing my bike. Ready to duel?"
"Of course!"
Well, it looked like they would have to get past Crow. Or just ignore him. That was also an option. A very plausible option that they both liked.
"Yugo!" Yuya called.
"Huh? Who's that? And that guy with them? They look like me," Yugo wondered.
"Don't worry about it, Yugo. They're probably just fans. I bet they're fanatics who got surgery to look like you," Crow answered.
"Really?"
"No, Yugo! Don't listen to him! Think! You're forgetting something important!" Yuya shouted.
"Hey! I never forget anything!"
"Well, you remembered my face when you saw it on someone else, Fusion!" Yuto shouted.
"Not Fusion! It's Yugo! I wish Rin were here she never makes that mistake! Unlike everyone else I've met since she was kidnapped! Wait a minute..."
That would be how Yugo remembered everything.
Yugo ran away from Crow and to the other two versions of himself.
"Yuya! Other person who I apologize for mistaking for Yuri! What's going on?" Yugo wondered.
"My name is Yuto."
"Nice to meet you, Yuto."
Yuto nodded.
"We're trapped in some sort of dream world while Zarc is rampaging out in the real world," Yuya stated.
"Who's Zarc?" Yugo wondered.
"You remember when you went crazy and tried to become one with Yuri?" Yuya knew of that event. He wasn't there, but he could pretty much guess what happened.
"Yeah? Oh! I get it! Kind of. We're like the same person, but split up!"
Yuya and Yuto nodded.
"That explains why we all look alike! But what about Rin and Yuzu… And Serena I guess?"
Yuya and Yuto briefly explained the splitting of the dimensions and all that. Yugo looked a little mortified, but who wouldn't after figuring out a past version of yourself destroyed the entire world and could only be stopped by being forcibly split into four.
"Yugo! Why are you still talking to those two? Let's go duel!"
They had forgotten Crow was there.
"No way! You're not even real! I'm leaving!" Yugo shouted.
"Why would you want to? Isn't this everything you've ever wanted?"
"Not without Rin here! I wanted this together with her!"
Crow's appearance had changed like Shun's and Reiji's had. Speaking of Shun and Reiji, they appeared behind Crow now.
"Why can't you just enjoy this world without them?" all three of the monsters asked.
Yuya, Yuto, and Yugo pretty much ignored them. They were used to not letting people get to them with words, and that's all these creatures had.
"Now I guess we need to find Yuri," Yuya said.
"What? We don't need him!" Yugo exclaimed.
"We'll need all four of us to beat Zarc. Even Yuri," Yuto stated.
Yugo still wasn't happy about this.
"How are we going to find him?" Yugo wondered.
"We just need to focus and think about him," Yuya answered.
They all closed their eyes again, but this time they also joined hands. They barely knew anything about Yuri other than the fact that he was the most sadistic of them. Going along with Zarc's wishes. They were all a little scared.
They would not have been surprised if they had landed in the middle of Hell with Yuri as the ruler when they entered his dream world.
They were very surprised when they landed in a peaceful-looking meadow. They were almost certain they made some sort of mistake.
They knew that Yuri would have to be near by, so they looked around the general area. What they saw surprised them almost as much as ending up in a peaceful place.
They saw a child version of Yuri playing with child versions of them.
Yuya figured he shouldn't have been surprised. After the way Yuri acted when they met, it should have been obvious that this kid needed friendship.
Yuto and Yugo were just shocked. They hadn't expected Yuri to be like this at all. In his ideal world? Wow. Although, if Yuri was going to be friends with anyone, they weren't too surprised that it was the other versions of himself.
"Yuri!" Yuya called out.
The young-looking Yuri turned around and spotted Yuya, Yuto, and Yugo.
"Who're they? They look like an older version of you three!" Yuri was surprised.
"Ignore them. Let's just keep playing!" Young-Yuya exclaimed.
"Yeah! I want a rematch with you after you beat me last time!" Young-Yugo yelled.
"You'll just lose again like you always do," Young-Yuto stated.
Yuri laughed with them. He looked actually happy. And he wasn't killing people. This was strange.
"Yuri, don't get distracted!" Yuto yelled.
"This isn't real! If it was I would totally beat you!" Yugo shouted.
"You're forgetting something very important, Yuri! Remember!" Yuya exclaimed.
The Young-Yuya glared in their direction. Well, they knew where the monster guarding Yuri was.
Yuri was just confused. He never forgot anything! Did he? No, he didn't. He remembered everything! He was just awesome like that. Although he didn't remember much of his parents. He just knew that he had his brothers with him. And they never seemed bothered by their lack of a parents. They just played all the time. But shouldn't they be
doing other things?
Yeah, Yuri was definitely forgetting something. He felt like he was forgetting something important. But Yuri never forgot anything! Except his parents. But he had his brothers! But wait, wasn't Yuya angry at him before? Yuri could remember that, but he couldn't remember why.
"Dang it Yuri, stop thinking so slowly! Remember Serena? What about the other girls you kidnapped?" Yugo asked.
"Serena sounds familiar. Kidnapped? I haven't kidnapped anyone! At least not without being ordered to do that. Oh. Oh. Well, I don't know what else to say but sorry."
Yuri returned to his actual age, and the Young-Yuya changed into a monster like the others had.
"Are you going to leave, too?" it asked.
The other three monsters appeared beside it.
Yuya, Yuto, and Yugo were generally curious as to what Yuri's answer would be. He was the only one of them that actually wanted to become one of his own free will, so he would probably want to stay. But he also seemed to like them, and they didn't want to stay.
"Give me a minute to think things through," Yuri responded.
He looked to the others for an explanation.
Yuya and Yuto gave him the same explanation of Zarc and the world splitting that they gave Yugo. Yuri accepted this, but he looked a little sad.
"I used to want to be the last one alive. But then I met you guys! You all probably hate my guts, and I wouldn't blame you, but I don't want to be split up again!" Yuri exclaimed.
"So you're going to stay?" the monsters all asked.
"Of course not! I want to be with them in the real world!" Yuri responded.
"But it's just as good to be with them in here. Better, even! It's just you four, and nobody else. Nobody to bother you or get in the way. And you can have whatever you want here! You would never have to worry about anything ever again."
It was really creepy how all of the monsters would speak together.
"I can have anything I want in the real world, too. I don't need this dream world to get it," Yuri retorted.
"Anything you want? You are strong. But can you really have their friendship? After everything you did?" The monsters seemed to be talking about Yuya, Yuto and Yugo.
"What does the friendship even mean if it's just an illusion?" Yuri stated, although he hesitated.
It was at this point that they noticed Yuri crying.
"Don't listen to them, Yuri!" Yuya shouted.
"Yeah! I may have hated you at first, but I've actually met you now, and you seem like a pretty cool guy when you aren't kidnapping my friend," Yugo added.
"I'm not sure if that's helping, Yugo. But the same goes for me," Yuto said.
Yuri smiled and seemed a little shocked.
"See? I don't need you!" Yuri practically laughed in the monsters' face.
The four dragon boys gathered around in a circle. They held each other's hands.
"How do we get out of here?" Yuri asked.
"We could get from dream world to dream world by thinking of the person we wanted to get to," Yuto stated.
"Maybe if we think about the real world and all of our friends there we can escape that way!" Yuya suggested.
"It's worth a try," Yugo stated.
They all held hands and concentrated. Yuto thought of Ruri and Shun, and all of his comrades in the XYZ dimension. Yugo thought of Rin and his idol, Jack. Yuri didn't have any friends, but he thought of all the people he hurt that he wanted to help now. Yuya thought of Yuzu, his parents, his friends in Standard, and the lancers.
And then they woke up.