My Rewrite of Yuto
As I'm sure a lot of Yu-Gi-Oh! fans can agree to, ARC-V was a mess. From too big of a cast and too many plot threads, it all ended up in a big tangle, to the point that some conclusions were mediocre despite the wider story, and some others weren't satisfying in the least. As much as I agree with most of ARC-V's criticisms, one that I have that less people would agree with, is the mishandling of Yuto; the Xyz counterpart to ARC-V's main protagonist Yuya Sakaki. Yuto was my favourite Yu-boy despite his brief time on screen, and I do feel that had he remained alive for the remainder of the show, not only would see more of his development, but see him interact with the rest of the cast. Of course, keeping Yuto alive would have some major story implications but I'm confident this rewrite will be able to solve if not all, most of the issues. As this rewrite goes along, I will add some changes to other characters and scenes that I feel require them.
But before I move onto the changes, I would like to comment on Yuto before his unfortunate death. Before episode 37, Yuto was portrayed brilliantly. He was mysterious and suspicious but, in the end, he was broken. The war in the Xyz dimension had really taken its toll on him and really shaped how he is now. In the flashbacks that we do see, show him much happier and relaxed even just by his choice of clothes whereas his post-war attire, is very dark and damaged; almost charred. His relationship with Yuzu also really showed some good development. Yuto went from despising all people who use fusion summoning, to then meeting Yuzu to realise that not everyone associated with fusion is the enemy. It's also nice that he notices how similar she is to Ruri not just based on their appearance. His brief time with Yuya following the battle royale with the 2 of them and Sora not only gives more exposition on the world of ARC-V but is enough for Yuya understand and empathise with Yuto despite their only in-person interaction.
Yuto's personality also really shined in his 2 duels prior to his match with Yugo. Against Shingo, Yuto showed that he can defend himself with graveyard effects and disrupt his opponent's plays. In his short duel against Sora, Yuto showed his ability to manipulate his opponent's moves to setup his counterattack. However, we also see that Yuto is tired of fighting. In the duel against Shingo, it's only until Shingo attempts to defeat Yuto during his turn that Yuto makes the play to win the duel meaning otherwise, Yuto couldn't have won that turn. Also, during the duel against Sora, both Yuya and Sora notice that Yuto chose not to use Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon's effect for a second time even though doing that would've won him the duel that turn. Sora notes this as Yuto being cocky and arrogant whereas Yuya deduces that Yuto's heart is no longer in the war and just wants it to be over. This realisation is the perfect setup as we are then catapulted into Yuto's last duel against Yugo.
Now, I must admit, I find this duel very conflicting. Not only does it kill off my favourite character from the show, but because his death is the cause of a pure misunderstanding between Yuto and Yugo, but primally from Yugo's side. As we come to learn later, Yuri abducted both Rin and Ruri, the love interests of both Yugo and Yuto, respectively. In both cases, Yuri was wearing a cloak with only his face visible meaning that since all the Yu-boys look similar, both Yuto and Yugo suspected each other when they first met in the Xyz dimension. In that confrontation, Yugo escaped after some of the Resistance members met up with Yuto during the duel and only now, have they reunited. From what we see of Yugo later, he allows his emotions to determine his course of action meaning he is quicker to accuse Yuto. Comparatively, I'm sure Yuto would be more willing to talk the situation out but due to Yugo's personality, he must defend himself which, unfortunately, isn't enough.
The duel is still good. We get to see good Synchro vs Xyz action and eventually both Yugo and Yuto get their ace monsters to the field: Clear Wing Synchro Dragon and Dark Rebellion Dragon. Now, due to the intensity of the duel, both duellists start to awaken, and their inner Z-ARC attempts to take over to which point Yuya intervenes to attempt to calm them both down. At first, I was annoyed at this because Yuto had finally gained the advantage despite mostly being on the back foot. However, looking back, Yuya was only trying to do what he felt was right; stop the duel to talk the situation out. Yuya manages to calm Yuto down, but Yugo ignores Yuya and defeats Yuto. And despite knowing he is about to lose; Yuto doesn't hesitate to save Yuya from the shockwave which ultimately ends his life.
As we witness, immediately after the duel's conclusion, Yuto merges with Yuya causing him to fall unconscious until the next morning. However, I would like to not only change this merge, but how the merging for the Yu-boys worked overall. Instead of immediately physically merging, Yuya and Yuto only mentally merge. In other words, there 2 minds become one, but they still have their physical forms. Not only would this allow Yuto to remain alive for longer, but it wouldn't cause any plot holes later. In this merge, they both can hear each other's thoughts and emotions, and while they won't understand completely, will be able to telepathically communicate. In addition, if either of them about to awaken, they both do, however, the one who is duelling will be able to use the other's cards as it will materialise in their deck but return to where it was when Yuya/Yuto return to normal. Yuya and Yuto will still have a small heart to heart before the merge occurs, and when Yuzu arrives, her bracelet will teleport Yugo away, but Yuya and Yuto cannot be teleported away from each other now that they have merged. Yuzu will find them unconscious, beside each other, both holding their ace dragons in their hands touching each other. Yuzu will contact Gongenzaka for assistance, but Yuto will still lose his duel disk which will still get recovered by Reiji Akaba.
Now that Yuto is still alive, the changes will come but after some work, the changes are quite minor and don't really require much story alteration until much later. The next day would remain quite similar. Yuya would still be unconscious in his bed and Yuto could be in a futon next to Yuya's bed. I think it could be amusing for Yuto to be wearing a spare of Yuya's pyjamas just for him to be having a different attire. Yuzu and Youko would be sitting next to them with Yuzu attempting to explain who Yuto is and why he looks like Yuya. Before Yuzu can go into more detail, we would still get the same shenanigans with Mieru, except this time she'll also be confused by Yuto. Before she can probe further, Yuzu persuades Youku to escort Mieru to the Miami Tournament and that she and Yuya will join them later. This leaves only Yuya, Yuto and Yuzu in Yuya's bedroom.
A short while after, Yuya wakes up and is embraced by Yuzu. Yuya reassures Yuzu he is ok and gets up, notices Yuto on the floor still unconscious and goes to look at his deck on his desk. It's important to note that both Yuya and Yuto's deck are on Yuya's desk with their ace dragons face up on their respective deck. During Yuya and Yuto's heart to heart, neither one of them gave the other their dragon so Yuya doesn't take Yuto's Dark Rebellion. After that, Yuya recounts to Yuzu the events of the previous night, from Sora's disappearance to Yuto's explanation, to Yugo's arrival and Yuto's defeat. Yuzu also confesses to having met Yuto as well from the duel with Shingo, the physical interaction with Sora, the confusion involving Sora, Shun and Masumi and the alley conversation.
After a brief while, Yuto wakes up as well. Both Yuya and Yuzu embrace Yuto and thanks them for bringing him to Yuya's home. This scene with just the 3 of them would better build on their friendship and show some growth in Yuto by expanding on who he feels comfortable being vulnerable in front of. One thing about Yuya I would change is have him have a board in his room that is primarily for him gathering clues on his father Yusho's disappearance. Yuya always struck me as the kind of person who'd have a board in his room and I think it'd make sense that he, at some point, decided to investigate his father's disappearance. Between the 3 of them, I feel Yuya, Yuzu and Yuto would come up with a theory that since all 4 of the dimensions, Fusion, Synchro, Xyz and Standard are parallel to each other, each dimensions house the same individuals who, despite looking similar, are completely different, much like in the CW Arrowverse, where everyone has a doppelganger in each other dimension. As we'll come to learn later, this is not the case, but the characters have no other real explanation and this would allow them to move on and it's not the most absurd explanation for Yuya, Yuto and Yugo looking alike and Yuzu and Ruri looking alike.
Using a section of Yuya's board, Yuya would split the section into 4 quadrants and label them with the dimension names. In the corresponding quadrants, a label for Yuya, Yuto, Yugo, Yuzu, and Ruri would be put and a 3 questions marks; 1 in synchro and 2 in fusion as our trio haven't come across their doppelgangers from Fusion - we haven't met Yuri, Serena nor Rin. Yuto would explain the situation with Yugo and Yuzu would be the one to suggest that Yugo was searching for her synchro doppelganger, much like how Yuto and Shun have been searching for Ruri. Yuya suggest that perhaps their fusion doppelganger was the person responsible. All 3 agree that it is a possibility as if Yugo only saw Yuri by face, it makes sense why he immediately accused Yuto on sight. It should also be noted that Yuzu suggests that perhaps "Yuri" also kidnapped Ruri and now, she might be the next one, as it can't be a coincidence that her doppelgangers have been abducted. This would give Yuzu more incentive to duel against Yuri when they eventually meet during the Miami Tournament Battle Royale.
After a while, Yuya and Yuzu agree they need to head of the next stage of the Miami Tournament. They invite Yuto to join them, but he declines as he still feels tired from the previous night and goes back to sleep, surprisingly, with a smile. The next time we see Yuto would be during the duel between Yuya and Kachidoki. As we see in that duel, Yuya, in a very dire situation, not only awakens for the first time, but also xyz summons Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon for the first time and uses it to win the duel. Of course, in this case, this will be slightly different with the obvious difference being, Yuya doesn't have Dark Rebellion in his deck as it is still with Yuto back at his house. As much as this might seem as a plot hole as Yuya, without Dark Rebellion, would lose the duel, this is where the telepathic merge becomes important. The way it would work is, since Yuto and Yuya share the same mind, they can both occasionally share their thoughts and emotions. For the moment, they are both unaware of this, but are they start to spend more time with each other, this ability will increasingly manifest, to the point they use it more voluntarily.
Getting back to the duel, this would start as soon as Kachidoki fusions summons his ace monster; Idaten the Conqueror Star. Yuya would start to feel Yuto's hatred for fusion summoning, but it would be quite faint, only a slight tich at the back of his mind. Its only until Yuya takes a big hit to his LP and begins to despair about losing does Yuto's hatred and anger become so intense that Yuya awakens for the first time. For Yuto, he can sense the intense darkness in Yuya's mind, but he feels he is dreaming and so doesn't feel too strange about it until later. Regardless, now that Yuya has awakened, his now strong connection with Yuto allows for Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon to momentarily manifest in Yuya's deck meaning he is able to use it to win the duel. As soon as Yuya snaps back to normality and Yuto wakes up paranoid, they both check their decks to notice that Dark Rebellion is in Yuto's deck and not in Yuya's. Seeing this, Yuto shrugs off what he felt/saw as nothing more than a dream and returns to sleep whereas Yuya is not only shaken by what he did but also confused as well. This still makes Shun, who is watching, suspicious towards Yuya as the last he ever saw of Yuto, was with Yuya in the security camera footage just before Yugo appeared. Also, given that Reiji took possession of Yuto's duel disk, Yuto has been unable to contact Shun about his current whereabouts.
As much as Yuto shrugged this moment off, there was no way he would the next time. Just before Yuya encounters Obelisk Force during the battle royale, Yuya encounters Shun who demands answers regarding Yuto. Yuya admits that Yuto is at his home and in a form of good will, allows Shun to look through his deck to prove he didn't steal any of Yuto's card, thought this act is noble, Shun doesn't completely trust Yuya but is willing to apologise for being suspicious. As soon as Yuya witnesses Obelisk Force card the Knight trio, this is where Yuto's hatred comes flooding in. In this moment, Yuya feels the intense emotion from Yuto who now can see through Yuya's eyes, and immediately gets up as if being controlled. Yuya completely awakens to the point that Yuto is talking and moving his arms as is he is the one duelling, much like how Yuya did through Yugo during the Friendship Cup, although in this case, it makes sense. In this duel, Yuya and Yuto summon Odd Eyes Rebellion Dragon and decimate Obelisk Force before walking away. It's only until Yuya falls unconscious when being pinned down by Gongenzaka, Teppie and Michie, while being mindread by Mieru. After returning to normal, Yuto stumbles and realises what he saw was more real and felt wasn't a dream this time, and so takes his deck and heads off to the battle royale to find Yuya.
During this, Yuzu has her encounter Yuri in the ice field and recognises him as Yuya to which he corrects her. Yuzu remembers her earlier discussion with Yuya and Yuto and deduces that Yuri is the fusion doppelganger they suspected is responsible for Ruri and Rin's kidnapping. Before initiating the duel, Yuzu demands answers from Yuri who confesses confidently with no remorse whatsoever. Although, this duel never had a result, what we saw was truly terrible. Not only didn't we see any actual duelling action, but instead, we see Yuzu cowering in tears below a cliffside, hiding in fear of Yuri. This moment is truly disgraceful to Yuzu, who has had amazing development prior to this moment, especially for a Yu-Gi-Oh girl character. I can only guess this was done to up Yuri's creep factor, although, it was completely unnecessary. Just earlier, Yuri carded Halil and Olga offscreen who, as we saw earlier as well, gave Yuzu and Gongenzaka a tough match so this already proves Yuri's duelling skills.
Another reason is most likely that the writers didn't want to ruin the surprise of Yuri's ace monster, Starving Venom Fusion Dragon, whom we wouldn't be properly introduced to until episode 106. This is one of my biggest issues with Yuri in general especially when it comes to his duels against Yugo. Yuri just relies on Starving Venom in every duel, which makes sense as it is really overpowered in the show. However, until we don't get its formal introduction, I'd have Yuri just duel with his regular Predaplants, especially against Yuzu. Not only would this make him appear more skilled that he doesn't even need his extra deck to be threatening, but it would maker Yuzu more scared by Yuri's duelling ability rather than just his appearance and personality. As much as I enjoyed Yuzu, I'd also at least have Yuri defeat her onscreen then have her run as Yuri is attempting to kidnap her then you can still have Yugo come in and save her and it would work so much better.
Getting back to Yuto, we'd see him again when Yuya is about to go berserk after witnessing not only the big battle royale on the bridge in the lava field, but also after witnessing Sora card Hikage. Yuto would also feel this but in a moment of understanding, much like how Yuto does in the Fusion Dimension, Yuto would be trying to calm Yuya down telepathically which he does and assures Yuya that his prime instinct to get through to Sora will be enough. Yuto would finally reach Yuya during his climatic rematch against Reiji, specifically when Reiji questions Yuya about his pendulum advancements. When Reiji points out that Yuya's pendulum fusion came from his bond with Yuzu and Sora, he asks where Yuya's bond came from to allow him to pendulum xyz. This would be the perfect moment for Yuto to appear, exhausted from the run, but relieved to see Yuya, ok, and to be reunited with Shun. I'd also have Shun apologise to Yuya for being suspicious since Yuto is evidently unharmed meaning Yuya wasn't lying.
With Yuto is back in the main cast, it'd make sense for Shun to vouch for Yuto's skills and for him to request Reiji to allow Yuto to join the Lancers. Reiji, of course, agrees but mainly because not only has he witnessed Yuto's skills during his duel against Sora, but much like Shun, could be a source of intel on Duel Academy and the Fusion Dimension. Before everyone heads to Reiji's office to go to the Synchro Dimension, Yuto requests to duel Yuya for 2 reasons. First reason being that Yuya has less experience duelling for survival and while being able to create Action Duels outside of the Standard Dimension could give them the advantage, if their enemy learns enough quickly, they could balance the playing field and Yuya is right back to where he started. But primarily, to see if Yuya really can change people's hearts. Yuto has grown to, deep-down, have a firm belief that it'll take much more than beating Duel Academy to end the war and believes that Yuya's dueltaining could be the key. But, as we'll soon learn, Yuya isn't ready in the slightest. In almost every turn, Yuya wastes resources while Yuto manages to shut them down one by one with just a single card, proving that Yuya isn't ready. At one point, they'll both summon their dragons but because they've already become one, neither one awakens, but they do, somewhat, feel Z-ARC (although unknown to them at the time) within them. This duel would end with Yuya losing during his own turn, much like against Reiji, but Yuto decides to forfeit because he finally decides to go without Yuya. Of course, Yuya shows up anyway to Yuto's dismay but realises nothing will stop Yuya until he rescues Yuzu.
Now with Yuto joining the Lancers, not only would he receive 2 pendulum cards from Reiji, most likely a scale 2 and 5, this means he'll have to join one of the groups when the Lancers get separated when they teleport to Synchro. It makes the most sense for Yuto join Shun for a few reasons. The first reason being is that is keeps Yuto out of the main story, as almost immediately, Yuya and Serena are being identified as fugitives due to Yuzu and Yugo the previous night so adding Yuto to would lead to more confusion. Yuto would still end up being taken to the Facility, regardless, but it makes more sense to see his bond with Shun which we didn't get enough of in Standard, as when we did see them together, Yuto had to put Shun down to de-escalate the current situation. I'm sure the audience would like to see more working together to get more of a glimpse of how deep their friendship is and how it changed due the war.
I'd also change the duel with Dennis and instead of having Shun duel, I'd rather have Yuto duel. Yuto and Shun will eventually duel in the Friendship Cup and due to some future changes Shun will end up duelling more in the Cup that Yuto, which will be explained later, so Yuto at least deserves this duel. But, more importantly, it would show how similar Yuto and Shun are. Shun was at least able to deduce that something was off about Dennis during their first duel, and I have no doubt that Yuto would be able to as well and Shun would be more convinced viewing their duel from a distance. All 3 would still be sent to the Facility due to their underground Turbo-duelling along with Dennis and Gongenzaka so they would still meet up with Yuya, Serena and Shingo. Yuto in the Facility wouldn't really change the story but would be an opportunity for Yuya to show that he is capable of changing people's hearts. We see Yuya do this with Chojiro and with some inmates and I have no doubt that Yuto would not only be inspired but maybe even join in. Despite this, the escape would occur as normal with all the Lancers and some people from Commons being brought to Roger and be entered into the Friendship Cup.
I was quite unsure who Yuto should duel in the Friendship Cup. I do stand by my decision for him to duel Serena in the Round of 16 and lose, for a few reasons. The obvious reason would be so that we still get Yugo vs Serena which I really enjoyed. The other, more important, reason is that it would help get some more backstory to Yuto and Ruri's relationship. As we see in Yugo vs Serena, we get more backstory for Yugo and Rin which made sense as Serena is Rin's doppelganger and for whatever reason, Yugo could only see Rin and not Serena, which would mean that Yuto might see her the same as well. Now I doubt Yuto would be completely oblivious to Serena especially since they are comrades, but I'm sure that in moment when Yuto focuses on Ruri, he does see her in Serena. We could probably get more flashbacks to the time they spent together or even just more time in the Xyz dimension. We see that Serena grows to have fun duelling against Yugo and I feel Yuto would be the same and therefore, wouldn't mind losing. This would also be confirmation that it is possible for people to change, and that duelling doesn't always have to be used as a method of destruction but form of joy. Yuto would still be sent underground but knowing him, he'd eventually find a way to sneak out which he'll need when the upcoming invasion occurs.
Eventually, Obelisk Force would attempt to invade the Synchro Dimension during Yuya's duel against Crow which almost immediately followed Yugo's duel against Serena. As we see, Yugo notices Yuri watching him and attempts to follow him. Yuto, eventually being able to sneak out from underground with all other Lancers would attempt to take down Obelisk Force. As we see in Yuya vs Crow, Roger implants an electric shock device in Yuya's helmet to prevent him from acting out. In doing so, it causes Yuya to awaken and duel as Z-ARC. A side effect to this is that Yugo, Yuri, and Yuto from within all went berserk and functioned as if they were duelling as well, only returning to normal when the dulled ended. I really disliked this as it was too much unnecessary foreshowing that there something going on with all4 of them. It almost meant that we hardly got anything for the "no result" between Yugo and Yuri in episode 91 and 92.
The first thing I'd change is that only Yuya and Yuto would awaken, and any screen time not focused on the would focus on Yugo vs Yuri. This is another case where Yuri could've shown more of his duelling skills by using his regular Predaplants or even 1 Predaplant fusion instead of just relying on Starving Venom. During Yuya vs Crow, Yuto would be duelling multiple Obelisk Force members at a time. As Yuto is getting pushed back increasingly, that when the shock device would activate causing Yuto to awaken and duel with more ferocity. He'd only be able to use his lower rank Phantom Knight Xyz monsters as Yuya requires Dark Rebellion to summon Odd Eyes Rebellion later, but Yuto could at least pendulum summon and show his true skills with spell and traps.
While this happens, Yugo would eventually corner Yuri. This duel would play slightly slower with Yugo and Yuri would just duels with their Speedroids and Predaplants, respectively, until later. After Yuya defeats Crow, he'd race off to find Yuto, so they team up to rescue Yuzu and Serena. Yuya would fins Yuto passed out from being awakened and they race off to under the bridge to find Sergey and Barret. Unsurprisingly, Yugo and Yuri are nearby but withing ear/eyeshot. This duel would be 4-way battle royale with Yuya and Yuto technically on the same side but Sergey and Barret duelling solo. As the duel nears its conclusion all 4 Yu-boys would summon their ace dragons and awaken simultaneously. This is when Yuzu and Serena's bracelets would activate and since Yuya and Yuto are one being now, only Yugo and Yuri would be teleported returning Yuya and Yuto to normal. However, they'd still both lose the duel causing Yuzu and Serena to be kidnapped with Sergey taking Yuzu and Barret taking Serena.
After this, Yuto would also witness Yuya vs Jack Round 2. This would the best tipping point for Yuto in his belief in Yuya. After having failed to protect both Yuzu and Serena, Yuto would almost regress to how he was when he lost Ruri, but this duel would not only raise his spirits but re-instil his faith that Yuya can change people's hearts. Yuto would mainly be patrolling in the streets of Commons along with Gongenzaka, Shingo and Shun then make his way with them to Sector Security to rescue Yuzu. When witnessing Yuya and Yuzu reunite, Yuto would also be brought to tears. Not only because Yuzu is also someone he cares about, but seeing Yuya reunite with her would give him hope that he can also save Ruri. Of course, we'd still get the infamous wormhole scene, and this was conflicting. I was tempted to allow Yuzu to remain with the Lancers as being separated, she'd eventually be kidnapped again, but it seems necessary for her to be sent to the Fusion dimension to advance the plot there, and there'd be too many characters being sent to the Xyz dimension. I also considered not having Yuto being sent back to Xyz because this is the point where his relationship with Yuya became more prominent but much like with Yuzu, even though Yuto was still technically present, there'd be a lot of characters to manage in Xyz. So, I'd have Yuto being sent to Fusion with Yuzu bit his time there will be quite brief.
Yuzu and Yuto would be together in Fusion mainly so Yuto can reassure Yuzu to reunite her with Yuya, but being in the Fusion dimension would be a detriment to Yuto. Being surrounded by people so comfortable with the war, Yuto would be more willing to awaken and despite being in separate dimensions, his rage and hatred would reach Yuya. Not so much for him to also awaken but to be more willing. Yuzu, despite not being Ruri, would be there to calm him down which would be foreshowing to Yusho's recognition that the Ray counterparts were necessary to calm down their corresponding Z-ARC counterparts and prevent form awakening. Yuzu and Yuto would eventually be cornered by Obelisk Force on the bridge but despite Yuto being ready to duel, Asuka would still intervene and rescue them and take them to Yusho's makeshift duel school to which not only would Yuzu reunite with Yuya's father, but this would be Yuto's formal introduction to Yusho, who was also Ruri's teacher, in the brief time he spent in the Xyz dimension.
After learning about Yusho's adventure, Yuri would arrive and defeat some of the students. Yuto would be ready to duel him, but Yuzu's bracelet would teleport Yuri away. Just moments after, Yugo would appear, but Yuzu's bracelet would activate again, but this time, teleport Yuto away. Yusho would be witness to this and having noticed how similar all 3 boys looked, this would feed into his later thought process when Leo Akaba duelled Yuya and Reiji. Yuto would be teleported back to Xyz in proximity of Yuya who at this point has just arrived at Yuto's old school. They'd reunite and Yuto would lead Yuya around. The plot in the Fusion Dimension, for the moment, would continue as it normally would.
Back in Xyz, Yuto would return to his old locker to which he would take the old picture of himself, Ruri and Shun, hoping to return to such a happy time but deep-down knowing that despite how he hard he might try, all 3 have changed too much to go back to how they were. Edo would still appear later and challenge Yuya after bringing up Yusho. The duel would start with just Yuya and Edo but due to Yuto's hatred for Fusion, Yuya would be slightly awakened but not completely. After Yuya takes the hits from Edo's Destiny Hero – Drilldark's, Yuto would take over the duel and use Yuya's deck and due to him almost awakening, he'd still be able to sue some of his cards. The reason I'd have Yuto takeover from here, is because he feels he has the better experience and because he, more-so than Yuya, deserves to summon Dark Requiem Xyz Dragon, as this monster is the embodiment of Yuto's hatred and anger. The duel would still conclude in a draw, to Yuto's dismay, with Yuya hiding from more Duel Academy Students who arrive to take care of Edo and only until they leave, does he attempt to dig Yuto out from the rubble. Yuto would be frustrated but Yuya would scold him as Yuya was hoping that Yuto would try to connect with Edo rather than pummel him. Yuto would reject Yuya as this isn't the right time to do so and that while they are in a warzone, they need to survive first.
Eventually, we'd get to the Tyler sisters. I'd still have Yuya and Shun tag duel against them but have this duel last a bit longer. During the duel, Edo would attempt to fish Yuya out to take him down to disprove his father's ideals, but much like when they first met, Yuto would save Yuya, but in the process, would be chained instead. Edo complies to duel him since they ended in a draw. This time Yuto would get pushed back, but after witnessing Yuya dueltaining against the Tyler sisters, is inspired to dueltain himself against Edo. In this section, Yuto, not awakened but rather coordinated with Yuya, uses Odd Eyes alongside his Dark rebellion as part of his performance and specifically uses Odd Eyes to win the duel as a homage to Yuya. This surprisingly works and Yuto, after the duel, apologies to Yuya for doubting him but still believes that despite changing people's hearts is possible, they do need survive before that. Yuya does agree to this but they both know he won't stop trying.
This would be when our Lancers, along with Edo, would teleport to the Fusion Dimension. They'd reunite with Yuzu which causes Yugo to be teleported again and, Kachidoki makes his return. This time, Yuto would duel and defeat him, still trying to dueltain, although not completely but enough to make Yuya smile, and for Yuto to have hope that he can be how he sued to be before the invasion. Serena would still appear and kidnap Yuzu and our Lancers, along with Sora and Crow, would still make it to the Duel Academy.
Now, I know there are many fans who aren't, in anyway, satisfied with how the Fusion arc of ARC-V was managed, especially including the Battle Beast episodes, and I agree with them. If anything, it just confirmed the main problem with ARC-V; the cast was a bit too big. I'm all for having a wide variety of characters but they need to be managed well, and in this case, they weren't. I personally have no serious issues with the arc after the Battle Beast, so they will remain mostly the same. But in order, to get there, these episodes need an overhaul. Given ARC-V attempted to have as many easter eggs as possible, this part missed the opportunity to make another 5D'S reference – so here we go.
When the Lancers rush into Duel Academy, they all still fall into the trap except for Sora, Reiji and Reira who would manage to evade the fall and continue their way. They would eventually meet up with Yusho, along with Asuka, before being halted by Yuri. Much like in the show, Asuka and Sora would remain to halt Yuri, while Yusho, Reira and Reiji continue confronting Leo.
Getting back to the rest of the Lancers (Yuya, Yuto, Gongenzaka, Shingo, Crow and Tsukikage), end up separated in a comparable manner to Team 5D's in the Ark Cradle arc. Our Lancers would be split into pair across 3 platforms – Yuya and Yuto, Gongenzaka and Tsukikage and Shingo and Crow. The platforms make it so they can't all regroup but decide to make their own ways to reunite with Reiji. Yuya and Yuto won't meet back up with the others, however, our Lancers will be blocked by random Duel Academy students who will be just beaten off-screen. Gongenzaka, Tsukikage, Crow and Shingo would reunite and make their way to the Academy courtyard. This is where more students, however, these ones are joined with a familiar face; Ryo Marifuji.
In an earlier scene, when Yugo is teleported to Duel Academy, on a screen, it says Ryo is dead, but I think it'd make sense for Duel Academy to spread that lie to use him as a secret weapon. In this dimension, Ryo only uses his Cyberdarks and their constant pain they deal to Ryo has lead him to madness, to the point, he's just a ruthless duelling machine with no compassion nor honour. In a way this would become a better-done version of the Battle Beast. Despite this, it's done better as not only do we get the return of a fan favourite character, but it's not a new character, meaning no time is wasted to establish them, aside from a flashback or 2 involving Asuka or Edo, and without Yuya, more time is saved on getting through Ryo, rather than through to him. This would become a huge battle royale, but the results would end the same. Crow would forcibly eject Shingo to save him but still get carded and Tsukikage would also be defeated, and before Gongenzaka is defeated, this is where Jack makes his epic return and win the duel. Ryo would just collapse in a comparable manner to Sergey after he also lost to Jack. This would leave Jack, Gongenzaka and Shingo the lone survivors who we wouldn't see again until the Z-ARC battle royale.
Yuya and Yuto, meanwhile, have just been running around to try and regroup with the team, when they spot Shun limping after Ruri. Earlier, we see Yugo and Shun run up the towers to try and rescue Rin and Ruri, who due to the parasites in their brains, they end up duelling. Of course, Yugo loses to Rin, which was a shock to me, as Yugo was undefeated at that point and in doing so, she returns to the Doctor. This is where Yugo meets with Edo who attempt to chase after Rin but find Yuri having just defeated Sora. Yugo will remain to stall Yuri while Edo finds Kaito who is chasing after Shun. The reason for this is because I'm changing Shun and have him lose to Ruri. As much as I'm not a fan of Shun receiving more losses on the home stretch of this show, I think it'd make sense as we learn later that Ruri still has the parasite in her head. I enjoyed seeing her fight against it but that sort of contradicts the parasite's power. Yugo, much like Shun, attempted to get through to Rin, yet his efforts proved futile, so I'd rather have Ruri losing to the parasite but beating Shun. Ruri would escape on her Lyrilusc monster and having Kaito chase after her before catching up. Kaito would lose track of Ruri but as mentioned before, would eventually meet up with Edo.
Yuya and Yuto will follow Shun to which Yuto and Ruri would engage in a duel. During this duel, just like we saw, we'd get more flashbacks to Yuto and Ruri's relationship and perhaps even have Shun catch on but play it cool. I always got the feeling that despite Shun's rough exterior, he'd be ok with their relationship. Shun would advocate for Yuya to remain with Yuto only to still get tased by Serena, who joins the duel, followed by Yuya. We'd still get the infamous Odd Eyes Raging Dragon scene along with Ruri and Serena making a getaway when Yuya and Yuto attempt to help Shun. Ruri and Serena would split with Yuya chasing Serena and Yuto chasing Ruri, only to end up in the same room, which happened to be the Doctor's lab and end with Yuya and Yuto in opposing cages. All 4 bracelet girls would then be sent to Leo in their tubes and Yuya would finally see his father as Yusho, Reiji and Reira have finally found Leo.
It's at this point where we knew the writers were really trying to juggle the plethora of plots they had all over the place. As much as they ruined what could've been a better show, I do have to give them credit for what they attempted. Not only having so many plots but having the main cast of characters moving from plot to plot somewhat naturally. You have Shun still down in the parasite lab, Yugo at Sora's defence against Yuri, Gongenzaka, Shingo and Jack still trying to make their way through Duel Academy, Kaito and Edo on their way to the Doctor's lab, Yuya and Yuto trapped in the Doctor's lab and Yusho and Reiji along with Reira have finally confronted Leo.
I'll start with Yugo vs Yuri. This duel is easily one of the worst handled duels in Yu-Gi-OH, especially given the hype built for it, yet we start the duel in episode 126, then it gets interrupted, and we don't see any more until episode 130. Personally, I have no real issue with its pacing, but my main issue is with the Yugo's treatment. As we see in episode 130, Edo and Kaito join the duel to calm both Yugo and Yuri down to stop Z-ARC's return. But there was no need for them to get involved in the duel. As we see, Kaito and Edo's moves just waster mostly Yugo's resources, so when Kaito and Edo are eventually defeated, Yugo has less resources to fight back against Yuri which isn't fair in the slightest. This is one of the things I will change but will get to later. For now, Yugo and Yuri will skip their regular Speedroids and Predaplants and go straight into their dragons, Clear Wing Synchro Dragon, and Starving Venom Fusion Dragon, respectively. This makes sense as not only are we about to learn about Z-ARC, Ray, and the original dimension, but it immediately carries on from what we last saw back when their duel got interrupted in the Synchro Dimension. Both duellists will awaken causing a storm, and due to the proximity, Yuya and Yuto will start to awaken as well.
As Leo goes on his exposition dump, Yuya and Yuto start to awaken. Both their decks will fall out as their eyes glow, with their ace dragons glowing, calling out to Yugo and Yuri's dragons. Both Yuya and Yuto will collect their decks in a whirlwind ending with their dragons, at which point Edo and Kaito enter the lab. Due to the whirlwind, Yuya and Yuto will blow their cages, knocking Edo and Kaito back, then Yuya and Yuto would make their way to Yugo and Yuri. However, due to Yuya having finally seen his father again, manages to cling onto his mind and goes to confront Leo. Yuto follows suite and both reach the room. On seeing his father again, Yuya manages to return to normal and embraces him. Yuto formally introduces himself to Yusho and recognises him as Ruri's teacher, whom Yusho recalls. It's at this point, Leo reveals his true motive behind his Revival Zero project to which point he reveals that Yuya, Yuto, Yugo and Yuri are Z-ARC's 4 reincarnations while Yuzu, Serena, Rin, and Ruri are Ray's 4 reincarnations.
It's at this point we get the duel against Leo. When considering this duel, I was quite conflicted about who should duel him as almost everyone who could, has a reason to. Yusho wants to get through to the friend he once knew, Reiji is adamant on stopping the recombination of the 4 dimensions, while Yuya and Yuto are determined to prove that despite being Z-ARC's reincarnations, they are his puppets and can hold him back. In the end, I decided on a 3v1 duel, with Yuya, Yuto and Reiji vs Leo. I might be much, but by scripting the duel better, this could work well for Leo's legitimacy as the initial main antagonist. As we see in the show, Leo proves to be a match for Yuya and Reiji and almost beat them, yet later, despite wanting to defeat Z-ARC the most, gets OTK'd by the cards he brought to stop him. By at least giving him a challenge here, it would prove his skills better, although I doubt it would completely make up for that infamous OTK.
At the very least, I would make this duel a better service to Reiji. Despite having been prepared for this fight for 3 years, Leo manages to outclass Reiji even though Reiji uses all summoning methods (beside Rituals) against Leo, yet Leo shrugs it off as nothing. If Yuya and Yuto are going to be struggling to hold down Z-ARC, Reiji should be the one to deal more of the damage to Leo. Yuya and Yuto will still get their moment to almost defeat Leo with Odd Eyes Raging Dragon, and Yusho will still get his moment where, in this case, he pins both Yuya and Yuto to the wall with his trap. Leo will still leave the room to advance the reactor, while Yusho heads off to stop Yugo and Yuri. He'll be met by both Edo and Kaito, coming from the lab, to go ahead to attempt to confront Yugo and Yuri.
Edo and Kaito will attempt to enter the duel but due to the storm created from Yugo and Yuri, they will be blown back and unable to. They will still try to get through to Yugo by mentioning Rin which will eventually calm Yugo down. Yuri will remain awakened expect in his case, he will seem in control but, as a twist, Z-ARC is still playing puppeteer. I briefly considered giving Yugo the win so that we could eventually get Yuya vs Yugo – a duel that had been exaggerated up during the synchro arc – much like Yugo vs Yuri, but it doesn't seem like it would work. The main reason being is that I really love Yuri's next 2 duels, against Yusho then Yuya, nut mainly because Yugo would most likely be unable to summon Starving Venom Fusion Dragon as it specifically requires dark monster whereas Yugo only uses wind. I could give myself the excuse that when Yugo absorbs Yuri, his inner Z-ARC grants him a card that makes Starving Venom's summoning requirement, much like how Yuri will later have a tuner, but given that Yugo is no longer awakened, all he wants is to get revenge, not absorb Yuri. The only reason Yuri will continue going after Yuya and Yuto is because Z-ARC is still pulling his strings without him realising.
Regardless, Yuri will still defeat Yugo and here, Yuri will forcibly absorb Yugo. When Yuto was defeated, the reason Yuya didn't absorb him, was because Yuya had no intention to, not that he would've known how to as he was unaware at the time of his true nature, but because both he and Yuto were in complete synch and so their souls merged rather than their bodies. In this case, because Z-ARC is attempting to use Yuri as his primarily vessel, he will forcibly kill and absorb Yugo. After this, as we see, Yuri will be overflowing with darkness and just blast Edo, Kaito, Sora and Yusho to reach Yuya. As we'll see later, Edo and Sora will be trying to get to the main room and Kaito will be searching for Shun who is still unconscious in the parasite lab.
As mentioned before, I really enjoyed Yuri's next 2 duels. His duel with Yusho was really entertaining and really shows Yusho's skills. Finally seeing Yusho's dueltaining skills that had been exaggerated up for the entire show didn't disappoint in anyway especially his drawn-out strategy of returning Yuri's Super Polymerization back to his deck. I would've preferred if Yusho's card banished Super Polymerization as if it returns to the deck, Yuri does have a slim chance of just drawing it again. In the end, even Yuri is impressed by Yusho's dueltaining but does end up getting the win, more for plot purposes as Yusho does outduel him for most of the duel. This would also impress Yuto who having heard a bit from Ruri, and having spent so much time with Yuya, deep down also wanted to witness Yusho's skills and similarly heartbroken when Yusho is defeated.
Here is where I have chosen to make a risky change. Despite me advocating for this entire rewrite of keeping Yuto alive to keep him more involved, I am going to have him physically merge with Yuya but, I do have justification. This is where Yuto will momentarily take a back-seat while I choose to focus on other characters.
After Yusho is defeated, we see Yuya go completely berserk especially as Yuri laugh manically at his accomplishment. I would have Yuya so angry, that he grabs onto Yuto and forcibly absorbs him into him. Now that both Yuya and Yuto have learnt their truth as Z-ARC's reincarnations, not only would this make immediate sense as to how this is possible, but it mirrors the moment Yuri absorbed Yugo. Yuri forcibly absorbs Yugo in the pursuit of recombining and gaining power, and in this moment, Yuya does the same. He gets so angry that Z-ARC is taking control and so his first instinct to absorb his "weaker" half. I'd also have Reiji and Reira in fear of Yuya's action and have Yuri proudly smile. As we know Z-ARC is the one who's controlling Yuri and smile is to represent Z-ARC's complete victory as regardless the victor of the duel, Z-ARC will reunite and start his new reign.
Now, Yuya and Yuri have such a memorable duel. Looking back at this duel, I never noticed the symbolism of Yuya's final turn. It was strange that Yuya lost all control as soon as he got to Yuri as it seemed he was in control during the final turn. But looking at the field, it shows he wasn't. Just as Yuya is about to make his final attack, the only monsters on the field are Yuya's 2 pendulum magicians, Stargazer and Timegazer, and the 4 ace dragons, Odd Eyes, Dark Rebellion, Clear Wing and Starving Venom. In the end, Yuya, unfortunately had to not only rid himself of his Performapals to win, but completely focus on just winning and forget trying to entertain and go for game.
1 thing about the duel I would add is when Yuya and Yuri steal the dragons form either side of the field, they absorb the corresponding counterpart out of the current host into themselves e.g., when Dark Rebellion or Clear Wing is stolen, Yuto or Yugo is stolen from either Yuya or Yuri into the other. Not only would this give better justification as to how Yuya loses complete control at the end as at that point he is 75% Z-ARC and not just 50% Z-ARC, but I think it could be an interesting visual. Obviously, this would result in Z-ARC's return which leads into the giant battle royale.
Contrary to most fans, I really enjoy the giant Z-ARC battle royale. While it was disappointing to see our protagonists get easily defeated, after each other, it was interesting to see the different strategies they attempted against the duellist that had been foreshadowed the entire show and exaggerated up more from episode 126 onwards. Although it was frustrating to see some efforts go completely to waste, like Shun and Kaito's attempt for Z-ARC to attack into stronger monsters during his won turn or Jack being able to overcome Supreme King Dragon Clear Wing, but there were some standout moments.
Seeing Sora and Edo counteract Z-ARC's pendulum summon, seeing Crow deal damage after destroying Clear Wing, only for Z-ARC to be unfazed and turn their strategies against them. There's the infamous OTK against Leo which really sums how underwhelming of an antagonist he was considering he'd spent all this time trying to defeat Z-ARC, yet not only was he no match for Odd Eyes Raging Dragon, but he also somehow underestimated that Z-ARC wouldn't be prepared for the 4 nature cards.
After all that, Reiji gets the most conflicted turn of the duel. Not only does he seal Z-ARC's ability to gain LP, but he manages to summon 3 monster all with staggering ATK, only for Z-ARC to use it against him the next turn to finish him. I've said many times on the past that Reiji would've wrecked Z-ARC had he started earlier, yet the writers chose to roll him over to give Ray the spotlight that she didn't deserve. This why I'm making some necessary changes to this battle royale.
The first major change is that although Z-ARC recombines withing Yuya's body, his form remains blurry up until he summons Supreme King Z-ARC. When he does, he expels Yuya, Yuto, Yugo, and Yuri, as he doesn't need them anymore and they land in the Duel Academy courtyard. When they eventually wake up, they all realise they're separate and have a moment of relief. I'd have Yuya apologise to Yuto about forcibly absorbing him, and Yugo would apologise for assuming he was Rin' captor. Yuto would forgive them but then all 3 of them would turn their attention to Yuri. Yugo would be the most annoyed at Yuri for absorbing him, only for Yuri to reveal he has no recollection after he awakened during their duel. This, of course, is referring to how Yuri may have continued to act like himself, however Z-ARC was the one controlling him.
Yuya, despite not liking Yuri, tries to comfort him to which Yuri breaks down. Yuri would explain how all he's ever wanted was to be the best, he never really craved destruction and only obeyed Leo as he's the only one who gave him any attention. Yuri does acknowledge that the only reason Leo did, was because Yuri was a reincarnate of Z-ARC which builds on his hatred to Leo. He attempts to apologise to Yugo and Yuto and despite Yuto forgiving him, Yugo isn't too quick to but decides that the 4 of them need to stop what they indirectly caused.
This is where Yuya would suggest retrieving the 4 nature cards from the reactor to stop Z-ARC, Yuto would discourage the idea as he I aware that Leo would be the first to retrieve the cards and attempt to use them. This is where Yuri and Yugo are informed about Ray's true nature. From this Yuri suggests that Z-ARC would most likely be prepared for a strategy that defeated him before and they'll need Ray's help. All 4 would agree to got to the reactor to house Ray's spirit within themselves in a comparable manner to what Reira did.
As the 4 of them are making their way to the reactor, Z-ARC would indirectly interfere with them when summoning his dragons. Despite not being the original owners of them, each Yu-boy doe have a strong connection with their corresponding dragons so when Z-ARC summons their Supreme King Dragon counterpart, the corresponding Yu-boy can feel the original in pain, like the pain of Z-ARC awakening within them. Yuto would be the first to which Yugo would help him on the way, when Yugo is in pain, Yuri would be the one to help despite Yugo's objections, and Yuto would assist Yuya when it's his turn.
When they reach the reactor, they all reach inside and concentrate on their corresponding Bracelet girl to share Ray's spirit. This act proves easy for Yuya, Yuto and Yugo but slightly more difficult for Yuri, considering he hardly had any connection with Serena, except their brief time working for Leo. Eventually, all 4 succeed and head to the battle and join the duel just as Reiji is defeated. All 4 would stand up to Z-ARC and swear payback on his wrongdoings. The order would be Yuto, Yugo, Yuri then Yuya. Having acquired a part of Ray's spirit, all 4 are granted a summoning specific card to retrieve the nature cards from the graveyard. Each Yu-boy would summon their own extra deck monster and set their card face-down. Yuto would summon a Phantom Knights xyz monster, Yugo would summon a Speedroid synchro monster, Yuri would summon a Predaplant fusion monster and Yuya would pendulum summon a Performapal pendulum monster.
Being the main protagonist, Yuya would get the moment of taking down Z-ARC. Each set card allows Yuya to tribute a monster to set its corresponding nature card on the filed then activate it. You could even have the corresponding bracelet girl explain the effects from withing their bodies. This is where Z-ARC would be defeated and most of Ray's spirit would leave the Yu-boys and take Z-ARC into the reactor. This would permanently kill off both, then the reactor would go off and unite the 4dimensions into a single Pendulum Dimension.
This is where we would get a similar setup for the ceremonial duels like in the original show. Yuya would be invited to an updated version of the Miami tournament and to start off, a 4-way exhibition match would be held before the main event. Instead of what we got, we'd get Yuya, Yuto, Yugo and Yuri facing off. Yuto, Yugo, and Yuri would be represented as coming from other duel schools and as the dimensions has been newly created, everyone's memories remain fuzzy. The 4 of them would start having fun during the match before it becomes apparent to Reiji, that all 4 are holding back. As their memories return, the Yu-boys are purposely not using their dragons as it is a reminder to them that they created Z-ARC and they all still feel relatively guilty about it. Eventually, they'd continue, and I'd have Yuya win overall. Yuto would eliminate Yugo, but Yuya would eliminate both Yuri and Yuto, making him the winner. Despite this rewrite being geared towards Yuto, I prefer to give Yuya the win here.
Unsatisfied with their duelling, Reiji chooses to issue a challenge to the Yu-boys. Each one will face their biggest opponent yet, besides each other, and if any of them should not summon their ace dragon and/or lose, all 4 will never be allowed to duel in tournaments or professionally. This would be like Reiji's ceremonial duel in the show but for all 4 of the Yu-boys. Yuya, Yuto, Yugo and Yuri would be transported to the ruined Duel Academy courtyard. Yuri would the one to point out the destruction and caused and to show some remorse. This when the 4 would find Sora who bring them to the outer door of Leo's room, only to witness Shun attempting to break him while Asuka pleads with him to stop. Shun eventually enters only to be frustrated and sad that Ruri might be gone forever due to Ray's sacrifice at the end of the giant battle royale.
This is where, much like in the show, Shun attempts to accuse Yuya of his despair, only for Yuto to come to Yuya's defence which results in the Yu-boys first duel of Yuto vs Shun. Yuto would perform a pendulum summon during this duel but would refuse to summon Dark Rebellion. Yuto attempts to use graveyard effects to make up for it, but they prove ineffective as Shun was already prepared for them. Only after some cheering from Yuya does Yuto overcome his fear to not only and summon his dragon but evolve it into Arc Rebellion Xyz Dragon, which allows him to win the duel. Shun doesn't need to smile here but he does drop his anger against Yuya but is relieved that he still has his best friend.
This is where Leo appears but before anything, Yuri challenges him to a duel that Leo accepts. Yuri is adamant on getting back at Leo for using him and not treating him like he son he thought he was too him. Yuri attempt to use his Predaplants gimmick of using Predaplant counters to use the wide variety of effects but they too prove ineffective especially as Leo just hammers Yuri with effect damage. It's only until Yuri is on the back foot that his anger becomes fear, until some cocky commentary from Yugo motivates Yuri to summon his dragon and use it in combination with a Predaplant fusion monster to summon Starving Venom Predapower Fusion Dragon, which allows him to win the duel. Leo apologies to Yuri and agrees that bring him into the Akaba family and give the treatment that could've prevented Yuri's tyranny.
It's at this point, Yugo notices Jack watching above on the dimensional turbo duel track. It's revealed here that it was partly Jack's idea to put the Yu-boys to the test. Having heard about Yugo's aspiration about duelling him one day, jack challenges Yugo to his duel. This is where Crow brings in Yugo's duel runner and helmet and the duel begins. This duel would be like how Yuya duelled Jack where Yugo does a combo to swarm the field in low level Hi-Speedroid synchro monsters to make up for not summoning Clear Wing. After some memory recollection about Rin, and some back handed compliments from Yuri, Yugo not only summons his dragon, but manages to perform an accel synchro to summon Crystal Clear Wing Synchro Dragon, which wins him the duel.
The reason I have Yuto, Yugo and Yuri use their dragons to summon even more powerful versions shows them not only overcoming the fear they once had and using their new courage to evolve their dragons to even greater heights in a protagonist-like way, which makes sense since they are counterparts of Yuya.
After all that, it comes down to the final duel between Yuya and Reiji. Before the duel, recognising Reiji's duelling skill, Yuto, Yugo, and Yuri all gift Yuya their ace dragons for the duel. Not only would this easily allow foe Yuya to have the first turn summoning all dragons and then evolving them, but it shows their other Yu-boys recognition of Yuya and their way to thank him for helping them move on from their guilt. Yuya will still summon his own hybrid dragons, Venom Dragon, Wing Dragon, and Rebellion Dragon, but I would change the final turn from it action card race. A big and agreeable criticism of Yuya throughout ARC-V and towards the latter half, is his dependency of Action cards. While I don't mind Yuya using action cards to evade Reiji's attacks, I heavily dislike the race towards the end of the duel.
Instead, I'd still have Yuya pendulum summon his hybrid dragons, and then tribute them to summon his new boss monster – All Eyes Supreme Dimension Dragon. This dragon would be an amalgamation of all 4 of the Yu-boys ace dragons, and not only is it a reference to All Eyes Phantom Dragon, Odd Eyes Revolution Dragon, and Supreme King Dragon Z-ARC, but it would Yuya's acknowledgement of his original dimension roots. As we learn, Yuya was Z-ARC's reincarnate of the standard dimension and before Reiji brought the different summoning methods to standard, the traditional summoning method was regular tribute summoning. Yuya would use this dragon to win the duel resulting in victory for the Yu-boys.
As Yuya returns the other boys' dragons, they all would find their nature cards in their decks and as they hold them out, they begin to glow. As they do, just like in the show, the reactor energy scoops our main cast and brings them into the rean with the sphere appearing before the Yu-boys. Leo would suggest that Ray isn't fully gone and that there is still some of her left in the cards and all they need is the rest of the reactor energy. The Yu-boys surround the sphere and place their cards in the sphere. The cards glow in their respective bracelet girl colours (pink, violet, green and purple) and take the form of their respective girl. All the Yu-boys reach their hands into the sphere and hold onto them and bring them out causing the sphere to fade away. After it does, Yuzu, Rin, Ruri, and Serena open their eyes to see their respective Yu-boys in front of them. They greet each other and Yuzu, Ruri and Rin all embrace Yuya, Yuto and Yugo. Since Yuri and Seren never had a close relationship, they just shake hands. The show would end with eh same cliffhanger of Yuya about to duel Yusho.
This ending may seem cringe, but I know that we all wanted all 8 of the reincarnates to survive the ending of the show, as we were led to believe give Ending 6, and this ending does seem meaningful enough. Before I conclude this rewrite, I do have 2 extras: a theory and an epilogue.
My theory comes from an idea I had about a conceivable way all 8 of the reincarnate could've survive the actual ending of ARC-V. As we see, Yuya and Yuzu are the ones to reincarnate in the pendulum dimension. I believe the reason for this is because they were major counterpart in their original incarnate's bodies towards the end of the Z-ARC duel. What I mean by this is that Yuya was at the forefront of Z-ARC's mind while Yuzu was at the forefront of Ray's mind. So, when Z-ARC's soul was absorbed into Reira, it left Yuya as the major counterpart and when Ray left Reira's body, Yuzu was the major counterpart to wake up Yuya which they reincarnated in the new dimension. I'd also assumed Ray left some of her soul in Reira to prevent her from fully succumbing to Z-ARC's darkness.
We all see that Yuya has all 4 dragons in his deck so it's plausible that Yuzu would have the 4 nature cards in her deck. By using some fancy machine that I'm sure Leo could create, by using the power of these 8 cards, you could extract Z-ARC's soul from Reira's body. This would return Reira to how she was towards the end of the duel. Then by using Ray's energy from the nature cards, you could theoretically split Yuya and Yuzu into their 4 counterparts. Then, by using Z-ARC's energy from the dragon cards to make each incarnate their own unique being. You could now, either seal Z-ARC's soul into a card or attempt to kill him off forever. Regardless, all 8 counterparts survive the ending.
As for the epilogue, this would come after the supposed Yuya vs Yusho duel teased at the very end of the show. After it, Yuya would bring Yuto, Yugo, and Yuri to You Show and here we would get a tournament style duel-off between the Yu-boys. The main reason for this is because there was a few Yu-boy matches that we never got to see onscreen and I'm sure even the audience would want to know the outcome.
The first duel, and the most obvious, would be Yuya vs Yugo. This duel is the most obvious as it was teased during Opening 3 and it seemed this would be the duel that would end the Friendship Cup where the victor would face off against Jack. Now, while I'm confident Yugo could beat Jack and as we see, Yuya did beat Jack, I'm unsure who's the better duellist. Yuya seems to have a wider variety of effects in his deck while Yugo seems to strike hard and fast. Despite this, I'd feel Yuya would win. Mainly due to the fact, that one of Yugo's traits is to let his emotions determine his duel and he does have a few luck-based cards in his deck so he is more likely to make mistakes which would lead to Yuya's victory.
The next duel would be Yuto vs Yuri. This, much like Yuya vs Yugo, would also be an interesting duel but because of how similar Yuto and Yuri's decks are. Both do have quite a few graveyard effects at their disposal so ultimately it would be who has the graveyard strategy. Due to this, I believe Yuto would win. Firstly, I would give him based purely on the fact this rewrite is based on him bus secondly, I believe his graveyard f=effects would give him the edge. Yuri's graveyard effects never seem to be completely planned but rather a last resort whereas for Yuto, his graveyard effects are part of his entire deck, and this is what would give him the edge over Yuri. I also believe Yuto would have a counter strategy for Starving Venom which Yuri extensively uses so Yuto would know to prepare for it.
This would lead to the much-anticipated Yuya vs Yuto. Now, I know that we technically got this duel in episode 35, but that confrontation ended as no result so this time both duellists would give their all. It would more interesting given how much time both duellists have spent time with each other throughout their time with the Lancers. Both Yuya and Yuto have seen the full extent of each other's deck and seen their strategies played to their fullest so, in the end, it's anybody's duel. I do believe, overall, Yuto would beat Yuya.
This is mainly due to Yuya having won the battle royale earlier but in a 1v1 setting, Yuto would gain the upper hand over Yuya as Yuto's graveyard effects would give him the edge and because we see more of Yuya's deck so Yuto would have the better deck knowledge rather than Yuya. After this, the Yu-boys would meet up with the bracelet girls at a fountain and we'd get the photo shot from end of Ending 6 to finish off this epilogue.
Looking back at this rewrite, I never expected to write so much surrounding one under-utilised character. But, as we can see, there weren't that many major changes required to fit Yuto into the rest of the story. Of course, towards the end of ARC-V, the re-write geared towards the rest of the Yu-boys but that was an eventuality as the ending is a big miss in a lot of ways. In the end, having Yuto stick around longer would've given him a duo protagonist role with Yuya and we would've seen more of his development down the line. I do believe this rewrite does justice for his wasted potential.