A shoutout to everyone who is reading this story, I will NOT do a Full Alchemist and Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V crossover. At least, during this time. The first reason is because I have to finish this fanfic first, and another is because I don't watch the anime. I mean, I have watched some clips of it, but I'm not really a great fan of it like I am for Yu-Gi-Oh!. The same goes for anything other anime people want me to do a Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V crossover with. The purpose of this fanfic is to provide closure for the fans disappointed in how ARC-V ended officially. As is my Imitatia Fairy Tail fanfic, which is meant to give some closure with the sad way Michelle was killed off in Key of the Starry Heavens arc.


Heartland City - Xyz Dimension

Yuto sat on the upper floor of one of the many ruined buildings, staring at Heartland Tower where Yuya and Aster had dueled. Yuto took out Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon and closed his eyes tight as he bit his lip. He thought of what had happened the other day...

The Other Day - Teleportation Room - Duel Academy Base - Heartland City - Xyz Dimension

The teleportation room was in a buzz when a bright light appeared in the machine before Lulu and Yuto teleported in. The people in the room were in utter confusion. But it didn't take long before one of them recognized the boy and girl who walked out of the machine.

"Yuto and Lulu?!" The said girl then looked at the one who spoke up. "Shay?"

Shay then smiled before running to her. "Lulu?!" "Shay!"

The two siblings then happily hugged, with Lulu leaving Yuto, who was able to stand on his own by now, to hug her big brother. "Finally, you're safe." "I'm so happy to see you."

Then Lulu remembered something. "But Shay... we got to help Yuya. He and Celina are still back at Duel Academy with Rin!"

Another bright light came from the teleportation device before anyone else could say anything. When the light died down, Celina appeared walking out of it, an irritated and yet disappointed look of guilt on her face.

"Celina! Where's Yuya and Rin? Weren't they supposed to come back with you?" Yuto's question was answered when Celina silently presented him with Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon. Yuto just stared hard at the card as he began to understand what she was implying.

Heartland City - Xyz Dimension

Yuto silently gripped his card in frustrated guiltiness as he remembered. "I can't believe I let Yuya get captured and taken in Lulu's place! It's almost just like I did a prisoner exchange for her! Now we have to change the entire game plan now that we don't have Yuya to help us in the start!"

His self-lamenting was halted when he felt someone hug him from behind. He gently held one of the hands holding him, knowing who it was.

"You're worried about Yuya, aren't you?" Lulu asked while she held him closer.

"I should've stayed there to help him." Yuto replied as his hold tightened.

"You were weakened, and you don't even know yourself on what happened. Don't blame yourself too much, Yuto. Me and Celina also feel that we're partially at fault for what happened." Lulu said as she leaned her head to Yuto's as she sat beside him.

"I once told Yuya that it was my biggest mistake to go to the Standard Dimension. But now looking back on it, I realize that it was probably the right thing to do." Yuto looked down while clenched his hands together in his lap as he remembered his cruel words and how they might've hurt Yuya's feelings.

"I never regretted meeting Yuya. I never wished that I did not meet him. I'm glad I did. I'm glad that I became his friend. I experienced what he did while I was in his body, and it brought me peace. Peace that I haven't felt since this whole war began."

"I know how you feel... that's why we're going to save him. We're going to return that kindness he showed us." Lulu leaned her face to Yuto's comforting the Phantom Knights duelist.

However, Yuto soon became worried when he repeated Lulu's words. "We're going to...? Lulu, don't tell me that you're planning to go back there!" Yuto looked at Lulu, slowly putting down her hands that she had around him.

Lulu nodded, face full of determination. "Duh, there's no way I'm just gonna sit back like some helpless princess while everyone's fighting. Besides, I'm feeling the same way you do. After all that Yuya's done for us, I can't just stand back and wait."

"But the Professor is after you! If you go back there to Duel Academy, you could get captured again! The last thing I want is you getting hurt!"

"And what if the Professor sends another raid to recapture Heartland and me? You know there's nowhere safe for me now." Lulu argued the obvious fact. She then placed her hand on Yuto's, seeing that he was still unsure about the choice she wasn't backing down from. "If I'm by Shay and your side, then the three of us will be at least feel a bit of ease if we stick together. I have faith you and Shay will protect me this time."

Yuto struggled to find his words after that. "She's right. If Duel Academy attacks while we're not here, it'll be just like when Shay and I went to the Standard Dimension." Yuto remembered what Allen and Saya had told them. Not only did Kite lose his family, but they had lost almost all their friends to Duel Academy. He then took another look at Lulu's eyes. "And besides, judging from that look in her eyes, she's not going to take no for an answer."

"Alright. But how are you going to convince Shay?"

"He already agreed. And I've already convinced Declan." Lulu smiled sweetly with her hand making a victory sign.

Yuto smiled at Lulu's cunning. "She's thought of everything. She's strong-willed as ever." Yuto took Lulu's hand into his, holding it strongly, yet gently, at the same time. He looked at her straight in the eyes, with a serious face.

"No matter what happens, I'll protect you. And if you are ever taken away like that again, I'll come save you."

Lulu used her other hand to hold Yuto's that was holding hers as the two lovers gave their promises. "I know you will, since I would do the same. Always have, always will."

Duel Academy Base - Heartland City - Xyz Dimension

Crow and Sylvio were sitting together in the cafeteria of the former Duel Academy base, watching Yugo, who seemed restless and in a pensive mood, eating some cup food. (FYI: It was cup ramen, but the English Dub very likely wouldn't say it was that.)

"How long are you going to keep doing that, Yugo? You've been doing nothing except pacing and moping since you heard the news." Sylvio finally called out after watching the turbo duelist for a few minutes.

"I can understand what you want to do, but this isn't going to help us save Yuya and Rin." Crow added as Yugo finished eating his cup of food.

"I know that! But it's the only thing I can do to... Ugh!" Yugo got up and walked over to the wall and punched it in frustration.

Sylvio approached Yugo, bumping his fist into his own chest while letting out his usual arrogant, smug smile. "Don't worry. You've got Sylvio the Superstar here to listen to all your troubles!" "More like a failing star." Yugo rejected Sylvio without even bothering to think about what he said or how he said it.

Sylvio twitched and started to shout at Yugo. "How dare you call me that, you... you... No-go!" Sylvio retorted, unknowingly using one of the insulting confusing nicknames for Yugo.

Hearing someone purposely mispronounce his name, Yugo snapped, yanking Sylvio by the collar. "Don't call me No-go! The name's Yugo! Get it right already!"

In retaliation, Sylvio grabbed Yugo by the yellow parts of his dual-colored hair. "Then you shouldn't have called me that, first! If my father found out you said that..."

The next few seconds were spent as the two boys shared insults and argued with each other as they yanked and pulled on each other; Yugo by the hair and Sylvio by the collar. They even childishly pinched each other's cheeks. The keyword was "few" since Crow and Jack quickly pulled them apart.

"You both are duelists! So have some pride as one and settle your differences with your cards instead of acting so childish!" Jack told them before he and Crow let them go. Just as he was preparing to give an earful lecture, he noticed one of the cup foods, specifically a red-colored one, on the floor. His eyes widened as he quickly picked up the cup.

"What's wrong with him? That's just an ordinary food cup I found in the fridge. Though I gotta say, it was pretty tasty." Sylvio looked at Crow and Yugo in confusion.

"Um, it wasn't actually..."

Crow trailed off as he, Sylvio, and Yugo shuddered and jumped back in surprise when Jack turned to glare at them, more precisely, Sylvio. For a moment, they thought they saw the fiery figure of a terrifying asura behind Jack's back looming over them, seemingly ready to kill. Jack once again grabbed Sylvio by the collar and lifted him off the floor.

"This was my special, limited-edition that I bought in Domino before we left! The only one we had! Do you know how hard it was to get this one?!" Jack angrily asked the struggling Sylvio.

"T-then why didn't you leave a label on it?! That's what I usually do to things I want to keep to myself!" Sylvio tried to defend himself, but Jack wouldn't hear any of it as he tightened his grip.

"Cool down, Jack! Besides, that wasn't the only one we had! See?" Crow presented another copy of the food cup that Jack was fussing over, in an effort to try and calm him down. It did have an effect on Jack, who immediately let go of Sylvio, taking Crow's offer.

"Back when I was living in the Commons, this was one of my favorites." Jack reminisced his time when he was still staying in the slums of the Commons and ate the cup food and other things as his only means of food. Even still, it was a peaceful, beautiful memory for him.

"I get ya! It's also one of my favorites too! Everyone at the orphanage where I grew up really liked it, including Rin..." Yugo trailed off as he began to remember when Rin scolded him for eating too much of it. It made him miss her even more.

"What's all the fuss?" Yuto, Lulu, and Shay entered the room after hearing all the commotion.

Yugo glanced at Lulu, and started to see her as Rin. But that delusion was quickly broken when he remembered that when he did that to her, Shay had roughly handled him, very roughly. Thus, he didn't do the thing and run up to hug her suddenly, for fear of enduring Shay's anger again.

Then he noticed Yuto. Remembering how they had started on bad terms and senselessly beat him up during their duel in Standard, he nervously walked up to his Xyz counterpart and rubbed the back of his head in an embarrassed, apologetic manner.

"So... uh... sorry about... you know... mistaking you for that snake... and uh..." Yugo trailed off midway, obviously struggling with his apology.

Yuto gestured his hand to Yugo not to say anything further. "Forget about it. We're both at fault for coming to conclusions too quickly. It's all in the past now, and now we have a common enemy right now... So let's start over and try to get along now. Alright with you?"

Yuto offered a handshake a reconciliation, which Yugo was happy to take.

"Wait. You two have met before?" Sylvio asked as he saw the exchange between the two lookalikes.

"Yeah, we kinda had a a duel on bad terms before. But - " Before Yugo could fully explain, Shay kicked him in the face, hard.

"So it was your fault Yuto got absorbed into Yuya! How dare you give us more trouble than we already have! Do you want to get your deck handed to you?!" Shay said to Yugo who was rubbing his face from the kick.

Yuto stood in front of Yugo in an attempt to calm his best friend. "That's enough, Shay! It was a misunderstanding to begin with! We've cleared it up, so let's all try and get along!"

Crow supported Yuto's defense of Yugo. "He's right, Shay! We're all on the same team now, so we have to get along. Besides, Yugo already apologized for it."

While Yuto explained things to Lulu and Shay, Sylvio kneeled to Yugo. "I heard from Celina that you often mistake the others for Rin and try to hug them. Is that a thing with you two?"

Yugo nervously scratched the back of his head. "Not really... It's just that I can get a bit too emotional in it. I mean, Rin's been by my side so long that I can't imagine life without her."

"Your girlfriend really must mean a lot to you." Sylvio easily commented.

Yugo blushed at Sylvio referring to Rin as his girlfriend. He quickly waved his hand while scratching the back of his head and grinning like an embarrassed idiot. "Y-yeah, yeah no. We're just childhood friends. Imagine us being a couple. Going on dates and walking hand in hand in the moonlight..."

Sylvio cheekily smiled. "It seems like you have a different opinion about that."

When Yugo replied to that with a shake of his head, Sylvio slapped his forehead and groaned.

"Are you really an idiot?" Sylvio exclaimed, pointing his finger at Yugo. "It's so obvious you want to be more than just good friends! If you can't accept your own feelings, how can you expect to live the rest of your life knowing that? Do you want someone else to take her heart?"

Yugo gasped in shock. "I... I never thought about her in that regard before. I-I mean she's a kind, motherly girl. Even if she does tend to knee me when I do something she doesn't like." The others sweatdropped at that last sentence.

"... Okay... Besides that, it may be the only time you will ever get to make your move on her."

Following Sylvio's statement, Jack then placed himself between the two boys and joined the conversation. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but he is right. Life is like a duel; you only get one chance to make the perfect move and only one. Especially when it comes to women. They are quite mysterious and need to be treated with the proper respect."

"Heh. It sounds like you know more about that matter than you're letting on, Jack." Sylvio listened to Jack's advice with interest.

Ignoring that comment, Jack continued to give his advice. "Women can be very deceiving as well. You must be careful in how you treat them." Jack warned the two boys, particularly Yugo.

"They're fickle creatures alright. We men can never live up to their expectations." Sylvio clenched his fist to his chest to emphasize his point.

"You seem to have some experience about it..." Yugo sweatdropped at the dramatic scene Sylvio gave.

"Beware girls' cunning and expectations. That's the only good advice I can give you on the matter." Jack warned him.

Sylvio nodded in agreement. "Let's not forget that they can be violent as well. Celina's a perfect example - "

Sylvio didn't get to finish the sentence as a kick sent him face-planting into the wall. Struggling to push himself free, he wasn't surprised to know that it was Celina who had kicked him. She looked at him with an annoyed expression while Gong, Saya, Allen, and Kite were behind her.

"Don't you dare start filling Yugo's head with nonsense. He doesn't need to be any more dimwitted than he is right now!" Celina's thoughtless remark made Yugo almost lose his footing. He didn't know whether to be offended or sad by the insensitive words that Celina had said.

"That's gotta hurt!" Crow and Allen commented in their minds as they felt sorry for Yugo who was close to tears thanks to Celina.

"Case in point exactly." Sylvio said with a muffled voice, his body still stuck in the wall.

"Celina's right. Don't think that all women are the same." Saya emphasized the word "all", specifically referring to her, Lulu, and Celina.

"I'll admit that there are some women who are no-good manipulative creeps, but do you really think Rin is that kind of girl, Yugo?" Lulu joined the conversation after waiting for the right moment to interfere. It was hard being the only girl in the room until Saya and Celina came.

Yugo vigorously shook his head. "'Course not! Rin wouldn't stand to think of such things!" Yugo said with confidence.

Lulu smiled, praising the boy's faith in his childhood friend. "There, there's your answer."

Gong gave Sylvio and Jack a disapproving look. "Gong agrees. Even Zuzu wouldn't do such a thing. Zuzu just knocks sense into Yuya when he needs it and faces her problems head-on!"

"Is that why she always hits people with that fan of hers? Doesn't that just prove my point?" Sylvio asked as he finally removed himself from being embedded into the wall.

"That's enough guys. This discussion isn't helping." Crow calmly told the group. "Look, tomorrow's battle has obviously made Yugo nervous without him realizing it, so why don't we do something to ease those nerves?"

"What'd ya have in mind?" Gong asked.

"I know! Why don't we have a duel? Then Sylvio the Superstar can show you how to shimmer and shine." Sylvio suggested with a dramatic pose.

"Nah, let's have a race with our Duel Runners." Crow suggested with his thumb up.

"You mean a plain old race? No turbo duelin'?" Gong asked, surprised by the suggestion.

"Yugo said he wasn't in the mood to duel, right? So let's have a regular race. Besides, for us turbo duelists, riding our Runners outside dueling is pretty common. Really helps when training for Turbo Duels. Right guys?" Crow turned to Jack and Yugo who nodded.

"For Commons, we had to build our own Duel Runners from scratch and had to practice without the autopilot program." Jack recounted all the times he crashed, fell, or something around those lines when he first learned how to handle a Duel Runner.

"We had to learn everything ourselves. It wasn't that bad. In fact, it was fun. Rin and I used to ride around the city just for fun." Yugo remembered how it was almost like a walk when he and Rin rode their Runner for fun. "'Course, we had to beware of catching Sector Security's attention."

Crow flicked his fingers at Yugo. "Exactly my point. A little casual fresh air on a Duel Runner oughta clear your mind. It's way better than just staying here and being nervous about things."

Realizing that he unconsciously made everyone worry about him alone, Yugo finally got fired up. "... I guess it's not such a bad idea. Let's do it! Gong, you can be the referee."

"What about me?" Sylvio whined as he pointed to himself.

"You can ride in the back. Somehow, I get the impression that you need to get the feeling first. After we're done, you can borrow mine and we start again! Now let's move!" Yugo took Sylvio by the wrist and dragged him out with Jack, Crow, and Gong following in tow.

On the girl's side, Celina and Lulu finally were getting acquainted properly. "So everything checked out with you and Yuto?" Celina asked her Xyzian counterpart. "Yep! The doctors gave us a clean bill of health."

"Your brother has told me much about you, Lulu. It's a pleasure to finally meet you properly." Celina offered a handshake, which Lulu promptly took.

"The pleasure's all mine. Celina, right? Shay and Yuto told me all about you." Lulu stared at Celina's face for a while before giggling. "Sorry. It's just so hard to believe that there are others that look like me. But now that we're out of danger, I have to say I'm astonished."

Celina smiled and shrugged. "It's understandable. I mean, what are the chances that you run into not just one, but two people that have the same face as you in one day?"

"If I didn't know any better, it could be mistaken that you two are twins." Saya added, looking at her two friends. The girls then got a big laugh out of it, but then Saya asked a question. "By the way, Lulu, I heard that you're also going to the Fusion Dimension. Is that true?"

"Yes. After all that's happened, I won't just standby while everyone else is fighting." Lulu confirmed her decision.

Saya frowned. "But the Professor is still after you, isn't he? If you do this, it might just be what he wants."

"Celina's also a target but she's going as well." Lulu tilted her head to Celina.

"But she's strong enough to take care of herself. Not that you are too, but..." Saya looked down. The day Lulu got caught by Yuri right in front of her as she coward behind some rubble flashed through her mind.

Knowing what Saya was thinking right now, Lulu pulled her best friend into a hug. She gently patted Saya's back. "It wasn't your fault, Saya. There wasn't anything to do to help me. That duelist, Yuri, is way too powerful. Even together, I doubt that we would've been able to stand a chance. I'm glad you didn't interfere, or you would've been turned into a card. I don't want to lose my best friend."

Celina's expression turned into dismay at the mention of Yuri. "Even if all my memories haven't returned yet, I'm almost certain that the boy is Yuri. But he's so different now." Celina pulled out Smile Universe and looked at it. She didn't want to believe that the kind and sincere boy she remembered had turned into a cruel heartless duelist who seemed to be almost completely power-hungry.

"Celina?" Lulu called out after noticing the sad face she was making.

"Lulu... if a dear friend changed into someone completely different than you remember them, what would you do?"

Surprised and confused at the question Celina asked out of nowhere, Lulu answered the question honestly. "I'm not sure. it depends on what kind of person that friend turned into."

"What if that dear friend turned into a cruel person?" Celina asked again. This time without looking at Lulu.

"Again, I'm not sure. I guess it depends how you feel about it." Lulu was getting concerned as she saw that Celina was growing more worried about something and struggling with a choice.

"I see... it depends on how I feel..." Celina finally said.

"Is there something wrong?" Lulu asked, but Selena did not say anything for a bit. Instead, she just smiled as if her earlier expression wasn't ever there.

"It's nothing to be concerned about. I'm going to see Declan. There are some things I need to tell him about Duel Academy. See you later." Celina hurriedly excused herself but said in a casual way so not to raise suspicion from the two girls, though both Lulu and Saya had noticed that something was bothering her. But they remained silent, opting for her to tell them when she was ready.

Remembering her reason for coming, Saya pulled out a card from her deck. It was a precious card to her, Little Fairy.

Lulu realized what Saya wanted to do. "I can't." "Just take it. I've seen you duel, Lulu, and you need all the help you can get."

Lulu smiled. "You're right. And with this card in my deck, it will also be my promise to come back home, safe and sound."

As Kite, Allen, and Yuto watched the girls, happy for their friends, Kite then asked Yuto a question. "Yuto, will you be alright?"

"What do you mean?"

"I'm talking about Chris." Kite referred to their former mentor and Yuto's childhood friend. "Whether or not we like it, we're going to have to fight him. Are you sure you're okay?"

Yuto and Allen were surprised. "I never thought that you of all people would be the first to mention him." "Yeah, you and Shay usually avoid talking about him at all."

"But to answer your question, it would be a lie to say that I'm ever okay fighting him. I don't know what will happen when we find him there." Yuto was still unsure about what he might do to his old childhood friend when he would have to encounter him as an enemy. "I know I have to fight him, but I don't know what I'll do afterwards."

"What about you Kite? Chris was also... your dueling instructor..." Allen asked without looking at his friend, quite afraid to see him with an angry expression at his question.

Kite, however, didn't wear such a face that showed that he was upset or angry. He just kept his casual neutral face. "If it were me before, I wouldn't have forgiven him at all, no matter what, and wanted nothing more than revenge. But now, I'm starting to wonder how much we actually know him. Maybe he had a reason to betray us."

"Even if he did, that doesn't excuse him from what he had done." Allen reminded.

"We know that. But if we did know him better, maybe he wouldn't have done so." Kite remembered when Christopher had betrayed them. When he started to act slightly different than usual after Duel Academy's first invasion but ignored it for the sake of defeating Duel Academy.

"Right now, I can't forget or forgive what Chris has done. But I hope that I can in the future."

Allen stared at Yuto as if he had lost his mind when he solemnly revealed his desire. "You're willing to forgive him for that?"

"Yuya taught me that hate doesn't resolve anything." Yuto explained the philosophy he learned from Yuya. "Even though there are some things that can't be forgiven or forgotten, the only real way to peace is to smile."

Yuto observed how the Duel Academy soldiers they caught had started to warm up to the refugees. Even though they were still contemplating on what they had been told during Yuya's duel, they were starting to slowly accept their feelings and listen to themselves. The rigid atmosphere had gone down.

As the others had their conversations, Celina walked alone as she continued to ponder what she had experienced since she got her memories of her childhood back. "I just don't get it, Yuri. What happened to you in all those years we were apart? Did you completely change from how you used to be? And if that's so, what happened to Yume?"

Underground Caverns - Duel Academy - Fusion Dimension

Somewhere, in the underground caverns deep beneath Duel Academy, Madame Chaos was standing alone, looking at a framed picture on a chain that she held in her hands. It was a smaller copy of the hand-drawn drawing of Yuri, Celina, Dennis, and Yume together, happily smiling.

The masked woman chuckled. "How time and people fly by and change." As she mused that, Captain Perceptra arrived.

"Madame." "Captain." Madame Chaos acknowledged her subordinate's presence, without looking behind her. "The others await." Putting the picture away in her dovetail jacket dress, Madame Chaos turned her head to her. "Thank you for informing me. Now, let us join the others."

Soon, in an enormous part of the caverns, the two of them arrived at a strange area had been set up. There were candles encompassing a massive circle with a strange dragon design and the members of the Chaos Inquisition were standing around it. Each of the other six captains were on the ring of the circle, each sitting on their knees in the markings of a smaller circle. Lady Minerva and Hydromancy were each standing on a bigger circle marking than the captains' in the center. The three larger circles were arranged to be in a triangle formation to a much bigger central circle. There was an empty spot in both the ring and the three encompassing center circles.

Captain Perceptra took the empty spot on the ring and sat down on her knees, but Madame Chaos took the empty circle in the triangle formation, standing with Lady Minerva and Hydromancy.

"Master, we're all here. We have gathered and await your orders." The moment Madame Chaos made her confirmation, the circle glowed a lime-green color and the flames on the candles turned into a black-green color as they grew bigger.

As the flames finished changing colors, a massive shadow in the shape of a serpentine-like dragon, with four blade-like horns oriented forward, arose from the center circle. The other members of the Chaos Inquisition, who weren't in the circle, kneeled and lowered their heads to it upon its manifestation. They kneeled on one knee, with their hands resting on the standing leg's knee. The members inside the circle politely bowed to the shadow, as it opened its glowing, sinister red eyes.

"My faithful subjects. All has been set." The shadow announced as the members of the Chaos Inquisition raised their heads to it. "All four dragons will be gathered here tomorrow. You know what to do."

Madame Chaos smirked as they all looked up to the shadow. "Of course. The Professor won't know what hit him. After all these grueling years of sucking up to that man, the Inquisition will take what's rightfully ours!" She declared as she looked at her open hand and clutched it into a fist. "We await your return, Great One!" Lady Minerva added as she eagerly clasped her hands together. "For when the Professor's pathetic plan is completed, all will pay." Hydromancy calmly finished as she thrusted the end of her staff on the ground.

"And my reign, as the ultimate being, will begin anew!" The shadow smiled evilly, displaying its glowing yellow mouth. The members of the Chaos Inquisition once again bowed their head to the shadow as it gave an evil echoing laugh.