Media Essays: Re-Writing Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V: Part 3

Continued from Part 2.

Arc 4: The Fusion Dimension

This arc is also extended and will drop plot points such as the girls being brainwashed, the Battle Beast arc and Alexis won't show up here. Instead, she'll appear in the Ritual Dimension.

The arc opens up with Yuya waking up after being sucked through the wormhole and we basically get his perspective of things to see what he was doing the whole time Zuzu and the Lancers were in the XYZ Dimension. He looks around and notices that something seems off. He doesn't recognize where he is and it's clearly not the Synchro Dimension anymore. At first, it looks as if he might be somewhere nice as the people seem friendly enough and wherever he is seems pretty peaceful. But then he takes note of some duellists nearby and he sees that everyone Fusion Summons. Horrified, he suspects he's in the Fusion Dimension and know that's bad news for him since Yuri will be looking for him and he's now quite literally on Yuri's doorstep. He tries to maintain a low profile, but an Obelisk Force patrol happens to come across him and they chase after him. Yuya's forced to duel them off and he does so, but now he's drawn unwanted attention to himself as civilians take note and wonder who this hotshot new duellist is. As much as Yuya wants to entertain people, he's just making himself a bigger target if he stays out in the open like this, so he goes into hiding. It's then he meets a familiar figure and is brought into a safe location where nobody will find them. To Yuya's surprise, it's Sora. Curious, Yuya asks why Sora is helping him and Sora gives the same explanation that he gave to Zuzu in the previous part. He much preferred the treatment he got from Zuzu, Yuya and the others and wants to go back to that life instead of being treated as just another soldier. Yuya is glad Sora has seen the light and begs him to tell Zuzu where he is so she and the Lancers can get him out of here. While Sora does that, Yuya remains hidden.

But unfortunately, he doesn't remain hidden forever. While Sora's away, he suddenly gets ambushed by Obelisk Force, and as if his day couldn't get any worse, they're lead by the Fusion Dimension's second strongest duellist after Yuri, an alternate version of Seto Kaiba. Yuya wonders how he was found and Kaiba smugly gloats that he didn't trust Sora and had secretly been spying on him the whole time. Now Sora's gone, he can retrieve Yuya for Yuri. Yuya refuses to be taken so easily and duels him. Yuya manages to confuse Kaiba a little with his Pendulum Summoning techniques, but Kaiba catches on quickly, especially as Yuri warned him he knows a unique type of summoning. Just as it looks as if Yuya might win, Kaiba reveals his trump card: the terrifying Neo Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon. Kaiba makes use of its effect to attack again by sending Fusion Monsters from his Extra Deck to the Graveyard, which ultimately ends with Yuya getting a brutal defeat. Kaiba laughs, wondering how the others have had such a hard time capturing Yuya when he's this easy to beat. He picks up Yuya just as Zuzu and the Lancers arrive in the Fusion Dimension. They try to stop him, but Kaiba escapes with Yuya in tow. However, Zuzu notices a card lying on the ground and picks it up. It's Yuya's Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon. Zuzu promises to take care of it and slips it into her deck as a good luck charm. Shay is enraged, concluding that Sora was lying the whole time and set Yuya up, but Sora proclaims he has no idea how Kaiba found Yuya and this had nothing to do with him. Zuzu tries to defuse the situation, but Shay won't hear of it and he forces Sora to duel him. This proves to be a big mistake as it just tells the Fusion Dimension that the Lancers are here and Obelisk Force tries to capture them all. They're able to fight them off, just barely, and Zuzu scolds the two boys for being irrational like this. Lulu pleads with Shay to control his temper and trust Sora. She may not like him either, but she can tell Sora is innocent, just as Zuzu and Rin can. Shay and Sora refuse to apologize to each other but begrudgingly agree to at least work together until Yuya is saved.

Meanwhile, Yuya is brought to Yuri by Kaiba, who demands to be rewarded for his efforts. Yuri just tells Kaiba a congratulatory pat on the back is all he needs. Now he has Yuya, his plans can go ahead. Yuya demands to know what the plan is, but Yuri won't tell. He just teasingly says, "Soon the four of us will become one again and we shall rule all dimensions!" This only confuses Yuya. He's taken to a cell where Yuto and Yugo are also being held and the three of them make plans to try and escape. Meanwhile, the Lancers plan to storm Duel Academy and rescue Yuya, Yuto and Yugo. Sora is able to give them all the details they need and thus they carry out the plan accordingly. At first, it seems things are going well. But then suddenly, Kaiba and Obelisk force show up. Kaiba gloats once more, revealing that he informed Yuri of Sora's treachery and that Yuri came to the logical conclusion that Sora would help the Lancers break into Duel Academy. Yuri thanks Sora for bringing Zuzu, Lulu and Rin right to him and orders the Lancers to be all killed.

However, they're saved at the last second as Celina suddenly comes in and ambushes Obelisk Force. After she was kidnapped by Barrett previously, she was imprisoned the whole time that the Lancers were in the XYZ Dimension, but she was able to escape and is now back with the Lancers once more. She and Zuzu team up to deal with Kaiba much like how Zuzu teamed up with Lulu and Rin back in the XYZ Dimension. Kaiba's Neo Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon proves to be a tough monster to beat, but then Zuzu draws Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon and gets an idea so crazy that it might just work. She performs a Fusion Summon and fuses her Bloom Diva the Melodious Choir with Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon to summon a whole new monster: Odd-Eyes Melodious Dragon. This brand new monster gives the girls the edge they need in order to beat Kaiba. Once more, Zuzu and Celina feel as if they were somehow duelling in one body despite there being two of them. Zuzu wonders if the connection between the four of them runs deeper than they think.

Unfortunately, the Lancer's troubles are only just beginning. Yuri unleashes Yuya, Yuto and Yugo on them, and they're not themselves. Yuri reveals they're under the control of a monster he created called Fusion Parasite and the whole thing is a little experiment for his own pleasure to see how easy it would be to brainwash people. It's the boys vs. the girls with Yuto vs. Lulu, Yugo vs. Rin, Celina vs. Yuri and Zuzu vs. Yuya. It's a brutal duel for all four of the girls, but one-by-one, they're able to snap the boys out of it as using familiar cards helps to break the Fusion Parasite's control over them and Zuzu Fusion Summoning Odd-Eyes Melodious Dragon again helps Yuya regain himself completely. He even expresses amazement that Zuzu managed to Fusion Summon their monsters like this. Also during the duel, all four girls felt as if they were duelling as one again. Yuri is mortified that the parasites were defeated like this, but unfortunately for the Lancers, he had a contingency. He performs a Fusion Summon using his Starving Venom Fusion Dragon with Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon, Clear Wing Synchro Dragon and Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon to form an all new monster: Supreme King Z-ARC. Its effects prove too much for the girls and they're subsequently defeated. Yuri orders the rest of the Lancers to be disposed of while he deals with the four girls...

Arc 5: The Ritual Dimension

Heh, Arc 5. I swear that wasn't intentional. XD

And now we're at the finale with the Ritual Dimension serving as the set piece for the final battle between Z-ARC and Ray. Zuzu, Lulu, Celina and Rin wake up to find they've been chained to crosses and are facing a huge blazing fire. Yuri explains to them they're in the Ritual Dimension, a dimension where, of course, everyone ritual summons and duellists make sacrifices a plenty here. Zuzu demands to know what this is all about and Yuri finally explains everything. He found out one day that he is one of four components of a legendary duellist known as Z-ARC that got drunk on power and tried to conquer the universe. He was stopped by another duellist named Ray using four special cards created by Leo himself to stop him, and the resulting duel ended in the four dimensions being created as they know them today. The four girls are all a piece of Ray Akaba, and the four boys are all a piece of Z-ARC. Yuri also mentions how Leo Akaba, Declan's father, was also the father of Ray and he had planned to capture the four girls so he could get Ray back. Yuri wasn't pleased about that and carded him as a result. He hijacked Leo's scheme, stole the cards so they couldn't be used against him and now he plans to merge with the boys to become Z-ARC again while the girls will be killed and Ray will never return to stop him again. He and a bunch of ritual duellists who are loyal to him begin the ceremony in where the four girls will be sacrificed in order to bring back Z-ARC. The four feel tremendous pain as it feels like their bodies are burning up. Yuya, Yuto and Yugo, who are watching the whole thing in cages, cry out for their friends and begin to feel intense anger at watching the girls be tortured like this.

But an unlikely saviour steps in to ruin the ceremony. It's an alternate version of Alexis Rhodes, who is anything but loyal to Yuri, and she saves the girls before they can be killed. Unfortunately, it isn't enough to stop Z-ARC's resurrection. The sheer anger the boys felt at watching what happened is enough for Yuri to be able to take control of them completely and thus the four are brought back together in order to reform the legendary Z-ARC. Alexis helps the girls escape before Z-ARC can destroy them. She reveals to them that the Ritual Dimension used to be a peaceful utopia until Yuri invaded and enslaved the population. She once pretended to be loyal to Yuri, but was secretly working against him and now was the time she finally dropped the pretence. Zuzu is immensely grateful and welcomes Alexis to the Lancers. The question is...how do they stop Z-ARC? Celina suggests the four of them come together to form Ray again, but Lulu and Rin aren't sure how it'll work. Alexis offers to perform a ritual that will bring the four together and she assures them it won't kill any of them. But Zuzu worries that if the four of them become Ray again...will that mean they're gone for good? Will they ever be able to separate and become Zuzu, Celina, Lulu and Rin again? And what about Z-ARC? Can he be divided into four again? Alexis reluctantly admits she isn't sure and Celina insists they have to prioritize stopping Z-ARC above anything else.

As for the Lancers, Alexis had an agent working for her in Duel Academy and said agent helps them defeat Obelisk Force and brings them to the Ritual Dimension to help the girls.

Alexis needs time to perform the ritual, so the Lancers offer to slow Z-ARC down in the meantime. Zuzu asks if Alexis can also un-card Julia, Kit and Gong, to which she says she can. The process is quick and easy and now the three can help the other Lancers fight off Z-ARC. Alexis begins the ritual and the Lancers attack Z-ARC. Unlike the original series where Z-ARC was blatantly BS-ing his way through the duel and clearly making up crap on the spot in order to seem unbeatable, the Lancers DO land a lot more hits on him and do more damage and Z-ARC doesn't seem as invincible, but is still a tough one to beat, especially when Supreme King Z-ARC hits the field. While this is going on, Declan and Riley find the four cards that Ray originally used to stop Z-ARC and also find the card containing Leo. The Akaba siblings find Alexis and the girls and Alexis helps un-card Leo. Leo apologizes for being at least partially responsible for this mess, and wishes he'd left well enough alone. Zuzu forgives him, understanding that a father's love for his child is strong enough to drive anyone to do just about anything in order to get them back. She and the others promise to stop Z-ARC. Soon the ceremony is complete and Ray Akaba is resurrected once more. Leo hugs his daughter and wishes her the best of luck. Ray confronts Z-ARC and the two duel. Z-ARC desperately tries to overwhelm Ray with his duelling prowess, but Ray counters him with relative ease and is able to use the four cards again in order to stop his madness and separate him into four once more. Ray also returns to being Zuzu, Celina, Lulu and Rin again. Z-ARC's scheme is over and the multiverse is safe once more.

However, Yuya and the other boys still feel a bit of Z-ARC's essence in them. In order to make sure he can never come back and that his essence is gone completely, Yuya and Zuzu declare they have to stage a duel so fun and so entertaining that Z-ARC's anger and evil will dissipate. It's a risky gambit, but they have to try. As such, the two carry out their duel. They both put on a spectacular show with a lot of powerful summons and over-the-top theatrics. As they do so, the boys feel Z-ARC's essence disappearing. The finale sees Yuya with all four dragons on the field while Zuzu manages to summon Odd-Eyes Melodious Dragon once more. Both duellists have given their all, but Zuzu ultimately emerges victorious, evening the score between them from all the way back in the first season. Z-ARC's essence is gone completely and now all four boys and girls from each dimension can live in peace. Thrilled, Zuzu and Yuya share a kiss together and declare that all duels in all dimensions will be ones of fun and enjoyment and nobody will have to live in fear again...

Conclusion

And thus concludes my Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V rewrite. Had I been in charge of the show, this is how it would've been executed. With Zuzu is the protagonist, the pacing improved, the legacy characters better handled, all the pointless characters dropped and the important ones getting more time to shine, I feel that my take on the series would've been the superior one. Is it a perfect rewrite? Of course not, I'm not that arrogant to think it is. No story is perfect and I'm sure some may feel I could've done some ideas better. But I like to hope I at least did an adequate job on this rewrite and gave an example of how Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V could've truly been a great show...

And that's it for this one. I hope you enjoyed all three parts and I invite you all to share your thoughts down below. Did you like my rewrite? Which part was your favourite? Do let me know.

Next week, we return to Pokémon as I count down my Top 10 Favourite Gym Leaders. See you then media fans!