#he’s voiced by Shingo from Yugioh I can’t breathe-

[dinersaturn]

✨ I'm legendary, all legs, no dairy ✨

[pyrachan]

Another Arc V ending

I mean, we could explore the ramifications of a horrific reality where Yuya and Yuzu have to live with three other people in their heads, Shun Kurosaki has his best friend and sister gone, and Reira Akaba is still a baby and we can go into depth about how Leo gets a family back and suffers minimal to no consequences.

Or we can write an actual happy ending.

Because this is Yugioh and I demand everyone gets a good end. Everyone.

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The silhouette reached out to him.

Yuya’s heart momentarily stopped in his chest.

Even though the figure in the glowing gold orb was clearly a young woman, with no discernible features, Yuya swore that he could see more familiar faces there. Through shared eyes, he thought could see Serena, Rin and Ruri. No, he knew he could see them. Hearing the hitch in Shun’s breath from behind him confirmed that all of the people that had been summoned from the different dimensions to this place that stood around him could also see what he was seeing.

But what did that mean? Was this Ray? Was this Yuzu? He still couldn’t tell. Or was it…

Yuya…

Yuya didn’t hesitate. The boy boldly stepped forward, no nervousness in his movements. He knew exactly what he was doing and he knew he wasn’t doing it alone. Within his very soul, he could feel his counterparts reach out through his hand, their hearts synced up as one once again. His hand reached into the golden field and Yuya took the glowing figure’s one.

A spark of electricity shot through Yuya and the orb began to expand, encompassing Yuya in it. The boy closed his eyes and smiled broadly as the warmth encompassed him. The sway of the pendulum was gentle around his neck, a quiet voice instructing him what to do. Yuya pulled the hand towards him, and as he did, he suddenly felt lighter. Lighter, freer, unburdened by weights he didn’t know he was carrying. One weight… Two… Three…

and for some reason, four.

When the warm, tingling feeling had stopped, Yuya opened his eyes and glanced to his right. To his surprise and utter delight, there was Yuto, standing there, his body mimicking Yuya’s. To his left was Yugo and Yuri, also there. Across from them were the girls from each of the dimensions- the counterparts of Yuzu- holding hands with their respective boy. Yuya looked down slowly at his own hand that was holding a very familiar hand, before he looked slowly up to the girl across from him.

He beamed.

“Yuzu… Yuzu!”

“Ruri!”

“RRRRIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNN!!!”

“Oh, you’re here.”

“Oy! What’s that supposed to mean, Yuri?”

Serena snatched her hand back from Yuri and went to slap him in the face, only to miss when the purple-haired boy stepped back, chuckling mischeviously. Rin, on the other hand, was actually successful with hitting her partner, kneeing Yugo in the stomach -“Urk! Not again!”- before she pulled Yugo into a tight hug. Ruri and Yuto didn’t approach each other, but they didn’t separate their hands, smiling gently to one another and sharing a tender moment even when Shun shoved past Crow and swept his sister and best friend into his embrace.

“Ruri! Yuto!”

“Nii-san!”

“Shun!”

“How come no one yells my name?”

“Sora, relax…”

And Yuya and Yuzu just laughed, watching it all.

“I’m home, Yuya. We’re back.”

“Welcome home, Yuzu.” Even though Yuya promised himself that he wouldn’t cry during the next time he and Yuzu met, tears began to gather in his eyes once more. Yuzu turned away from watching the others and she smiled warmly at him.

“Hey, don’t cry. Just because you’re a pro duelist now, doesn’t mean you can do that in public. What happened to your smile?” Yuzu teased. Despite that, her blue eyes were welling with happy tears too, and she giggled. Yuya quickly wiped his tears on his free arm and and grinned back at her. Yuzu took the initiative and held Yuya’s other hand too. Their fingers entwined almost automatically, and Yuya was almost reduced to tears again right there and then. “I knew you and your duelling would save me. Thank you, Yuya.”

“Yuzu… I-”

“Nii-sama!” Yuya jumped and turned completely around, releasing his hold on Yuzu. He didn’t want to let go of his friend, but he was glad he did. Red eyes widened as a young child sprinted towards Reiji. Reiji looked equally as bewildered as Yuya before his second genuine smile for the day reached his face. He knelt down, arms wide open for the small figure to run into his arms, and there was a dull thud as the little figure made an impact against Reiji, nearly knocking the usually poised CEO off his feet. However, in that moment, even Reiji didn’t seem to keep his stoic figure. Yuya had never seen Reiji hug anyone before, let alone so tightly.

“Reira… I- I- …” For once, Reiji was at a loss for words. He just hugged Reira tightly again before he looked down at the child. His fingers smoothed back the light purple hair, staring and trying to comprehend Reira’s presence. “How is this possible?”

“Zarc’s not trapped in me, Nii-sama. So I’m back. I’m back with you,” Reira exclaimed excitedly. Reiji seemed to accept the simple answer, as did everyone else. Yuya couldn’t help but smile, seeing the siblings reunite with their teary mother watching over them. He knew that restoring Zarc’s and Reira’s smile would have some effect on Reira, but none of them could have expected this. Reira was back, as was everyone else.

It was a time for celebration, and all of his friends were here to celebrate it. Yuya looked off to his right, attention off the other former fragments of Zarc and Ray and onto the other friends that were around them. He had half-expected to find Gongenzaka tackling both him and Yuzu about now, but to his surprise, the man had his back turned to him. In fact, most of the others that had been teleported over were not looking at him, now crowded around someone else. Edo seemed to notice the staring, and he pointed towards the hidden figure.

“Hey… You should see this,” Edo said. Yuya quickly jogged over, Yuzu following quickly behind him. He hadn't seen it initially, due to the crowd of bodies obscuring his view, but when Shingo pushed him in front of the others, Yuya stopped dead in his tracks. He felt his heart leap to his throat, and his blood run cold.

“… Zarc?” It was the Zarc from his memories rather than the monster that he had become: silver hair, golden eyes, and a face that looked older but remarkably similar to four boys there. It was strange, seeing him there in real life, sitting on the ground and looking up at confused and wary eyes around him. Yuto, Yuri and Yugo all moved up so they stood next to Yuya. Yuya couldn’t tell what the others were feeling anymore, but he could guess.

“Thank you. And I know it doesn’t make up for everything that happened, but I am sorry… I’m sorry for all that I’ve done.”

“Zarc…”

“I didn’t mean for it to go so far. I just wanted all of the monsters to stop feeling pain… I wanted everyone to be entertained,” Zarc looked directly at Yuya, gold colliding with the red. However, there was no malice in either man’s faces. Zarc gave a gentle smile. “Yuya… That’s your name, isn’t it?” Yuya nodded. “You did a far better job of entertaining everyone, Yuya. You did it without caving to what they wanted, and forging your own style of dueling too. Thank you for fighting against me. It was really quite a show.”

“A show? That’s all this was for you?” Zarc and Yuya turned, looking up at the looming figure in purple. Leo scowled at Zarc, and while Zarc’s gaze didn’t falter, Yuya could see the tiniest look of despair sweep his features. “It’s one thing you returned too. Then you have the gall to say things like that.”

“You’re Akaba Leo.”

“Hmph… You have some gall yourself, saying such things,” Reiji pushed his glasses up, looking stoically at his father. Yuzu stepped forward, looking half-ready to punch Leo in the face, but Yuya put a hand in front of her.

“I’m not the one who started this mess,” Leo scowled. “The united dimension is still gone. All the people Academia took have come back, but the people I knew from that world still are dead. You eliminated the population of all these worlds in one go, and you’re still a murderer.”

“I- No! That’s not what I-”

“You forced the dimensions to split and made me lose my daughter, using the technology I wanted to use to actually change the world. You caused so much chaos, and now you’re saying that in the end it doesn’t matter? That you don’t regret anything because it’s just part of some show?”

“Father! That’s enough!” Leo was instantly silenced, and so was the rest of the stadium. The man slowly turned. Even though they all knew they should have expected it- since Zarc was right there- it was still strange to see the older version of the girls. Her purple eyes were narrowed into a glare and she walked forward.

“He may have destroyed the world, but so did you. I know what you did, father. If he is guilty, you are as well!”

“Ray…”

“Destroying dimensions. Ruining homes. Destroying lives. Father… I saved you so you could live in peace. So everyone could.” Ray walked towards him. It looked eerily similar to how Yuzu would sometimes yell at Shuzo over important matters. Leo opened his mouth to defend himself, but Ray beat him to the punch. She gestured to the people standing with her in the centre of the stadium. “All these people here had homes and families, lives before you interfered.”

“I was doing it for you.”

“Your intentions were good. So were Zarc’s. You know what you did wrong, and so does he. Can’t you see how hypocritical you’re being?” Leo looked away. Ray stared at him before she looked at her counterparts. She took Leo’s hand. “… I know the others here may not agree with me. And I admit, I may not know the whole story… But what’s happened is not unforgivable, father. You want to make a new start now that I’m back, so doesn’t that mean Zarc wants to make a new beginning for himself as well?”

The stadium was quiet, even the most rash and loudest of bystanders hushed by the intensity of Ray’s powerful words. For an uncomfortably long amount of time, everyone’s eyes were on Zarc. Even the most long-awaited reunions were paused so they could comprehend what was happening. Zarc himself suddenly seemed camera shy, and he looked down in shame. He looked about half-ready to cry, an expression that was only too familiar to Yuya.

“… She’s right, you know,” Yuri said, suddenly breaking the silence. A number of heads whipped towards him. “Honestly, we’re all at fault here… and I’ll admit, it’s some of us more than others.”

“Gee, I wonder who you’re talking about,” Yugo muttered, glaring at Yuri.

“But regardless, I think he does deserve at least another chance. More than me at least.” To everyone’s surprise, Yuri stepped out and offered his hand to Zarc. He winked at his original double. “He actually wants one, after all. I think we should give it to him.”

“You’re really the last person who should be making that call, asshole!” Yugo yelled. “Honestly… If I didn’t think he deserve one, I would tell the two of you to go take a hike.” Yuto and Yuya watched in amazement as Yugo offered his hand to Zarc.

“… He wants to make people smile. We all do, in our own way,” Yuto said simply before he copied the other two. Yuya smiled, glad the others felt the same way he did and he walked over, holding his hand out.

“What do you say, Zarc? It’s a new world. A new beginning. Let’s show everyone our smiles.”

Zarc’s eyes welled with tears and the grown man shamelessly started to cry. He nodded and reached out to the boys. Together, the four of them grabbed Zarc’s hand and helped him up to his feet.

“I’ll keep bringing everyone smile through Dueling from now on as well.”

The fun has only just begun!