#i hate zarc but i do like using him to fuck yuri up

[starmakesart]

Just a puppet on a bigger stage

[authoratmidnight]

You know, I think the one thing that really, baffles me, about the hate that Ryoken gets (both just the character and in relation to being shipped with, anyone but esp the protag) is that the one main argument I see for why he’s a “bad person” is due to his actions in season 1 the consequences of them had he succeeded.

But like, since WHEN has ‘this character did bad things and hurt/almost hurt innocent people’ ever stopped anyone from liking villains/antagonist in this series or stopped them from shipping them with the protagonist/other characters.

Like, this argument could be used against TONS of different YGO characters(including many of the rival type characters) that I see people drooling over all the time.

Case in point a non comprehensive list (and before anyone thinks I’m trying to say you can’t like these characters, I’m not. In fact *I* like a number of these characters) Also heads up for minor spoilers for all the series since a number of antagonists/villains made this list:

Seto Kaiba: In the manga he was the first villain/antagonist and actually tried to straight up MURDER Yugi and his friends. In the anime this wasn’t present (save for the Toei anime) however he was still, at the very least, a bully who would verbally tear down anyone he saw as ‘beneath him’ (so everyone) and was condescending and belittling and tried to blow up the tower the Battle City finals were in, while people were still in it! We call that manslaughter folks.

Pegasus: Multiple counts of kidnapping and soul stealing

Yami Malik: Killed his own father, attempted murder of Rishid as well as the rest of the cast.

Yami Bakura/Thief King Bakura: The main/end game antagonist of the series. Also in the manga he murdered Pegasus.

Dartz and his Orichalcos group: Mind control, kidnapping, stealing souls, trying to destroy the world. Typical villain fare. Also Dartz fucked up Valon, Rafael and Amelda’s lives and caused many, many deaths.

Takuma Saiou: Literally started a cult and tried to destroy the world (granted he gets a slight pass cause he was being possessed)

Judai Yuki: Commits multiple acts of mass murder as a tyrant king.

Yubel: Possesses multiple people, kidnaps Johan, tries to destroy multiple worlds at once by fusing them together, hurt Judai by hurting his friends.

Jack Atlas: Stole his best friend’s D-Wheel and best card and leaves him and a child out to drown in the ocean as he fucks off to The City.

Kiryu: Nearly killed a man. Joined the Dark Signers and tried to destroy the world.

Placido/Jose/Lucciano/Aporia: The main antagonists of the last half of the series. Attempt to kill various members of the cast at various points in time and their end goal involves the total annihilation of Neo Domino(kill millions/billions to save the world,allegedly). Lucciano nearly kills Rua in their first fight when he’s flung off a bridge and as Aporia attempts to kill Rua, Ruka and Jack during the final arc and actually succeeds causing the death of one of them (for a short time anyways, they get better)

Paradox: Literally travelled back in time to murder Pegasus and also caused the deaths of a number of innocent bystanders in the process.

Any of the Arclight siblings (Chris/Thomas/Michal): Thomas is arguably the worst of them in terms of what he did but they all at various points do pretty awful things (mainly at the behest of their dad). Chris kidnapped Haruto, Thomas was responsible for what happened to Rio, Michal killed Astral (temporarily)

Kaito: Ran around stealing people’s souls to obtain their Numbers cards and just left their soulless bodies lying around.

Any of the Barian Emperors: Like, pick on. Either as a Barian or in their first life they probably did bad things (or in both lives in Vector’s case, who committed mass murder by way of slaughtering his entire country in his past life as well as turning his own allies into puppets/trying to kill them in his Barian life)

Don Thousand: The main villain of the whole damn series who wants to destroy the Astral World, and Earth, basically all life. Also screwed over the lives of the Barian Emperors and his influence on them also indirectly caused the deaths of MILLIONS.

Yuri: Responsible for multiple kidnappings and cardings of innocent people, all things he did very willingly and remorselessly.

Actually just about anyone from Academia’s side of things at some point in time.

Arc V Kaito: Literally went around carding anyone who stood in his way, friend or foe.

Zarc: Again, the end game big bad who literally DID destroy the world, then came together and tried to do it again

Like, I have seen love (and in some cases lust) for literally ALL of these characters (some more than others) and some of them have MASSIVE shipping fan bases and pretty much all these characters were either villains or antagonists at some point in the story. But I rarely-if at all in some cases-see people going ‘you only like X because they’re hot’ or ‘X did all these awful things you shouldn’t like him’ about these characters. And make no mistake, people do like some of these characters cause they think they’re attractive (also, what’s wrong with that anyways? I’m shallow enough to admit I like some characters simply cause they’re really pretty).

Interestingly, Ryoken, esp in the first season, fits the definition for an anti-villain (like the opposite of an anti-hero) more than he does just straight villain (at least once we get context for his actions)

‘...a character with heroic goals, personality traits, and/or virtues who is ultimately villainous. Their desired ends are mostly good, but their means of getting there are evil.’

-TVTropes

Which is, basically what S1 Ryoken was doing, though mostly at the whims of his father. He wanted to destroy the Ignis in order to save humanity, it’s just when the first few attempts failed, he went along with his father’s final, last ditch effort to deal with them which was the Tower of Hanoi (and make no mistake, the Tower was 100% Dr. Kogami’s idea, Ryoken went along with it cause, family loyalty). The results might kill a great number of people, but if it destroyed the Ignis then it would ultimately save even more in the long run. A heroic goal (saving humanity) with a not so heroic way of getting there (nuking the internet and potentially causing a massive loss of life in the process).

I’m not saying you have to like him, god knows I dislike a number a characters, including some of the ones mentioned here, but like, it just feels like a weird double standard to use these arguments against Ryoken, but never on any of these other characters. Or at least not to the same extent that they’re used on him.

And this is just YuGiOh characters. I can 100% guarantee you that there are characters in other series that have far worse things than Ryoken ever did that are massively loved/praised by their fandoms (and also got redemption arcs). Vegeta is the first one to come to mind (and he *actually* killed people).

[chromsai]

Yugo for the YGO character meme.

Why I like them/why I don’t: I LOVE my banana boy!! Very precious kid! Loved him almost immediately when he was introduced. He’s a huge dork but stern, stubborn, and skillful enough that he can take things seriously when he needs to. Some might see him as stupid but he’s far from it, he just has a lot of love to give? He is easily caught up in his own little world but it’s all good intentions (I mean, besides his pervy thoughts but hey he’s at that age). (Unpopular opinion time) I get tired of hearing people bitch endlessly about how his development either led to nowhere or didn’t pay off or was disappointing, and he deserved better and blah blah blah shut up. I see his character as a very necessary unfortunate turn of events for an innocent caught in between the events of a war. If you’re gonna have a war, there’s going to be plenty of innocent loved ones that are lost too soon in their young lives, the journey to achieving their hopes and dreams cut off prematurely and indefinitely and with no justifiable explanation. That’s. Just. What happens in life — in war. It’s sad but not everyone gets to achieve all their dreams before their time is up... I guess I’ll give it to you that I understand that people see this as too tragic for a story aimed at its demographic, but for me, as bitter as it is, it’s incredibly refreshing, especially coming from this franchise. This doesn’t mean I don’t agree that damn, Yugo didn’t deserve the pain he went through, but that’s just the side of the story you have to understand. I don’t think his story and what it ultimately amounted to was incomplete or underwhelming. I do think it was painful and tragic and unfortunate and unexpected. But that’s just what war and fighting amount to at times. It takes and it takes and it takes. And sometimes you just don’t get those things back. But you still love what you had of those that lost it all before they lost it all. Either way, in the end I don’t see Yugo complaining, and neither am I. Anyway, this got a bit more of a rant/vent but I just wanted to put that out there... also just... I love him. He is pure most of the time.

What I like about their appearance: reminds me of sonic the hedgehog??? perfect for his aesthetic. his face is so cute. BLUE BBY WITH BANANA HIGHLIGHTS!! PRECIOUS. and also i love his voice, it fits him perfectly.

Do I prefer their dub names or original names?: well it’s the same in the dub but i’ll say original here just because the YUUGOU JA NE YUUGO DA will never get old and no english puns will ever top that tbh.

OTP: ringo~ apples are super cute!!

NOTP: him and zarc or any of the other yuu boys. i’ll admit i still kinda like pa//wn aesthetically, but not at all romantically.

OT3: rin/yugo/yuri can also be nice aesthetically, but still don’t ship it romantically.

Favourite card they use: Clear Wing and Crystal Wing for sure

Favourite moment they were in: all of his moments are pretty memorable aaaaa it’s kinda a tie between his duels with shingo, serena, and rin cries... i also just... really love when he and yuzu first met and arrived in synchro aaaaaaaa

Least favourite moment: not canon to the anime ofc, but that moment in the manga where he treats yuzu like an object ahahaha gross. i fucking hate yoshida.

Would I fuck, marry or kill them: NONE. i’d smooch and/or pinch his cute cheeks tho

[blueeyeswhitegarden]

Yuya and Reiji for the meme!

This is going to be pretty long, so I’ll put my answers under the cut.

Yuya:

Why I like them/why I don’t like them: Of course, I love Yuya. There are so many reasons why I like him. He’s just so likable, relatable and sympathetic. He genuinely wants to make everyone around him happy even when he’s dealing with so much sadness and pain himself. I love that he wears his heart on his sleeve, which makes it easier to emphasize with him. Even though he deals with emotional issues like self-doubt and self-confidence throughout the series, I love that being emotional himself was never treated as a flaw exactly. Even near the end of the series, Yuya would still break out into tears, but he wasn’t looked down for it. That is so refreshing, especially for a lead male character.

He struggles through his emotional problems throughout the series, but he doesn’t give up on his goals in spite of those issues. That makes him inspiring in a way. Wanting to end the Dimensional War works so well with his goal of becoming a great Entertainment Duelist like his father, as well as the tone of the series in general. I love that he is able to reach out to people more with his dueling once he develops his own kind of dueling. Instead of trying to be someone he isn’t, being himself made Yuya closer to his goal, which was a nice touch considering his self-confidence issues. His development is fantastic and he is still my favorite character in the franchise.

What I like about their appearance: I think that the red, green and orange color scheme works really well for his design. Plus, I still love how fans see his hair as a tomato and a Christmas tree. It’s a cute fun little joke.

Do I prefer their dub names or their original name?: Yuya has the same name in both versions, but I do prefer how the Japanese version pronounces his last name. Maybe I was just too used it after watching the Japanese version for nearly two years before the dub even came out, but Sa-ka-KEY sounds like a much more natural way to say Sakaki to me than Sa-KA-key does.

OTP: I love his relationship with Yuzu. They’re such good and caring friends, which makes it easier to believe that they’d develop romantic feelings for each other. I especially appreciate that you can read their relationship as platonic or romantic, but either way, they clearly love each other.

NOTP: I’m not really a fan of any of the pairings between the Yuya counterparts, mainly because the idea of being romantically interested in someone who has the same face always sounded weird to me. I probably dislike his pairing with Yuri the most given how he treated Yuya in the series.

OT3: While I don’t like the pairings romantically, I think that the relationships between Yuya, Yuzu, Sora, as well as with Gongenzaka, are really good. They all have good friendships with each other.

Favorite card they use: I love so many of Yuya’s Performapals, but Discover Hippo and Silver Claw would be some of my favorites. They’re cute and perfect sized monsters for Yuya to ride on. Odd Eyes Pendulum Dragon is also great and is a pretty cool ace monster. Smile World is really good too. It represents Yuya’s ideals on dueling, as well as perfectly captures his goals. He wants to make everyone, including his enemies, smile with his dueling.

Favorite moment they were in: There are a lot of great moments for Yuya, but one of my favorite ones were his last turn against Jack. Seeing Yuya being able to reach out to the whole City with his dueling was so heartwarming and wonderful. Whenever I think back to that moment, to that duel and to Jack holding Yuya’s arm up to celebrate his victory, I still get immensely happy. It’s one of those moments that remind me just how much I love both Yuya and Arc V itself.

Least favorite moment: I’m not sure if this counts, but it was probably when it was revealed that Zarc had taken over Yuya completely after Yuri was defeated. It was a good shocking twist for the match and it made sense, but I was also really sad that Yuya wasn’t able to fight off Zarc’s influence even after struggling so much.

Would I fuck, marry or kill them?: I love Yuya, but I’m also over twice his age, so I wouldn’t be into those first two options and I obviously wouldn’t want to kill him. I would want to give him a big hug and have a duel with him instead.

Reiji:

Why I like them/why I don’t like him?: I like Reiji. I still remember thinking he was going to be another Kaiba clone based on his character information, but he turned out to be a much different and refreshing take on a main rival. He was still Yuya’s main rival, but they were more polar opposites. Yuya is more emotional and prone to act out of anger, while Reiji is more calm, collected and calculated. He rarely acts without having a plan in motion and only takes action himself when he deems necessary. That made their rivalry pretty different and refreshing, especially when Yuya wasn’t focused on defeating Reiji. Plus, I like how Yuya and Reiji slowly develop a nice friendship over the course of the series.

Being more morally gray also helped to make him more interesting. In retrospect, I do think I was a bit hard on him, mainly during season two. I never hated him or thought he was evil like a lot of fans did, but a combination of misreading his behavior/actions and being surrounded by a lot of negativity towards him made me upset at him for awhile. After getting away from that negative environment and looking back at what he did, I think too many people, myself included, read his calm demeanor as being too cold or a sign that he didn’t care about people around him. Even now when rewatching the series, I’ll often think to myself that Reiji didn’t deserve the hate he got and feel kind of bad about how his character was received.

What I like about their appearance: Reiji’s scarf is still so ridiculous that it turns around to become awesome again. I love it and the jokes about it make it even better. His plain blue shirt really works for his design too.

Do I prefer their dub names or original names?: I prefer Reiji over Delcan. I’m just more used to Reiji and I think it fits him more than Delcan does. It isn’t one of the worst dub names, but it is pretty strange. It is a shame that they didn’t choose Reggie instead. Maybe they didn’t want to do that because of Shark’s dub name, but Reggie would have been a much more fitting choice than Delcan.

OTP: I don’t have too many pairings for Reiji, but I kind of liked the pairing between him and Serena. I thought that meeting three years prior to the start of the series gave them some potential for an interesting relationship. I kind of like his relationship with Yuya. I don’t see it as romantic, mainly due to how I can’t see Yuya developing romantic feelings for anyone besides Yuzu, but I like it as a platonic pairing if that makes any sense.

NOTP: I’m not sure if there is a Reiji pairing that bothers me that much. Maybe the closest would be his pairing with Shun, but even then, I’m more indifferent towards it than anything else.

OT3: I think I have a three character pairing involving Reiji that I like either.

Favorite card they use: Unlike most rivals, Reiji usually use different monsters as opposed to having a more traditional ace monster. I thought that the three new D/D/D monsters he used during his third duel with Yuya were pretty cool and intimidating. I also liked his use of Contract cards in general. He always had a plan in mind when using them, which fits with his personality quite nicely.

Favorite moment they were in: One of my favorite moments for Reiji was when he was struggling against Leo during his tag duel with Yuya. Reiji had spent years preparing to stop his father and the show had shown just how powerful he is multiple times. But he still couldn’t defeat his father, even with Yuya’s help. Leo even called him out on his poor strategy and Reiji was clearly shaken up over being put into a tight spot. Since Reiji is so calm and collected most of the time, seeing him actually struggling against another opponent and being more clearly emotional made the moment stand out.

It’s also why I was glad that they didn’t have Reiji lose to hype up another secondary villain before this point. If he had lost to Roger or Yuri before, it would have weakened the emotional impact of this moment since we would have already seen Reiji lose before. It helped to make Leo more threatening and the fact that Reiji couldn’t defeat him even after planning for this confrontation for years gave the moment some good emotional weight behind it. Plus, the tag duel had some nice moments for Yuya and Reiji’s friendship so that was nice.

Least favorite moment: I’d probably go with Reiji making sure that the LDS trio’s memories were altered. It did show Reiji’s morally gray mindset, which does help to make him more interesting, but I also think that was the starting point of people thinking that Reiji was secretly evil. Plus, it wasn’t the best way to effectively write the LDS trio out of the plot. People might have thought Reiji was really evil regardless of how they handled the LDS trio, but handling that in a different manner that still showed that Reiji is morally gray might have helped.

Would I fuck, marry or kill them?: Reiji is cool, but I’m still over ten years older than him, so I wouldn’t be interested in the first two options. I certainly wouldn’t want to kill Reiji. I like the idea of telling him to relax and have some fun after the events of the series since he would definitely need that.

Thank you for asking. ^_^

[darkzorua100]

Yuzu Hiragi

Why I like them/why I don’t: I like how she started out but then the show made her into a freaking plot device for Yuya and all that development went to complete waste -_- 

What I like about their appearance: I love the outfit she gets from Asuka. It is just so cute. 

Do I prefer their dub names or original names?: Original seriously -_- Zuzu freaking sounds like a dog’s name

OTP: Fruitshipping

NOTP: Serenadeshipping

OT3: N/A

Favorite card they use: Bloom Prima the Melodious Choir

Favorite moment they were in: After Yuzu’s duel against Masumi, Yuya came over to see if she was alright and they have an adorable hug as Yuzu is trying to convince herself that Yuya isn’t Yuto. I just love this moment so much, especially on Yuya’s side since he more then likely has no idea what is going on but is just allowing this embrace to happen since he knows that Yuzu needs some comfort after her lose.

Least favorite moment: When Yuya is fighting back against Zarc and Yuzu, only freaking Yuzu, is the one to show up to tell him he isn’t a demon. I just freaking hated how much this show was using Yuzu as a plot device for Yuya, along with the fact that the other Bracelet Girls didn’t even show up to get Yuto and Yugo (who knows about Yuri) to snap out of it.

Would I fuck, marry or kill them: Kill (not sorry at all. Yuzu just got on my nerves so much at the end)

[skittymon]

Succumb

Arc-V AU where ¾ bracelet girls said ‘fuck it’ and joined Zarc because after all the shit they’ve been through I would have quit

Idk where this came from but the idea of the girls using the dragons is really appealing to me and like for some reason I really like ‘protags give up and fall into darkness’  trope lol.

Also I incorporated the “Yuu boys are actually their dragons” theory cause I love it.

Yuzu runs as fast as her tired legs will let her. The once beautiful ocean-sided town in the Fusion dimension is now in shambles and not a single soul besides Yuzu can be found. With the town deserted the only sounds that can be heard are Yuzu’s harsh breathing, her steps against the ruined ground, and the three metal bracelets hooked onto her belt loop that cling every time she takes a step.

She’s so tired. The remaining Lancers are nowhere to be found and each day Zarc’s reign expands further and further throughout the dimension.

Maybe I should just stop fighting. Just like….

Yuzu shakes her head.

No I can’t. I have to save them. All of them.

Rin was the first one to stray. After the attempt of integrating Rin, Ruri, Serena, and Yuzu into Ray failed, Leo Akaba brought back the four girls hoping they could stand chance against Zarc.

And the four girls tried with all their might to defeat the Supreme King, but just like those who dueled Zarc before, they failed. Countless times did the girls rise back up and challenged Zarc hoping to bring Yuto, Yuri, and Yugo from the Supreme King’s control.

However a human being can only take so much before they reach their limit.

“I’ve had enough!” Rin had shouted halfway through one of the girls many duels against the devil. “Please….I just want to be with Yugo. I’ll do anything…”

“Anything…?” Zarc parroted back with a smirk on his face. Zarc hummed, “Alright, I’ll let you be with Yugo. Just take off that silly little bracelet of yours, and join me. Then you and Yugo can be together forever.”

That’s when it all fell apart.

Yuzu, Serena, and Ruri pleaded for Rin to reconsider, to see that it was a trap, but after everything that’s happened, after all the dimensions turning into a hellhole, Rin just wanted to be with her best, and only, friend. The Synchro counterpart took off the bracelet she once held dear and walked over to the Supreme King.

He smiled at her and for a moment his eyes turned blue, “We’re finally together, Rin.”

Rin felt tears swell in her eyes, “Yugo…”

The duel was canceled then and there. Zarc retreated with Rin holding onto him and left the three remaining Ray reincarnations with, “You three can join us too. All you have to do is get rid of those wretched bracelets.”

Next was Ruri. 

Without Rin the duels against Zarc became even harder than before, and as such the Lancers went to greater lengths to assist the girls. 

Which unfortunately cost some of the Lancer their lives, including Shun.

It happened so quickly. One of Zarc’s attacks hit an abandoned building and it’s pieces were going flatten the three girls, to say the least. After finally getting his sister back, Shun refused to lose Ruri once again, so ran as fast as he could and pushed the girls out of the way.

Once the smoked cleared, Shun’s body could not be found through all the rumbled but blood could be seen pouring through the cracks.

Zarc took his leave after that, satisfied with what he accomplished; leaving Yuzu and Serena to drag Ruri away from battlefield.

The next time the girls fought the Supreme King Ruri was hardly there, and Zarc took noticed to that.

“You don’t have to alone, Ruri.” Zarc said in familiar tone which made Ruri’s head snap up and she was met with gray eyes “I’m still here. Join me, and the two of us can be together, just like old times.”

Ruri didn’t even waver for a moment when she took her bracelet off.

Finally was…

“Found you, Yuzu.”

Serena.

Yuzu turns her head to her Fusion counterpart and grits her teeth. She was too lost in thought to even notice Serena approaching her. She takes a step back but keeps her gaze locked onto the blue haired girl. “Serena.”

Serena says nothing but her gaze ends up on the three bracelets on her Standard counterpart’s waist. “You think you can fulfill Ray’s duty by yourself?”

“No,” Yuzu replies. “I’m holding onto them until you three come to your senses.”

Serena laughs, “Then you’re out of luck. Rin, Ruri, and I are quiet happy where we are.”

“With the death of thousands?” Yuzu snaps. “With Zarc going around destroying the four dimensions? Our homes?”

Serena says nothing, but narrows her eyes.

Yuzu glares at Serena and nearly starts to shake in anger. But no matter how hard she tires, she can’t hate Serena. So Yuzu takes a deep breath and asks, “Why are you here, Serena?”

“To get back what’s rightfully ours.” Serena answers. “Give back Odd-Eyes.”

“It’s Yuya’s.”

“Odd-Eyes belonged to Zarc first.” The Fusion counterpart scowls, “Now give it back.”

“No!” Yuzu shouts. She instinctively reaches for her pocket where Odd-Eyes is, making sure it’s still there. It was nearly a suicide mission to retrieve Odd-Eyes from Zarc, this was the first glimmer of hope the four dimensions has had in months, no way is Yuzu returning Odd-Eyes to the Supreme King. “Can’t you see that this wrong Serena? Has Zarc influenced you that much? Please.” 

Serena snorts, “Maybe Zarc has influenced me, but it was my choice to join him in the first place.”

Yuzu frowns, “You were just angry at the moment, you can always come back and the four us can-”

“Shut. UP.” Serena interrupts. “Don’t act like you know what Rin, Ruri, and I have been through. We don’t have anything. Rin only has Yugo, Ruri has lost so many people including her brother, and the Lancers, my only friends, are nearly all dead. You? You have your father and all your friends back in Standard. You don’t know what it’s like to have nothing!”

“Serena-”

“And it’s because of goddamn Ray that our lives are like this. Rin grew up in the slums with no one besides Yugo because Ray wanted Rin to follow him. Ruri’s home got destroyed and she lost so many friends so Ray could be revived. I never had a childhood or any friends and was kept as a prisoner because the Professor only saw me as Ray. You got a nice cozy home with a loving father and no war. Sure you might being experience our horrors now but the three of us have dealt with loss and isolation for years and Yuzu, that wears a person down. So to hell with the dimensions, its not like I have people I want to protect.”

Yuzu doesn’t say anything for a few moments until she clenches her fist as hard as she can, “I don’t understand, and I’m sorry those things happened to you three. But Zarc is the only killed Shun and Lancers, he’s the reason you and Ruri are alone.” Yuzu looks Serena dead in the eye, “And even if you have no one close to you to protect you should still try to protect people - it’s human nature to help each other survive.” 

Serena grits her teeth, “You really are the one who’s most like Ray.” Serena activates her duel disk and places a card on it, “If you won’t give back Odd-Eyes, then I’ll take it back by force.”

Above Serena a terrifying purple dragon manifests thanks to Solid Vision and roars at Yuzu, as if the dragon itself is mad at Yuzu for taking Odd-Eyes.

Yuzu glares.

Starve Venom Fusion Dragon.

No.

Supreme King Servant Dragon Starve Venom.

Serena looks up at the dragon with something akin to joy and wonder, “Yuri and I never got to have a bond because of the Professor, but at least we’re making up for lost time now.”

“What-” Yuzu looks at the dragon with a cross between horror and marvel. Is Yuri really that dragon? Then…..

“So, you see why Zarc wants Odd-Eyes back.” Serena says as she looks back to Yuzu.

Yuzu clutches Odd-Eyes - no Yuya - even harder. “I’m not going to let you, Serena.”

“You can’t stop me Yuzu.” Serena replies. “Starve Venom, attack!”

Starve Venom unleashes its plant-like whips and aims straight for Yuzu. The whips’ tips begin to separate and teeth appear surrounded by venom, surely one strike from this could kill Yuzu. And just when Starve Venom’s attack is about to reach-

It’s stopped by a large set of teeth from a giant red reptile with multi-colored eyes.

Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon.

And it’s not corrupted.

“Those damn bracelets,” Serena curses.

Yuzu jumps on top of Odd-Eyes and holds onto it’s horns. “Yuya and I are going to stop Zarc. We’re going to save you, and Yuri, and everyone else. We will fulfill Ray’s legacy.”

Serena takes the moment to jump on top of Starve Venom, “We’ll see about that.”

Both ready their duel disks and, 

“Duel!!”