Those waiting for an update to Arcadia's Poison Touch won't have to wait much longer, I hope. Chapter 12 is part done.

Disclaimer:

As of the date I originally wrote this story (26/04/14) only three episodes of Yu-Gi-Oh Arc V had been revealed. As a consequence, nobody (other than the creators of the show) knew very much about Arc V or, more specifically, Yuya. I cannot grantee an accurate reflection of the characters, but I tried my best to keep them in character.

Assume all monsters are in attack mode, unless otherwise specified.

Miami City, the home of the prestigious Leo Duel School, is a hub of ideas, and perhaps more importantly, it's a place where the best duellists meet. The best Entertainment Duellists to be precise. Miami City is full of Entertainment Duellists, of which Yuya Sakaki is one. He aspires to be the greatest of Entertainment Duellists and entertain the public with his Action Duels.

All Yuya, an attendee of the You Show Duel School, can think about is duelling. He's a typical human being in a world where the game of Duel Monsters is so entrenched in society that even menial scores are settled with a duel. If only everything could be settled with a duel; there would be fewer wars that way.

A typical day at the You Show Duel School entails Yuya sitting through many lessons he finds boring. The only thing that seems to really interest him is duelling. Then again, he does have a crazy hairstyle, in his case an uncanny mixture of red and green, that marks him out as a major protagonist. Today's geography lesson is no different.

"Yuya - pay attention!" shouts a girl with short pink hair.

The boy looked towards the girl, who was sitting at the desk next to his, and frowned. His emotion emphasised his annoyance, but the girl was not swayed. She takes out a newspaper from nowhere and smacks him around the head with it.

"Ouch! Yuzu, what was that for?" says Yuya as he rubs his head.

"You need to focus!"

"I'm sorry – I was thinking about Pendulum Summoning. And besides, we only have five minutes left of class."

Yuzu looks towards the front of the class where there is a clock above the whiteboard. However much she doesn't want to admit it, Yuya is right. Any minute now the bell might ring, signalling the end of the school day. She then looks at Yuya again, and is about to say something when their teacher, a stout man with short black hair, interrupts.

"Yuya! What's the capital of San Marino?" he shouts.

"I, uh, um…"

Suddenly the bell rang. Never has the phrase "saved by the bell" been more relevant. The teacher adjusts his glasses and sneers at him. The rest of the class begins to stare at him, making him feel very awkward.

"You were lucky his time, Yuya. The answer is San Marino in case you were wondering, but I can't image you were. Class dismissed. Remember, I'm expecting your geography projects in by next week."

The class doesn't need to be told twice. Upon hearing those sacred words everyone rushes out of the room and out of school. Yuya is last out of the room as he was waiting for Yuzu to pack all of her things together. It seemed that she is the only person in their class who takes geography seriously.

"What do you want to do now?" asks Yuya as they exit the school grounds.

"I'd like to go to that candy shop we went to the other day. Maybe then you'll stop thinking about Pendulum Summoning," replies Yuzu.

Yuya gazes at her with a blank expression. She sighs, and then they head in the direction of the candy shop. Eventually they reach the store and Yuya stares in the window, marvelling at all the choices of candy. Yuzu however walks in without any hesitation. Yuya is about to follow her when he is approached by a man in a blue jacket and black T-shirt. Like Yuya, the man has a crazy hairstyle, although being plain black with only hints of yellow in it it's not as crazy as his. He must be a major protagonist too. Upon noticing his duel disk, duelling suddenly is back on his mind.

"Excuse me," the man, asks, "I seem to be lost. Can you tell me where I am?"

"You're in Miami City of course," replies Yuya looking confused.

"What? Are you sure? Well, I don't know how I got here."

"Maybe a duel will refresh your memory! My friend Yuzu's dad has a machine for Action Duels – they're all the rage right now!"

"An Action Duel?"

"Sure. You know how to duel, don't you? I mean you have a duel disk."

The man looks at his duel disk, a plain grey one with an orange strip for the Life Point counter. He then smiles at Yuya. Their eyes lock and Yuya smiles back.

"Who is this?" a perplexed Yuzu asks as she leaves the shop with a bag full of candy.

"I don't know. I'm a bit lost," the man interjects.

"Exactly – we were going to have a duel to try and get his memory back," says Yuya, shifting his gaze towards her.

"I see…"

"Hopefully your dad won't mind us using his Solid Vision with Mass system."

"I'm sure it will be fine. I'm Yuzu; nice to meet you."

"You too," replies the man.

"And I'm Yuya by the way."

The trio head back to the school (Yuzu's father owns the You Show Duel School) where they can have a game of duel monsters. Yuya shows the man the way to the duel arena whilst Yuzu stays behind to get the duel arena ready and monitor the duel. As they enter the arena Yuzu selects a field spell to use during their duel. The card Dark Town's Prison Tower (see episodes 3 and 4 of Arc V) is selected.

The previously empty room is immediately transformed into a night-time city vaguely resembling New York City. The city is made up of two distinct halves that are separated by a river. Across the river there is a bridge that looks somewhat like the real life Brooklyn Bridge. The mysterious man and Yuya find themselves on a grimy city street close to the bridge.

Yuya: 4000

Mysterious Man: 4000

"I'll start!" declares Yuya.

The man nods in agreement and then Yuya summons a monster (the player who goes first now skips their Draw Phase). The monster he summons is Entermate Discover Hippo. It appears on the field directly in front of Yuya.

"I summon Entermate Discover Hippo!"

Entermate Discover Hippo is a Level 3 EARTH Attribute Beast-Type Effect Monster with 800 ATK and 800 DEF. Discover Hippo is an entirely pink monster in the shape of a Hippopotamus. Around its neck is a pink bow tie with yellow polka dots and on top of its head is blue top had with a pink bright bow tie around it. Its tail is long and thin and ends in a heart shape.

Cards in hand Yuya: 4, Mysterious Man: 5

Yuya wastes no time and jumps onto the pink hippo and it runs away from his opponent with him on it. The man looks very puzzled at the sight of Discover Hippo galloping across the field and into the distance.

"Why are you running away? I thought we were duelling?" the man shouts.

"We are! This is an Action Duel. You need to look for the Action Cards!" Yuya shouts back.

Yuya turns a corner on the Hippo and disappears from view. The man stands there blankly as he wonders what he is supposed to do. He looks over the cards in his Hand and considers his options.

"Whatever happened to Duel Runners?" the man mumbles to himself.

A screen appears in front of him, from out of his Duel Disk, and Yuya appears again. He's still smiling and has silly expression on his face.

"Turn end!" he declares.

"Let's see," he says as he draws a card.

Cards in hand: Yuya: 4 Mysterious Man: 6

He then places his fingers on the Hyper Synchron in his Hand, "perhaps this will work…"

He summons Hyper Synchron. Hyper Snychron is a Level 4 LIGHT Attribute Machine-Type Effect (Tuner) Monster with 1600 ATK and 800 DEF. A small blue robot appears in front of him. It has two hands, each with five fingers, and two massive silver exhaust pipes sticking out of its back. On its head there is a big red glowing spot which seems to serve no purpose other than to glow.

"Follow that Hippo!" he shouts.

Hyper Snychron floats up and moves behind the man. It then puts its arms underneath his armpits and smoke starts to appear from the two exhaust pipes. The man is then pushed all the way down the road and around the corner where he finds Yuya, still riding Discover Hippo.

"Wow, your monster is fast," says Yuya as he turns to see the man.

"Well you are riding a hippopotamus. Hyper Synchron, attack Entermate Discover Hippo."

As soon as the attack is declared Yuya jumps off of Entermate Discover Hippo and sprints across the road. There he finds a card on the ground, which he picks up. It's an Action Card.

"Action Card – Avoid!"

Hyper Synchron attacks and a beam of white light appears from within the palm of one of its hands. The beam is fired straight at Discover Hippo who somehow manages to jump out of the way and avoid the attack. Yuya then jump back onto Discover Hippo and it gallops off into the distance.

"But…how?" asks the man, now even more confused than before, "I set a card and end my turn."

"Huh, that was an Action Card; it negated your attack."

Hyper Synchron resumes the chase of Yuya's Hippo. It catches up in no time at all and so lowers its speed so that it's about equal to the speed of Discover Hippo. As they ride the man looks around the street and notices most of the buildings have been abandoned. The environment seemed to trigger something in his memory.

"This place, it reminds me of somewhere, but I can't think where…"

Cards in hand: Yuya: 5 Mysterious Man: 4

"I draw…awesome! I could use this! Seeing as you're too fast for me I'll try something different. I summon the monster I just drew: Entermate Whip Viper."

Entermate Whip Viper is a Level 4 EARTH Attribute Reptile-Type Effect Monster with 1700 ATK and 900 DEF. A purple snake wearing a huge yellow bow tie with pink polka dots appears on the field beside Yuya. On its head is a blue top hat with a gold bow tie around it. On its each of its check there is a star. On the left an orange one and on the right a bright blue one.

The snake wraps itself around Yuya's free arm (the one without the Duel Disk on it). It turns its head and glares at Hyper Synchron. A smirk appears across Yuya's face.

"Once per turn, Entermate Whip Viper can switch the attack and defence of a monster until the end of the turn."

Entermarte Whip Viper turns to face Hyper Synchorn. As soon as its own eyes meet with Hyper Synchron's they begin to glow and there is sudden flash of light from within its eyes. Nothing visible appears to happen anywhere on Hyper Synchron however.

Hyper Synchron: ATK 1600 ATK - 800 ATK, 800 DEF - 1600 DEF

"Entermate Discover Hippo will attack Hyper Snychron!" says Yuya.

Entermate Whip Viper extends itself from Yuya's arm and flies through the air, with Yuya still holding onto the tip of its tail. It sinks its teeth into the roof of one of the buildings lining the road and Yuya goes all Indiana Jones style as he runs away from him. Entermate Discover Hippo then turns its attention to Hyper Synchron, who is still floating alongside it as it runs along the road.

Discover Hippo runs up to Hyper Synchron and bites on its arm. Hyper Snynchron responds by using its other arm to fire another beam of light at it. As soon as it fires both monsters disappear and the man falls onto the floor.

800 ATK - 800 ATK = - 0

Yuya: 4000

Mysterious Man: 4000

"I set a card. Turn end," Yuya says over the intercom of his Duel Disk.

Cards in hand: Yuya: 4 Mysterious Man: 5

"I draw," says the man as he gets to his feet, "and then summon Junk Forward. Since I control no monsters it can be Special Summoned from my hand."

Junk Forward is a Level 3 EARTH Attribute Warrior-Type Effect Monster with 900 ATK and 1500 DEF. A golden human-shaped machine appeared on the field in front of him. Like the Hyper Synchron before it exhaust pipes protruded its back, though one this time. Its single exhaust pipe is much larger and longer than the two of Hyper Synchron.

"Are you just going to stand there?" taunts Yuya.

"I activate my face-down card, Reinforce Truth. It allows me to Special Summon one Level two or lower Warrior-Type monster from my Deck," he says as he takes his deck.

"Wow, ok."

"I chose Speed Warrior."

"That sounds fast."

Speed Warrior is a Level 2 WIND Attribute Warrior-Type Effect Monster with 900 ATK and 400 DEF. Speed Warrior is a shiny silver man on roller-skates. He wears goggles and has a need for speed.

"Speed Warrior won't be around for long though. I Normal Summon Junk Synchron."

Cards in hand: Yuya: 4 Mysterious Man: 4

A portal opens up between the two monsters and Junk Snychron appears from within it. Junk Synchron is a Level 3 EARTH Attribute Warrior-Type Effect (Tuner) Monster with 1300 ATK and 500 DEF. Junk Synchron is a short and shout human-shaped machine, mostly orange in colour with portions of silver all over. It appears to wear a plain white scarf around its stubby neck, glasses and an orange helmet with two handles, one either side on its head. On its left side is a green lever.

"I Tune my Level three Junk Synchron with my Level three Junk Forward and Level two Speed Warrior in order to Synchro Summon Stardust Dragon! That's it! I remember now! I'm Yusei Fudo!"

"Huh?"

The three monsters move into a line, one in front of the other with Junk Synchron at the helm, and then Junk Synchron pulls its lever. The monsters then all transform into small luminescent green balls, one for each of their Levels. Several bright green circles then appear around them, each a slightly darker shade of green than the balls. The balls cluster together and transform into Stardust Dragon, who appears above Yusei.

"Clustering wishes will become a new shining star! Become the path its light shines upon! Synchro Summon! Take flight, Stardust Dragon!"

"Wow, a Synchro Summon!"

Stardust Dragon is a Level 8 WIND Attribute Dragon-Type Synchro-Effect Monster with 2500 ATK and 2000 DEF. Stardust Dragon is a magnificent dragon, being coloured in a mixture of majestic white and blue. It clenches its fists and lands on the ground in front of Yusei, who doesn't hesitate to climb on. Stardust Dragon then flies up high above the surrounding buildings.

"The real duel starts here!" affirms Yusei.

"You'll have to catch me first!"

"You're on!"