Yu-Gi-Oh Arc V - Ending Redux

by NavyWave22

I, like many did not like the ending to Arc V. So I thought I'd do something about it, and upload my own version. This takes the events that happened in the last 8 episodes of Arc V after the duel with Zarc, and then changes and expands upon them. The duels will contain anime versions of cards as well as fan made ones too. Now contains redux 2 from chapter 17 onwards.

22. Redux 2 6

Chapter 6 - Mist cloaked Utopia

Three duellists land on a dust-covered floor. Shun, Kaito, and Shark stand in a triangle pattern as they take a moment to take in their new surroundings. They are all met with the same, chilling thought of familiarity. A cool breeze runs through torn-down brick, and decaying rubble surrounding them. The colour on the city remains has long since disappeared, leaving only a lifeless grey. "This is..." Kaito proclaims, his voice sounding broken as if someone was gripping his heart when he breathed, "Heartland." Shark finished, staring upwards to what's left of the skyline, gazing upon the tomb of the Heartland tower.

The air is filled with a thick smog of ash and dust. "Is this an illusion?" Kaito asks, kicking the heel of his boot against a piece of brick. Shun remains silent, instead just walks ahead of the group. Shark picks up a rock off the ground, and tosses it at a sheet of glass, shattering it, "Or a made memory. I'd rather not stay here too long for this to affect me." The lack of sound in the world makes it easy for the two to hear Shun's footsteps in the distance as he moves closer towards Heartland tower. "Shun," Kaito says under his breath.

The two catch up to him, keeping some distance between them. "You think the one we're after is this way?" Kaito asks. "Or is this a split up and don't bother me, kind of deal?" Shark remarks. Shun stops in place, keeping his body facing the tower's remains. "Reiji said that there's a tower here holding up the barrier to Zarc." He looks up to the tower, "Zarc is an arrogant bastard. So if he'd place a tower in Heartland, he'd put it here."

At that moment the ground starts to shake. The silence is broken by the rumbling of the buildings, and malicious laughter. "Look!" Kaito points at the tower as the remains start to crack all over. Suddenly, the tower bursts into rubble and debris as a second tower sprouts out of the ground where the first one once stood. This one is made from metal with mechanical pieces and wiring sticking out of it; looking like an eyesore. The ground stops shaking, but the laughter remains. "Welcome to Heartland!" A voice calls out from above the trio.

A sparkle is seen falling from the top of the tower. It falls at a great speed before crashing into the ground. The trio shields their eyes and covers their mouths as dust and sand are blasted from the impact. When the dust settles, a figure slowly walks out. With black and red hair and dark, worn clothes, the silhouette from the dust reveals themself as a person. "Make yourself at home. I've just got done remodeling the place." He stands there with a devilish smile, as if proud of himself. The trio's expressions are a mix of shock, anger, and annoyance. "You did this?" Kaito asks, sizing their opponent up. The stranger looks around with a smug face, dusting their knuckle on their vest, "Not bad, right? I'm used to my granny doing the modeling, but I figured I'd take a swing at it."

"Okay. So now that we know what you did, tell us who you are. Only manners," Shark reclaims, followed up with a mocking smile, "Or did your granny not teach you any?" Their opponent scoffs, but keeps a gleeful face, "Oh, that's probably the most damage you'll do to me. But fair is fair. My name is Yuma. And I am a champion." The tower behind him starts to light up, sparks emit from its body. "What's it doing?" Shark asks. Yuma just waves his hand, "Who knows? My master just left me here to wait for someone to tear it down," One of Yuma's eyes turns a darker red as he activates the duel disk on his arm, "and stop them!"

The trio turns their duel disks on in response, each taking a stance against him. "Okay, there's three of us, but that doesn't mean we can underestimate him. Zarc took on the lancers alone and was..." Kaito tries to warn the others, but Shun snaps, "You dragged me back into this war. I'll fight my battles my own way." With a quick smirk, Yuma claps his hands, "Well said. Now with time not on your side, let's do this."

DUEL!

Kaito 4000 LP

Shun 4000 LP

Shark 4000 LP

VS.

Yuma 4000 LP

Yuma draws his opening hand, "Since this is my world, I'll start the duel." He takes a monster from his hand and summons it, a golden knight holding a sphere in each hand. "I summon Overlay Knight. When Overlay Knight is used as an Xyz material, I can attach another copy from my deck to the monster that was summoned."

[Overlay Knight LV 4 Light Warrior ATK 1400]

Kaito is quick to point out, "You can't xyz summon with just one monster. So why bother telling us that?" Yuma takes another card out of his hand, "That's right, I can't. However," Yuma activates a spell card, '' with the spell, Solid Overlay. I can treat this spell as a level 4 monster for a Xyz summon." Both the spell card and knight collide into a ring of stars on the ground, "Using my level 4 Solid Overlay, and Overlay Knight, I Xyz summon!" From the ground rises a warrior made of black and gold, branded with the number 39 on its shoulder. "Rise from hell, and shape the world into its true beauty, Xyz summon, Rank 4, Dark Branded 39: Dystopia!"

[Dystopia Rank 4 Dark Warrior XYZ ATK 2500]

"And now, because of my Overlay Knight, I can attach another copy from my deck to my deck to Dystopia." Three orbs hover around the axis of the monster. "Seeing how you don't like me explaining my monster's effects, I'll keep my mouth shut on what my ace does. Instead, I'll just set three cards face down, and leave it at that." Yuma ends his turn with this decaying looking warrior and three mystery cards.

Kaito is the first person to step up to the field as if something was calling him forward. "Draw!" Kaito weighs his options in his head before continuing. "I normal summon Cipher Wing. And because I control another Cipher, I can special summon a second copy from my hand too." With two mechanical wings on the field, he sets up his field.

[Wing Level 4 Light Machine ATK 1400]

"I now activate the spell, Double Exposure. With it, I target both my Cipher Wings and double their levels. Turning them from level 4 to 8." Without needing a command, both monsters collide into their own spiral of stars in the ground, "Using both level 8 Cipher Wings, I build the overlay network." Bursting from the network comes Kaito's majestic blue and purple dragon, "Xyz summon! Rank 8, Galaxy-Eyes Cipher Dragon!"

[Galaxy-Eyes Rank 8 Light Dragon Xyz ATK 3000]

"I activate the Galaxy-Eyes effect. By detaching one material from my dragon, I can gain control of your monster and turn it into a clone of Galaxy-Eyes." Galaxy-Eyes detaches a material from itself and starts to shine a light on Yuma's monster. "I activate Dystopia's effect. By detaching a material when a targeted attack or effect involves itself, I can negate then destroy a monster you control." Dystopia breaks the light and grabs Galaxy-Eyes by the neck. "As well, I can choose to burn you with its attack or have Dystopia gain the power until the end of the turn. I choose to gain rather than subtract." Dystopia slams Galaxy-Eyes into the ground, destroying it.

[Dystopia ATK 2500 - 5500]

"I'm not finished. I activate my trap card, Rising Mist. Each time one of my Xyz monsters activates an effect, this trap gains a counter." The continuous trap stands face up with a dark aura around it. The floor is semi-covered by a thin fog from the trap, it creates an ominous feeling in the duel.

"I'll set one card face-down, and end my turn with that." Kaito's monster is gone, but his will to continue remains strong, keeping a little bit of defense in the face of a tyrant-like monster. "I couldn't do much on my turn, but at least now the others know what Yuma's Dystopia does." Kaito thinks to himself, "But something is weird. If he could burn me, why did he choose to power up his monster? Something isn't right here. As well, there's something familiar about this duellist."

[Dystopia ATK 5500 - 2500]

Shun steps onto the field. "Draw. By paying 1000 life points, I activate the spell, Xyz Incarnation. I target an Xyz monster in the graveyard, then summon a different one with 1 rank lower." The overlay network opens without the materials. "I target Galaxy-Eyes Cipher Dragon in the graveyard to summon a Raidraptor." From the spiral comes a large, mechanical falcon, "Xyz Summon! Rank 7! Arsenal Falcon!"

[Shun LP 4000 - 3000]

[Arsenal Rank 7 Dark Winged-Beast Xyz ATK 2500]

"Our monsters are equal in attack points. When they both collide, both will be destroyed." Kaito is alarmed by this display, "This isn't right. Shun is passionate when he duels, but this is reckless. He's barely used anything else in his hand." Shun enters the battle phase, "Battle! I attack Dystopia!" Arsenal Falcon soars out of the sky to attack Yuma's monster head-on. "Idiot! I detach one material from Dystopia to negate the attack, and destroy your falcon." Dystopia grabs one of its materials and turns it into a sword. With a swing of its arm, the sword slices through the Falcon, destroying it. "And once again, my trap card gains a counter, and Dystopia gains the damage as attack…." Yuma is cut off by laughter. Shun is covered by the dust cloud made from the attack. "And you called me an idiot." As the dust begins to settle, a blinding light starts to shine from the cloud. Hovering off the ground was a new monster, one that seemed to be modelled after Rise Falcon, but was sleeker with bright white and gold colours. "When Arsenal Falcon is destroyed, I can summon another Raidraptor, then attach itself to that monster. I used my previous monster to summon the Rank 4 Raidraptor - Salvation Falcon!"

[Salvation Rank 4 Light Winged-Beast Xyz DEF 2500]

[Dystopia ATK 2500 - 5000]

"Next, I use the effect of Raidraptor - Overlay Lanius in my hand. I can attach it to my monster as material, then increase its attack and defense by 500." Shun places three of the remaining cards in his hand facedown. "I'll set three cards and then end my turn." Moving into the defensive, Kaito's worries have been calmed for now, "This is more like it. I've never seen that monster before, but if the name and those facedown are anything to go by. It's probably something to counter Dystopia."

[Dystopia ATK 5000 - 2500]

[Salvation DEF 2500 - 3000]

"I guess it's my turn now." Shark steps forward next, "Hopefully you haven't forgotten about me." Shark draws for the turn. "I summon Buzzsaw Shark in attack mode. Next, I'll activate its effect to summon another Shark from my deck in defense. I can't use its effect this turn, but that won't be an issue." A card slides out of his deck and he summons it. "I'll summon Lantern Shark from my deck." Shark's field is now alive with two fierce, predator sharks on his side.

[Buzzsaw Level 4 Water Fish ATK 1600]

[Lantern Level 4 Water Fish DEF 900]

"Now then, it may benefit to know this, but Buzzsaw and Lantern have this neat trick. Despite being level 4, when used to xyz summon a water monster, they can substitute as level 3 or 5. And that's exactly what's going to happen." The two monsters turn into the material and create the overlay network, "Using both Sharks as level 5, I build the overlay network." From the spiral, a hulking, unhuman-looking warrior rises out, carrying a large spear. "Xyz summon! Rank 5! Valiant Shark Lancer!"

[Shark Lancer Rank 5 Beast-Warrior Xyz ATK 2500]

"I use its effect to target your Dystopia to destroy it." Shark Lancer prepares to use its lance to catch one of its materials. "Are all of you dense? I use Dystopia's effect to negate the effect, and destroy Lancer!" Dystopia detaches its last material, Yuma's trap gains its third counter. As needles sprout from Dystopia into Shark Lancer's body, they are immediately broken off by a bright light, "What?!" The light came from Salvation Falcon. "As long as my Salvation Falcon has a material, our monsters can survive destruction at least once per turn." Shark looks to Shun, "I'm surprised you came to my save." Shun remains stoic, "Regardless of what's between us, you're still my ally, and I refuse to lose anymore."

Yuma can't help but laugh, "Aw how touching. Friends sticking together. Hear my warning, they'll throw you away soon enough. It's a tale as old as time." He bites his lip, drawing a little blood, "Well, regardless of you surviving Dystopia. I have more than that. I activate my trap, Weapon Call! I can summon another monster from my deck." A small black knight appears on Yuma's field, "I summon Zarc Weapon - Evil Caliburn." The knight starts to transform, morphing its body into a sword, "Then I can equip my monster to Dystopia."

[Evil Caliburn Level 3 Dark Warrior ATK 300]

[Dystopia ATK 2500 - 2800]

"Once per either player's turn, when equipped with Caliburn, I can destroy one of your monsters with fewer attack points. This time, Lancer dies!" Wielding the large sword, Dystopia strikes the ground. The aftershock hits Lancer, destroying it. A dust cloud is formed, hiding the trio from Yuma. As the dust settles, Yuma is shocked to see a monster on all player's fields. Kaito has his Galaxy-Eyes back, but Shark has a smaller version of Shark Lancer. "What is this?"

"Okay, idiot, let us explain." Kaito responds, "Because you summoned Evil Caliburn on Shark's turn, I could use my face down Cipher Encounter to revive my Galaxy-Eyes to the field in defense mode." Shark follows along, "As for me when you destroyed Valiant, I used a spell that banished it from the graveyard to summon another Xyz with a lower rank. Yuma, let me introduce you to Black Ray Lancer."

[Galaxy-Eyes DEF 2500]

[Black Ray Lancer Rank 3 Dark Beast-Warrior Xyz ATK 2100]

"My turn to talk. I activate the trap, Xyz United Front. By targeting the weakest Xyz monster on the field, it gains the collective defense of all other Xyz monsters allied to it. So Black Ray Lancer gains power from both Galaxy-Eyes and Salvation Falcon." Black Ray Lancer lifts its lance to the sky as power surges through its body, turning it gold.

[Lancer ATK 2100 - 7600]

"Battle! I attack Dystopia with Black Ray Lancer!" Black Ray Lancer comes in with what would be the final attack of the game. "I activate my trap!" Yuma shouts as the two monsters clash. An explosion erupts from the two, sending all duellists back. Yuma gets up off the ground, clutching his arm as he stares out at his near empty field. "Dystopian Crisis. If my life points would hit zero while I control Dystopia, I can make my life points 10, and survive. As well, I can revive Dystopia during the end phase."

[Yuma LP 4000 - 10]

"I'll set two cards facedown, and end my turn with that." Black Ray Lancer's attack points return to normal. The ground cracks and breaks as Dystopia returns to the field, looking more worn and beaten up. "I hope you're happy." Yuma gasps, trying to catch their breath. "Very", Shark mocks, "How do you feel now?" Yuma's eyes narrow, "Oh, I'll tell you how I'm feeling. I'm starting to feel the flow!"

To be continued.