Hello everyone! Tohka Yatogami here with, after quite the long absence due to taking a writing break to deal with my burnout, a brand-new story update!
First thing I wanna say is, while I can't say that it's time for me to fully get back into the writing game just yet? I can say that said break from it has been helpful. However, in order to see just how much it's helped me so far, I decided to get my feet wet by making a new story for a franchise I've already tried doing and felt confident about reattempting.
So, why did I pick Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V out of all my options? The reason is that unlike my other canned stories, what killed my old Arc-V story had mainly been my poor choices of where to start it and how to fix it.
Not only that, but said story's been on my mind as of lately, so I've really been paying attention to all the things that went wrong. For those reasons, it just made sense to go with Arc-V, especially since I'm feeling confident with this new idea I have in mind.
Some of you might have already seen the preview over on AO3, where I had originally intended for this story to be the first of many adoptable ideas, so I hope you enjoy the official story that it's now become. For those who never got to see it? Let's just say the first chapter will partially tell you what kind of story this is, as I made sure that the summary did not.
Now, here are a few details I'd like to cover in advance:
1. This isn't a crossover, though the story will treat the Original Series to Arc-V as being a single timeline. Specifically, it's a century after ZEXAL, and the in-universe reason for the lack of Synchro Monsters was as an extra precaution to prevent 5Ds' bad future, while the return of them and returning popularity of Fusion Monsters was due to the Barian War making many believe it was too dangerous to only focus on one Extra Deck method.
2. All of the Bracelet Girls will have expanded roles! Scratch that, way expanded roles, considering what I'm planning for them!
3. There are still only Four Dimensions, with the story treating the Standard Dimension as the Original Dimension after it became technologically regressed from the absence of the Extra Deck methods preventing inventions like the Ener-D Reactor from being created. Despite that, I do have some ideas linked to Ritual Summoning.
4. All of the Arc-V characters will go by their Japanese names, though certain cards and archetypes may go by their English names depending on what I find is easier to remember and/or think fits better, one example of the latter being Sora's archetypes.
5. Some of you might not like this one, but... the Legacy characters will be replaced with characters who are simply their descendants. My reason for this one is, while a cool idea on paper? I felt this put them under some impossibly high standards because we already knew them. Only three of them met said standards in my eyes, with those being Kaito and Jack overall, and Crow during the Synchro arc.
Luckily, these descendants aren't OCs, but other characters from the franchise, including the manga and video games. Allen will also, due to his surname, be one of the descendants due to the strong similarities he has to Anna Kozuki, who had quite the minor role in ZEXAL despite how things like the openings had implied she'd be an important character. Plus, ZEXAL only had a single Legacy character compared to GX and 5Ds having two. Who the other 5 descendants are will be revealed over time, but I think at least one of my choices will get a few readers excited.
So, with all of that covered? Let's get this chapter started!
[Chapter 1 - Shadows of Despair]
The scene opened up to a large city, one that could look like a series of floating artificial islands if seen from the right distance.
It had actual floating islands made from artificial landmass, with cybernetics like that of cinematic cyborgs built into their sides alongside the genuine landmass that was connected by many bridges, and many buildings with coloration matching the sky that only further aided the illusion it was some kind of sky metropolis. However, at the moment, it was almost entirely empty of people.
"Come on, come on, come one." Someone quietly repeated to themselves.
A light screeching sound was heard as a monorail train came to a stop.
"Finally!" They shouted.
Such a shout surprised many inside as the train's doors opened up, and the one who shouted immediately dashed out as fast as their feet could manage.
"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!"
"Crap! It's already started!"
The mystery runner began to double time it as they ran out of the monorail station and into the city, surprising a person walking their dog as they were almost hit by their sprinting form.
"Hey! Watch where you're going, lady!" The pedestrian yelled, raising his fist.
"Sorry sir, but I'm late for the championship!" The female runner apologized.
The dog owner then saw her face and gasped, immediately recognizing the person who ran past him.
"Wait a minute, was that...?" He realized.
It was then that the runner in question jumped over a wall, slowing her for long enough to reveal she was Ray Akaba, a Pro among the Duel Monsters circuit. She had long hair that was maroon and dark red in color, which she styled in long twin tails that reached to the ends of her shoulders and bangs with a noticeable angling to them, which highlighted her similarly colored violet eyes. Her figure was tall, being only a head shorter than her father yet of similar height to many male Duelists who were at the end of their teenage years like herself, yet fit while having some noticeable curves to it.
Her outfit, which highlighted said figure, consisted of what looked like a long-sleeved waist dress with an aqua torso area, and pants that would make one think it was styled after a less form fitting version of a Riding Suit used for Turbo Duels, both of which were white and pink sans the aqua color on only the former's torso area. Her shoes were also white, with pink straps and wedges that pushed her heels a good amount off the ground. Topping it all was the proof she was a Duelist, a thigh strap on her left leg that held her deck, and a pair of white sunglasses with pink lenses that currently rested above her bangs.
'Come on Ray, hurry! You told Zarc that you'd be there for the Championship Match, and you're going to keep that promise!' She thought to herself.
As she weaved around the streets, bridges, and even a lush park filled with greenery, the sound of loud cheering started to grow. It was then that the city's nearly empty state was explained, as the sounds were echoing out from a huge stadium where the missing population was currently gathered for the event of the year.
The finals of the World Dueling Championship, where a group of four Duelists were currently having a match to decide who'd be crowned as the next Duel Monsters Champion of the world. One of which was her boyfriend, Zarc, who was the current favorite to win, and that she had promised to watch since she had been out of town for the past month.
"LET'S DUEL!"
The few remaining people not in the stadium began to notice Ray rush by, and knew why she wasn't stopping for a taxi or any similar type of ride to the stadium. With nearly the entire city in the stadium by now, any people who normally did said jobs had either taken the day off or had already gone there, leaving her no choice but to run there with her own two feet.
After around half an hour since she began her sprint, and at least half that time since the Duel's first turn had begun, Ray finally neared the stadium's entrance. She quickly pulled out her Duelist ID and used her free hand to jump over the gate as she swung the ID over the scanner. With heavy breaths leaving her mouth as she bypassed all the remaining hurdles a civilian would have to through, Ray finally saw the light coming from a certain section of the stands, and came to a stop as she walked through it to see the arena.
"Finally... I'm here. I made it in time..." She breathed, putting her hands on her knees.
"Ray!"
Her eyes moved up as she see a man with dark-skinned and short hair in a buzz cut style, wearing a white lab coat that had sea blue accents and gray sleeves, waving an arm towards her.
"Dad!" She smiled.
Letting out a remaining few breaths, Ray walked towards her father and took the seat next to his.
"It's good to have you back." Leo smiled.
"It's great to be back." She smiled back.
The reason Ray had been gone so long was because she had been, on her father's behalf, traveling across the countryside to showcase a new variant of his Real Solid Vision system that would be safe for young Duelists to use. Ray knew how important this was to her father and didn't hesitate to accept his request, as he worked on the technology to preserve his strongest connection with her late mother, who had been a Duelist herself.
Ray was glad that Zarc, due to how he played a large part in helping her father make Real Solid Vision a reality, had been such an understanding boyfriend when she told him about it. Knowing that she'd miss most of this year's World Dueling Championship, and being certain he'd win the crown, he simply made her promise that she'd make it back by the final match as his way of supporting him. Ray had kept her end of that promise, and now Zarc simply had to win this Battle Royale for his greatest dream to come true.
"How much did I miss?" Ray asked.
"Only the first 8 Turns, but that was enough for Zarc to take the lead as he's been for this entire tournament. I doubt anyone here thinks he'll fail to win now." Leo answered.
"As if there was ever any doubt." She agreed.
Looking at the arena, Ray's gaze fully took in the Action Field they were used for the duel, which she didn't recognize. It was styled after a rocky grassland with large stones jutting out of the ground like small cliffsides.
Standing in corner that was directly in front of where she and her father sat was Zarc himself, who was currently riding on top of his Odd-Eyes Dragon as he would usually do in most of his duels.
"Zarc!" She shouted.
Recognizing his girlfriend's voice, Zarc briefly turned around to look at her, and smiled in response. He had had silver hair with light green highlights in a shape similar to that of Kaito Tenjou if his hair spiked out on the sides, with golden yellow eyes Ray noticed looked more tired than they usually did.
His attire consisted of a blue and white jacket with orange borders, somewhat like a Riding Suit, with a black undershirt. His hands were covered in thick brown gloves, matching the brown chaps on his black pants that also had faded gold knee pads, dark-blue suspenders with faded gold buckles hanging from a brown belt with two large holsters, and a large faded gold buckle. Finishing it off were his brown shoes that had dark-blue outlines and straps.
Odd-Eyes was a red Dragon with cream plating on parts of its body, two blue orbs attached to the one on its chest, and golden crest on its head that gave him a beak of sorts. However, its most notable trait was the one it was named after, a green left eye and red right eye.
"There you are! Cutting it a little close, don't you think?" Zarc teased, knowing she was late because he had looked at the stands in advance.
"Yeah, guilty as charged there, though what about you? I don't think I've ever seen you look so tired before." Ray replied, noticing his eyes.
That made him pause for a moment, then give off an awkward laugh in response.
"Well, considering how far much everyone wants to win? I've really had to show off for the crowd. This Duel isn't any different. No need to worry, I'll take a nap after this." He replied, before turning his attention back to the Duel.
Ray felt his reply sound a little unusual, and looked at her father, who noticed the concern in her eyes.
"Is Zarc really OK? I know he likes to work the crowd, but that isn't his usual fatigued look." She asked.
"Did you not see any of his Duels on TV while you were gone?" Her father asked.
"Dad, I had to teach children. Multiple children. Any free time I had was used to either eat or sleep." Ray replied.
Leo said nothing at first, recalling how even Ray acted no different at that age.
"Right... well, it's likely because of how more action is going into these Duels." He answered.
"More action?" Ray asked, tilting her head in confusion.
"Since you've been gone, people have started to Duel more like Zarc does, so he's been trying really hard to be flashy." Leo clarified.
"Wait, really? So his Entertainment Dueling is finally spreading like he wanted?" Ray realized.
"Rather than take my word for it, you should see it for yourself." Leo said, smirking slightly.
She pouted at that, then turned back to the field to see who was Dueling against Zarc, and what a lineup it was! Directly opposite from where Zarc stood was No. 9, the masked Duelist, who she had faced once before. No one knew his civilian identity, which fit how he was best known for his misdirection-based style of Dueling.
To Zarc's left was a tall, muscular man wearing a brown vest and a bronze helmet on his head. This man called himself "The Emperor", which he would always emphasize had both words start with capital letters, and was best known for his Monsters having high ATK and strong effects.
And on his right stood a woman with scarlet red hair, and a sort of workout outfit that was mostly red with some white mixed in. Fitting the color of her hair, she went by the alias of Scarlet Queen and ran a deck focused on the effects of weaker Monsters and cards that activated from the Graveyard.
Looking at the field, Ray saw The Emperor and Scarlet Queen both had their ace cards on the field, while No. 9 had no Monsters but left a few Spells or Traps he could set off if the right moment presented itself.
"My turn, Draw!" Zarc shouted, creating a small gust from the force of his draw.
Zarc: 6800 LP
The Emperor: 8000 LP
Scarlet Queen: 7250 LP
No. 9: 5500 LP
Looking at what he drew, the audience saw a grin appear on his face.
"Watch closely everyone, because I'm winning this now!" He declared.
Those words made the crowd cheer.
"You just heard it here, folks! Zarc has declared he's about to win! Now, let's see what kind of finale he's gonna give us!" The MC announced.
Zarc played a card before raising his arm into the air, and a Fusion vortex formed above his head, sucking a pair of Monsters in his hand inside.
"Purple Dragon that devours all, unleash your fangs against all who stand before you!" Zarc chanted.
"FUSION SUMMON!"
A purple Dragon with two large golden horns, with both yellow or red orbs and multiple mouths strewn across its body, appeared on the field.
"Rise! Level 7, Starve Venom Dragon!" Zarc announced.
The Dragon let out a loud roar.
"Huh?" Ray blinked in surprise.
Odd-Eyes soon let out a roar alongside its sibling Dragon, which caused Ray to tense up slightly. Though she didn't give the feeling too much mind and brushed it to the side.
Zarc then Special Summoned a Tuner from his hand, which summoned one of No. 9's Monsters in the Graveyard onto his field. Said Tuner transformed into Synchro Rings and No. 9's Monster flew into them, turning its body into a green outline.
"White Dragon that rules the skies, spread your wings against those who stand in your way!" Zarc chanted.
"SYNCHRO SUMMON!"
A white Dragon with some dark gray, nearly black plating and a few blue crests came into view. It stomped its legs onto the ground and unfolding a pair of sharp wings, with a green glow coming off of them before they faded to show a zebra stripe pattern they shared with its tail.
"Rise! Level 7! Clear Wing Dragon!" Zarc announced.
It let out a roar, and its sibling Dragons did the same.
"H...u...p...!"
That strange noise surprised Ray greatly, making her eyes widen.
'Wait a second, are the Dragons... speaking to me!?' She realized.
But why were they?
Despite it was now common knowledge, people still didn't know why only certain people could talk to Duel Spirits beyond you had to be born with the ability. She and Zarc both had it, and it was why her father's Real Solid Vision technology was ever finished. Though now that she thought about it... why didn't Odd-Eyes greet her after she got Zarc's attention?
'I mean, sure, his Dragons aren't always in a mood to talk, but I'm certain that Odd-Eyes would have said something after not seeing me for an entire month.' Ray wondered.
She tightened her fists, grabbing onto her shirt.
'I hope that I'm just being paranoid.' Ray prayed.
Zarc then played a card that Special Summoned two Monsters with the same levels as Starve Venom and Clear Wing.
"Overlay!" Zarc shouted.
A galaxy portal appeared in midair, and the two Monsters turned into colored energy matching their Attributes before they were sucked inside, and made the portal burst.
"Black Dragon of the silent night, slash and rebel against those standing in your way!" Zarc chanted.
"XYZ SUMMON!"
A Dragon with skin that was a violet to dark blue with black and gray plating across its skin appeared, with sharp wings that released electrical charges every few seconds appeared. It had sharp claws, two sets of horns, and a sharp pair of mandible-like teeth growing from its lower jaw.
"Rise! Rank 7, Dark Rebellion Dragon!" Zarc announced.
The crowd cheered in response.
"And with that move, Zarc's four Dragons are gathered on the field!" The MC shouted.
Once again, the Dragons let out a fierce roar. However, unlike the prior two instances, they all roared at the same time.
When Ray heard it this time, she gasped loudly in response, having finally heard their various messages loud and clear.
"Ray, are you alright? You look a little pale." Leo asked, having noticed her reaction.
She didn't immediately answer, feeling the words each Dragon's roar said echoing through her head.
"Help us, please!" Odd-Eyes begged, pain in its voice.
"Too much... bloodlust!" Starve Venom struggled to say.
"I can't hear Zarc!" Clear Wing shouted.
"So much... so much darkness, it's too much! Too much!" Dark Rebellion shrieked, shaking slightly.
Ray felt herself shaking a little, right as Zarc swung his hand forward and smirked.
"Starve Venom's effect activates!"
Starve Venom roared as two of the mouths on its sides shot out, connected to vines, towards all the other Monsters currently on the field. The Emperor reacted by Special Summoning a Monster to stop Starve Venom's effect in its tracks, but upon activating its effect...
"Clear Wing's effect activates!" Zarc countered.
"Say what!?" The Emperor exclaimed in shock.
Clear Wing released a pair of green beams from its wings at the new Monster, destroying it and then gaining more ATK.
Without anything to stop it, Starve Venom's mouths bit both the opposing Monsters and drained their effects. By extension, this made it gain their current ATK points and exceed Clear Wing's in an instant.
"I use both of Dark Rebellion's overlay units!" Zarc continued, his smirk growing.
"Treason Discharge!"
Dark Rebellion gobbled both its Overlay units as they came near, which caused electricity to shoot from its wings and zap both Monsters.
Both of them lost half their ATK points, which Dark Rebellion then gained for itself, now between Clear Wing and Starve Venom's respective ATK boosts.
"Now, I play my Trap card!"
Odd-Eyes roared as its body glowed white, and its ATK rose by 1000 three times because the other three Dragons' current ATK exceed their original values. Ray then felt her eyes shrink as she heard them all scream, as if the ATK boosts were actually harmful.
"Help us!"
"Please, save Zarc!"
"It hurts!"
"No more!"
Zarc swung his hand down, pointing towards No. 9 as all of his set Spells and Traps were destroyed.
"Battle! Odd-Eyes, attack No. 9 directly!" He then declared.
Odd-Eyes reared its head back, fire forming within its jaws.
"Spiral Flame!"
The blaze blasted out of its mouth and slammed into No. 9, making him scream as he was slammed into one of the arena's walls. The crowd cheered at the result while Ray could only stare at the act, and how no one seemed to care if No. 9 was hurt, in horror.
No. 9: 0 LP
"Clear Wing, attack Scarlet Queen's Monster!" Zarc declared, now pointing at it.
Clear Wing flew up into the sky, and then began to spin as a green cyclone formed around it before it sped up.
"Helldive Whirlwind Slasher!"
Scarlet Queen's Monster was sliced into ribbons, and she let out a scream as the strong wind knocked her back, and made her tumble onto her stomach.
Scarlet Queen: 2850 LP
"Dark Rebellion, finish her!" Zarc declared.
Flapping its wings, the dark Dragon immediately zoomed forward as the fangs on its lower jaw began to glow from their electricity and aimed towards the arena floor.
"Lightning Rebellion Disobey!"
The ground began to rip apart as Dark Rebellion's jaw cut through it, eventually making Scarlet Queen let out a high-pitched scream as its jaw swung up to toss her high up in the air. This made Ray gasp again, finding this act just as horrifying.
Scarlet Queen: 0 LP
Starve Venom stomped the ground as its fist began to shake and glow.
"Starve Venom's other effect will now activate, allowing me to use your Monster's ability to attack twice as its own!" Zarc revealed.
"But... that means!" The Emperor panicked, stepping back.
"It means you lose! So, get ready for... the grand finale!" Zarc confirmed, his eyes tensing as he said the last part.
He rose his arm up before quickly swinging it back down.
"Starve Venom, attack The Emperor and his monster! Finish this Duel this once and for all!" Zarc ordered.
Starve Venom roared as it jumped into the air, raising its energy covered fist up high before falling down.
"Massacre Fang Smash!"
The Dragon's fist struck the ground, causing cracks that spread and completely devastated the entire battleground. The Emperor saw his monster skewered before screaming as he was caught in the crossfire, and thrown into the barrier keeping the audience safe before he fell, hitting the ground with a thud as he blacked out.
The Emperor: 0 LP
WINNER: Zarc!
At that moment, the crowd exploded as Zarc took his spot at the center of the arena as the Action Field's remaining rubble disappeared. Despite this, Ray didn't feel any joy over what she had just witnessed, and suddenly put a hand over her heart as she felt pain surge through her body and fell onto her knees.
"Ray, what's wrong!?" Leo asked, starting to panic.
"The Dragons..." She said, not looking at her father.
This caught his attention.
"What do you mean? What about Zarc's Dragons?" Leo asked, knowing that this wasn't normal by any means.
"All four of them... they were calling to me, terrified and in pain. They keep saying that something's wrong with Zarc!" Ray explained, finally looking at him as he saw the utter horror now in her eyes.
Leo still didn't understand what she meant since, unlike Zarc and herself, he didn't have the ability to understand the spirits of Duel Monsters. However, he didn't have long to think about it as Zarc began speaking.
"Is this really it? Is there truly no one else who can challenge me!?" He demanded, his eyes shaking dangerously.
'His eyes... something is definitely off here.' Leo noticed, noticing that Zarc wasn't smiling.
"When did this kind of dueling start?" Ray asked.
Leo ignored the crowd answering Zarc through their cheers, then he looked at his daughter, whose terrified expression hadn't faded in the slightest.
"Dad, when was the first time Zarc began Dueling like this? What Duel made people want to see these... these atrocities!?" She questioned, fearing the answer she'd get.
"Back in his first match, when he accidentally injured his opponent after his final attack sent their Monster flying." He revealed.
A loud gasp escaped Ray's mouth.
"It caused his opponent to bleed slightly, so I made sure the Real Solid Vision had new safeguards added to prevent such an accident from repeating itself. Though the crowd had gained a desire to see the Duelists being more directly involved in the duels, and soon enough, everyone started doing the same. Zarc quickly followed as he essentially set the new standard-" Leo continued.
"And he's suffocating!" She realized.
His explanation ceased right then and there, but before he could ask her what she meant by those words, Zarc had continued his speech.
"Are all of you satisfied yet? Was this Duel enough, or do you want to see even more!?" Zarc questioned the crowd.
"Heck no! There's no way we're satisfied with just this!" Someone shouted excitedly.
"Show us an even more awesome Duel, Zarc!" Another person added, feeling pumped up after what he saw.
"More! More! More!"
The audience continuously shouted different variants of saying they wanted more or for Zarc to continue, showing no sign of being satisfied with what they had already seen.
"No! Stop this madness!" Ray screamed.
Hearing all of this, Zarc's eyes continued shaking as he put a hand over his eyes. The sound of his breathing getting heavy could be heard, slowly getting deeper in pitch as everyone failed to realize what they had done.
"Selfish... truly selfish!" Zarc suddenly stated.
This caught the crowd's attention as his hands came down, and revealed his eyes to the audience once more. Eyes that had turned blood red, with his pupils glowing the same color as his smirk turned into a wicked grin.
"Your bloodlust truly has no bounds! If you really want to see me fight more, then I'll give it to you! I will become strong enough to destroy the entire world!" He declared.
"What did he say!?" Leo questioned in disbelief.
"Now awaken my mighty Dragons, and fight your now foes! Destroy all of humanity!" Zarc ordered.
The same four Dragons that had just made Zarc a Champion suddenly manifested despite the Real Solid Vision now being offline, making everyone start to laugh at the apparent prank they believed Zarc was making.
"Sound the horn of Armageddon!" He ordered.
Each Dragon let out an energy beam of a separate color, causing a red, green, blue, and purple blast to strike the walls of the stadium... and then cause real explosions!
Screams filled the stadium, and the audience realized this was no act. It was real. Leo quickly grabbed Ray and evacuated the stadium as a dark aura covered Zarc's body, destroying any debris falling near him.
"Go ahead and run all you want! Nowhere is safe from me!" Zarc announced, his echoing voice across the city.
Eventually, Leo and Ray managed to get to a safe place as Zarc's Dragons rose from the stadium to intercept the military vehicles that had been deployed to try and fight him.
"What happened to Zarc?" Leo questioned.
"They corrupted him..." Ray said, tears falling from her eyes at what had happened.
"Corrupted him?" Leo repeated while looking at her, unsure of what else he could say.
She took a moment to answer, shaking as she did.
"I have no way to explain how, nor do the Monsters, but they felt something... a deep darkness that must have started from that one Duel. Though the ones who felt it the most were Zarc's Dragons, and every time he won, they took in what the other Duelists who fought in that brutal fashion helped cultivate." She explained.
Leo gasped as it hit him. The one thing about Duel Spirits he had understood, since it had been what allowed Real Solid Vision to make the Monsters be as alive as they felt and looked while manifested.
The cards originated from ancient Egyptian games of terrible power, and every card with a Monster on it had a soul.
"Are you saying..." He realized.
"Yes, though this darkness didn't come from the Spirits themselves. That much I'm certain of. Whatever this is... they likely felt it coming, and tried to warn us, but Zarc had already been touched by it and I wasn't here." Ray continued explaining.
Those words stung into Leo in the worst possible way. He had tried, he honestly had, but no matter how real his technology made the Monsters? No matter what he, Zarc, and Ray tried to overcome this one small limitation? Real Solid Vision... could never give the Duel Spirits a voice.
Voices that, based on what Ray had been saying, had been trying to warn them when no one could hear it.
"This is all my fault. If I had just made sure such an accident didn't happen, or pulled Zarc out of the tournament-" Leo said in horror, feeling the guilt eating away at him.
"Father, stop!" Ray shouted.
He did, staring at her in shock as the sounds of people running, and the military's vehicles being destroyed as they failed to do any damage to Zarc's four Dragons echoed across the ruined city.
"It happened, that's the reality before us, so the only thing we can do know is try to find a way to possibly stop this nightmare." She stated.
Leo took a deep breath, realizing that she was right. Maybe he was at fault and maybe he wasn't, but either way, Zarc was using Real Solid Vision to devastate everything in his path. He had a responsibility to stop this before it was too late.
"Alright, then we should get to my-" He began
"Wait! Just a moment!" Ray suddenly shouted, holding her hands near her ears.
She closed her eyes.
"To fight a Duelist... get another Duelist!" The four Dragons struggled to tell her, trying to resist Zarc's cruel orders the best they could.
"Fight a Duelist with... of course!" Ray exclaimed.
She looked at her father.
"If the Monsters were summoned by Real Solid Vision, then shouldn't other Monsters summoned the same way be able to fight back if we could somehow spread it to the entire city?" Ray questioned.
"As in have every Duelists' Monsters fight Zarc's Dragons, together?" Leo realized.
He thought for a moment.
"Yes, but we'd need to use almost all of the city's power grid to pull that off. Not to mention gather all the Duelists in one place before they lose their means to contact one another." He replied.
"I can contact everyone registered in my Duel Disk and have them spread the word. That way, everyone can be ready when we pull the plug." Ray suggested, pulling out her Duel Disk as she did.
"Alright then, this might be gamble, but it's probably the best option we have. Both to save the world... and maybe Zarc." Leo stated.
Ray nodded her head, looking at the stadium.
'Zarc, please hold on. This time... I'm going to save you with my smile!' She promised.
She then moved her hands and made a prayer stance.
'Though I can't do it on my own. Please, to whatever Duel Spirits have saved our world once before... please! We need your help to protect the future between our kind that we fought so hard to achieve!' She begged.
Ray gasped as she felt a pulse in her head.
Still inside the stadium, Zarc laughed with an open smile on his face as he saw the destruction his Dragons caused through his connection to their Spirits, the very connection that allowed him to make them attack Humanity against their will.
"Oh, how I love the irony! You wanted more from me and now that I've given it to you? All you want now is for it to stop, but it won't!" Zarc stated, his eyes currently seeing a family of three through Odd-Eyes.
The father of the family looked to be some kind of showman, and one he was quite familiar with. The mother was a blonde with the look of the usual housewife, while in her arms was a young girl who was no older than three years, holding her mother tightly as she cried at the sight of a monster that was once her favorite monster to watch Zarc use in a Duel.
"Sorry teacher, but no matter how kind you were? I make no exceptions!" He stated.
Odd-Eyes reeled back as it prepared a Spiral Flame to incinerate them, making the young girl cry as she sobbed into her mother's chest. Both her parents stared at what seemed to be the face of their demise...
"Dark Magic Attack!"
Only for a series of purple spheres to strike Odd-Eyes, knocking the Dragon back, and making Zarc flinch as he felt a phantom pain from the strike.
"What the hell!?" Zarc questioned, surprised at what happened.
"Inferno Fire Blast!"
"Burst Stream of Destruction!"
"Spiral Shaver!"
"Lightning Strike!"
Four more attacks struck Odd-Eyes, slamming the Dragon into a nearby building, and making Zarc gasp as he turned to see where they came from.
Standing before him were hundreds, maybe thousands of Monsters who were Normal, Effect, and Ritual Monsters that were being played by Duelists standing on top of vehicles that let them move around fast while giving their Duel Disks the ability to summon Monsters with the Real Solid Vision system.
"This is-" Zarc realized as he saw it.
Including the legends such as Dark Magician, the infamous Red-Eyes Black Dragon and Blue-Eyes White Dragon, plus some similarly famous monsters like Summoned Skull and Gaia the Fierce Knight, there were some powerful Monsters standing before his Dragon and some not-so strong ones that were likely there to give the stronger Monsters support. However, he had little time to focus on them, as he immediately felt another phantom pain.
Shifting his attention to Starve Venom's gaze, Zarc felt anger bubbling within him as he glared at the sight his Fusion Dragon was currently seeing.
"So, fighting fire with fire, are we?" Zarc growled, glaring at them through Starve Venom.
Just as the non-Extra Deck Monsters stood before Odd-Eyes, the Fusion Monsters of many Duelists were standing before Starve Venom.
"Go ahead and try! I'll just take your strength for-"
Zarc felt his words falter as, at the same time Starve Venom attempted to drain the power of all the Monsters through its effect? A familiar rainbow portal opened up. In mere seconds, Starve Venom's vines flew inside, failing to hit anything and leaving the Dragon wide open as an equally familiar Monster resembling a white alien punched it.
"Hey, isn't that-" A Duelist quickly realized.
"Elemental HERO Neos!" Another cheered.
Standing before the army of Fusion Monsters was none other than the Spirit of Jaden Yuki's ace card, Elemental HERO Neos, who was soon joined by all six of the Neo Spacians that he could do Contact Fusion with.
"Ultimate Contact Fusion!" Neo soon exclaimed.
Hearing the call, the six Neo-Spacians started circling Neos as orbs of colored energy before entering the blue orb on his chest. This caused Neos to transform into a golden armored version of himself.
"Elemental HERO God Neos!" He declared after transforming.
He turned towards the army of Duelists, and held his arm up.
"Fellow Duelists!" Neos announced.
Those words made everyone listen.
"We felt the threat that stands before us through one of your own who called for our help, and we shall grant it! We will not let the future between us be ruined by this new threat!" Neos declared.
This caused everyone to smile, and they felt their hope for victory grow now that such a legendary monster was now fighting by their side. Zarc further growled as he saw portals linking to the world of Duel Spirits appear and allow even more Monsters to join their current forces.
"Wait a minute, if Neos is here with Starve Venom, then that could mean..." Zarc realized.
His attention shifted to the eyes of Clear Wing and Dark Rebellion, looking around for anything that would confirm his thoughts among the approaching army of Synchro and Xyz Monsters heading towards the two.
The proof revealed itself shortly as a red glow appeared in the sky, formed a familiar symbol as the Crimson Dragon and the six Signer Dragons who served under him appeared from it, with Stardust and Red Daemon's Dragon in the form of Shooting Star Dragon and Scar-Red Nova Dragon through their master boosting their power.
"The actual Crimson Dragon!?" A Duelist asked.
"And the Signer Dragons, too!" Another smiled.
Then came a portal of red and blue, revealing a ghostly figure, making the Duelists with the Xyz Monster army gasp.
"It is time for me to protect Yuma's world once again! Come to my side, Numbers!" Astral declared, raising his hand.
A familiar sphere made of 100 cards formed around his body, manifesting into the Number Cards as Utopia divided itself into each of its forms. They were soon joined by the Over Hundred Numbers, with even the normal and Neo forms of Galaxy-Eyes among the group, despite not being an Xyz Monster or a Number card respectively.
"Astral himself came to help us..." A Duelist breathed, awed by the sight before them.
"Yeah." Another nodded.
Seeing his fellow Monsters, the Spirit of Mahad manifested from the summoned Dark Magician and rose his wand into the air for all to see.
"The Duelist behind these four Dragons had his soul corrupted from a dark power, one we all hold a part in failing to stop because we could not warn of the danger or pushed the said Duelist closer to it with our desire to see more of his Duels. Let us now work to atone for that error, and free this Duelist from it, so we can restore the world we built together!" Mahad declared, attempting rally Monster and Duelist alike.
Everyone cheered, roared, beeped, or etc. in agreement, and the Monsters all rushed towards Zarc's Dragons.
As they watched from afar, Ray and her father saw Zarc's Dragons facing everyone.
While the four Dragons fought hard as Monsters that were among the strongest of their respective summoning methods, the sheer number of opponents and the all the Legendary Monsters fighting with them slowly pushed them back and into a defensive corner. Zarc himself fell to one knee as his Dragons began losing ground, feeling the strain of manipulating all four at once slowly getting to him.
"They... they're really doing it! Zarc's Dragons are actually struggling!" Leo smiled, seeing the plan was yielding results.
"Not only that, but my prayer actually worked. Neos, the Crimson Dragon, and even Astral came to help us." Ray smiled.
After feeling his Dragons' pain for long enough, Zarc started to laugh, nearly cackling.
"I was really hoping to play with all of you for a while longer, but it seems that I'll need to take this seriously! Time for you to see... my full power!" Zarc declared to everyone.
A pulse shot out, making everyone freeze in place.
"What... what is this!?" Ray asked, slightly shaking.
Holding out both his hands into the air, Zarc let out a loud scream that soon became feral sounding. Orbs of raw power formed within his palm before he squeezed them shut. Black energy spread from his hands, which opened as he held a pair of cards.
One was known as Astrograph Magician, and the other was known as Chronograph Magician, and both of them emitted a terrifying power.
"Did... did he just will two new cards into existence!?" Leo questioned as he saw them.
Zarc turned his attention to Astral.
"Hey Astral, you might wanna run back home and go grab the Numeron Code to save everyone while you have the chance. Although, I'm 100% certain that you'll never get to it in time, so perhaps you shouldn't bother trying." He warned in a mocking manner.
Astral's eyes widened at that seemingly impossible threat, and immediately opened a portal to Astral World in hopes that he might make it in time to stop Zarc before he did whatever he was planning to do.
"Prepare yourself, my mighty Dragons... for it is time to make ourselves a single unstoppable force! It is time for the four of us to become one!" Zarc announced.
The two cards' souls manifested.
Everyone saw a red silhouette with ripples moving like the hands of a clock if they somehow began to wiggle in place.
"Chronograph Magician, bend the fabric of time to steal the past and future!"
Then they saw a blue silhouette with white specs resembling stars in a night sky, and both rose their staves above their heads.
"Astrograph Magician, warp the fabric of space and transcend past all limits!"
Without any warning, the two Magicians suddenly began to warp time and space, and Astral suddenly found himself pulled back to Earth against his will, now forced to see the new horror that Zarc planned to unleash.
"Forbidden powers of darkness locked past the horizon by the light of salvation, rise once again to create the ultimate unstoppable force and destroy everyone standing in your way! Consume... disrupt... overpower..."
The two Magicians crossed their respective staves into an X shape, making a dark portal that had an inner design resembling that of a dream catcher appear.
Shortly after it manifested, said portal released dark tendrils that plowed through everything until they grabbed onto the four Dragons, making them scream as they were freed from Zarc's hold... only to be dragged towards it. Seeing what was happening, Mahad manifested in Dark Magician once again and moved to help Odd-Eyes.
"No! Stay back!" Odd-Eyes screamed.
Mahad stopped as soon as he heard this.
However, he was the only one to do so, as the other three Dragons' warnings weren't heeded. Neos, the Crimson Dragon, and Astral all rushed in to try and help them, and those acts sealed their fates.
"INTEGRATION SUMMON!"
At the same moment they reached out to save Starve Venom, Clear Wing, and Dark Rebellion from whatever was drawing them in? They and their respective groups got locked in a fixed point for both space and time.
Purple, white, and black energy ebbed off their currently trapped forms, which represented the energy behind their respective summoning methods as the four Dragons each released one last roar before they all disappeared into the dark portal.
"What kind of summon is this?" Leo questioned.
Once the four Dragons had been swallowed up, Zarc slowly rose into the sky and flew towards the portal himself, right as Ray let out a horrible gasp and then she fell on her butt, which quickly caught her father's attention.
"Ray!?" He shouted.
"That... that's not Zarc!" She stated, her eyes shaking over what she briefly saw.
Before Leo could try asking Ray what she meant, Zarc entered the portal, causing it to unleash bright flash, followed by dark gray smoke, then a huge mass of black and red energy with bright red lightning that sparked every few seconds.
The entire sky became this color, with clouds forming everywhere as all the Monsters let out cries of fear, and slowly backed away as their survival instincts all flared up.
"The Monsters are..." A Duelist panicked.
"Actually afraid!?" Another said worriedly.
Within the center of the dark mass, the motion of two moving objects could be seen, making Leo gasp.
And at that moment, lightning struck down on various locations, shortly followed by the Duel Disks letting off warning alarms.
"Duel Mode not engaged, deactivating Real Solid Vision system." Each of the Duel Disks announced.
All of the Monster that were summoned by the Duelists faded away, surprising them as their Duel Disks' settings were forcefully changed.
"This can't be happening..." Leo stated as his and Ray's plan fell apart in an instant.
That was when everyone saw it.
Sickly green eyes lighting up within the mass as the outline of what resided within it came into view, and then dispelled both it and the clouds with a mere flap of its wings that exposed a now blood red moon in the sky. What everyone saw before them had been nothing they had expected, and yet everything they feared in one huge package.
"Like I just said, that thing isn't Zarc." Ray stated.
"But... he just turned into this... this-" Leo replied.
"He wasn't corrupted like I believed. It was just for a moment, but I... I saw something overlapping with his body, and it had the same blood red eyes he did when all of this began." Ray explained.
Ray finally felt her eyes grasping the form of the creature her boyfriend now resided in. A large black Dragon with golden plating across some of its body, and sickly green highlights in others that matched its eyes, which were now revealed to have specs of blood red in them. Some of it resembled his four Dragons, but those traits were faint.
"I have transcended beyond everything!" He declared.
The Dragon shifted its body, looking towards the crowd of Duelists still standing where they had been prior to the otherworldly transformation he just went through.
"Thanks to the power of the four Dragons, and the progenitive powers of Fusion, Synchro, and Xyz Monsters... I have gained power exceeding that of every God in existence! I am now Supreme King Dragon Zarc!"
He then turned to the Crimson Dragon, Astral, Neos, and the remaining Monsters tied to them that were still trapped in the space-time prison his creation left them in.
"Now, let all your hope... DISAPPEAR!" Zarc announced.
He opened his mouth, and a giant great beam fired out, with light blue lightning dancing around parts of it before the beam struck everyone trapped within the space-time prison.
In an instant, each of the Monsters' card forms appeared... right before all of them shattered into pieces!
"He... he destroyed them." A Duelist spoke for everyone as the pieces faded away.
Just to further emphasize what he had achieved, a huge tremor rocked the world without affecting it to mark the destruction of both Astral World and the Numeron Code, while a large red glow briefly lit up the sky as the Dragon Star went supernova. Astral and the Crimson Dragon soon turned into dust, fading into the air, and leaving no doubts that they were dead.
"Prepare yourselves Humanity, for now I won't only destroy you and the world, but the universe itself!" Zarc declared.
Everyone then began to run as, once again, Zarc resumed his attack on the city using a series of purple beams, causing fires to engulf everything in mere seconds. Ray and Leo stared at the sight, truly horrified at what they were seeing.
"Although, if you still think that you can actually stop me? See if you can beat me in a Duel! Feel free to outnumber me with as many Duelists as you'd like!" Zarc challenged, wanting to further toy with everyone.
Some brave Duelists moved their dueling platforms towards him, and a demonic version of Zarc's body popped out of the Dragon with his Duel Disk at the ready.
"Prepare to lose against the strongest incarnation of pure power!" Zarc declared.
Ten Duelists readied their Duel Disks.
However, the Duel ended the moment Zarc had begun his turn, and summoned his own Dragon body onto the field. Every Monster they summoned became their own undoing as massive burn damage hit every Duelist, regardless of if they had any Monsters or not, and he seemed to have a counter for anything they threw at him.
"Go ahead, keep coming at me! Try with 20 Duelists, or even 100 if you feel like it! The result will never change!" Zarc mocked.
He let out a horrible cackle that echoed across the world before resuming his volley of attacks against the city. At that moment, everyone, even Ray and her father... lost all hope that their world still had a future.
It might look bad now, but as theologian Thomas Fuller once said, it's always darkest before the dawn.
My favorite part when writing this chapter was the massive team up between forces from the previous series as they fought with all of the Duelists to stop Zarc's Dragons, since this was a team up that I had dreamed of seeing. While it became clear this wouldn't happen once Arc-V's Crow and Jack were revealed to be different people than the ones from 5Ds, that idea never fully left my head. Best of all is it helped to address the biggest issue I noticed in the fight with Zarc, which was no one bothered to use their cards against him until after he had already transformed into his ultimate form. How no one thought they could fight back with the same Real Solid Vision he used to let his Dragons rampage is something I'll never understand beyond the writers didn't think of the plot hole it would leave.
Especially since it would have made more sense for him to merge with his Dragons if the combined might of Duelists fighting back and overpowering him had triggered his barely touched on fear of losing.
For that same reason, having Neos, the Crimson Dragon, and Astral present had more purpose than just mere nostalgia. Zarc claimed that he had achieved godhood, and as the Crimson Dragon is viewed as a God (especially if he really is Quetzalcoatl as the Scar-Red Nova arc implied), what better way for Zarc to achieve it than stealing the powers of said God via siphoning the sources behind the three Extra Deck methods? I myself can't think of one.
This is also the reason Zarc's Dragons didn't have said methods in their names in this chapter, as this story will treat the four as not gaining them until after the Original Dimension splits, fitting how Odd-Eyes was just Odd-Eyes Dragon at first. The reason I gave Clear Wing legs on the other hand... I swear there is one, since he won't keep them, but I can't say what it is just yet.
Now that they've lost the aid of the greater powers from the past, it's up to Leo and Ray to make sure they didn't die in vain and maybe save Zarc, or at least die trying.
Until next time everyone, and stay awesome! ^^