Arc Phantoms
is a Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V and Persona 5 crossover fanfic written by Green_Phantom_Queen. Taking place after Yuto's duel with Sylvio in the warehouse, Yuya and his friends obtain the ability to use Personas which they use to change the fate of the Four Dimensions.
Arc Phantoms Contains Examples of:
- Accomplice by Inaction: Yoko pushes Masumi into a corner for this. While she never insulted Yuya like her friends have, she never actually stopped it either.
- Adaptational Attractiveness: SMT Agni is essentially a mass of blue flames that vaguely looks humanoid. Arc Phantoms Agni looks more like his real-life counterpart.
- Adaptational Early Appearance: Long story short, many of the characters that appear in Season 3 appear way earlier.
- Alexis immediately appears in the prologue, same with Yusho.
- Yuto won't approach Yuya till mid-way Season 1; he appears to Yuya akin to Episode 13. Zarc appears in Chapter 4, which takes place during the aftermath of Episode 13. In the anime, Zarc appears in the endgame. Ray also makes her appearance in Chapter 16 whereas she only appears near the end of Season 3.
- Ruri and Rin appear in Chapter 12 and Yugo doesn't have a physical appearance until halfway into Season 1 but appears before Yuya's duels under Nico Smiley.
- Yuri doesn't physically debut until after the Yugo vs Yuto duel, but he appears at least 20 episodes earlier.
- Adaptational Karma: Not only does Leo Corp. get hit with lawsuits over their poor handling of Sylvio stealing Yuya's cards, Sylvio and his goons are expelled from Leo Duel School for the false accusation stunt.
- Adaptational Sexuality:
- The dimensional counterparts were straight in the anime but Yuya, Yuto, and Yuzu realize that they have feelings for one another and become a throuple.
- Yoko Sakaki is Happily Married to Yusho but she had a fling with a woman named Kawakami prior.
- Dante had Ship Tease with Trish before they became friends in the games, but this was changed in the fanfic to Dante and Vergil hooking up and Trish eventually in a relationship with Lady.
- Adaptational Wealth: You Show gains additional funds thanks to Reiji paying them off as "apologies" for everything he did to them for the past three years.
- At the Opera Tonight: The prologue opens at an opera in Academia where Yuya attempts to kidnap Alexis.
- Bait-and-Switch:
- With the focus on Yuya being the Joker of the group, readers assume he'll be the first to get his Persona. Instead, it's Yuzu who gets it before him, and Yuto got his even earlier.
- Reiji's Plan B is to hire Zenkichi Hasegawa to look into You Show and the nature of their Personas. While it looks like Zenkichi has hit a case of Adaptational Villainy, it turns out Zenkichi is playing Reiji for a fool and he's now off to investigate this third-rate rich boy.
- Cassandra Truth: Even after Yuto helped to create a message with Reiji over Academia invading the dimensions, not a lot of people believe them.
- Contrived Coincidence: Yoko works at a soup kitchen and finds Shun and Yuto getting food there. Himika lampshades this in a later chapter over how convenient this all was.Himika: Three years, three years we have worked on this project only to be blocked because of that delinquent housewife arriving at quite a very convenient moment and by sheer coincidence, encountered the Yuya from the Xyz dimension. This seems too good to be true...almost as if someone or some thing specifically set it up for us to get our karma.
- Cue the Flying Pigs: When Sylvio makes a good point that Sora didn't bother to help You Show Duel School defend themselves against Reiji, Yuya and Yuzu are momentarily stunned that they agree with him and are waiting for a flying pig to pass by.
- Dirty Coward: Masumi, Hokuto, and Yaiba love talking smack about how Yuya is a piece of shit. When Yoko dares them to do it in front of her face, they can only stammer and whimper in fear.
- Drama-Preserving Handicap: Reiji can't do anything to stop Sylvio from pressing a lawsuit since Yuto's duel with Sylvio wasn't under LDS jurisdiction and he's currently swamped with lawsuits over his mishandling of him stealing Yuya's cards.
- Dramatic Drop:
- Whatever Dionysus said in regards to Yusho is so shocking that Ame-no-uzume and Nemesis drop a rooster and scales from their hands in shock.
- Shuzo drops the fire extinguisher he brings on him when he sees a ghostly Joey (in dragon armor) in front of him.
- Dramatic Irony: In Chapter 28, Shun thinks that Yuto forgot about Ruri being in danger as he gets close to Yuzu...unaware that 1) Ruri is no longer kidnapped and is safe in Synchro and 2) Yuto is aware that she's safe and safe in Synchro.
- The Dreaded: Yoko Sakaki is this to Masumi, Hokuto, and Yaiba, who end up looking in utter fear when Yoko reveals to have recorded Himika's ranting over buying out You Show.
- Exact Words:
- Yuya begins the story about how he got his Persona, but Alexis points out that Yuzu got hers first. Yuya then explains to learn how he got his Persona, one has to hear about Yuzu getting hers.
- Sylvio demands some Pendulums from You Show and a written apology for him to drop the lawsuit, specifically he wants Yuzu's new Pendulums. He also says that he can file a lawsuit for the trauma You Show gave him...the emotional trauma of being assaulted by Yuto in their duel.
- Everyone Has Standards: Reiji has little esteem for Yuya Sakaki, but even he starts worrying for Yuya's mental health when Yuya has a complete melt-down and rips off his face (aka removing his Persona mask) enough to draw blood in their duel. Masumi, Yaiba, Hokuto, and even Himika also look horrified at having pushed Yuya to his limit.
- Females Are More Innocent: Zigzagged with Masumi. Even though she didn't take part in bullying Yuya, she still looks down on You Show and never told her friends to stop being assholes.
- Five-Second Foreshadowing: At the end of Chapter 19, the You Show kids talk about a friend of Sora's who has come to visit, revealing that he has a terrifying smile that Futoshi doesn't want to see on Yuya or Yuto's face. Then Yuri steps in...
- Food Porn: The food Agni cooks for Heartland is deliciously detailed to entice the survivors of the Resistance to eat. And also because
it's one of the author's loves. - Foregone Conclusion: Up until Yuya is interrogated by Alexis, the reader can be assured that Yuto (who was killed and then absorbed into Yuya in canon) is safe. The same can be said for the other Phantom Thieves who are most likely the other Dimensional Counterparts (sans Yuri).
- Foreshadowing: Himika snarks to Reiji about him believing he's like Alexander the Great. In "Fusion Interlude (1)", one of the government officials is Alex Brisbane, a direct descendant of Alexander himself.
- Framing Device: Just like in Persona 5, the story takes place with Yuya being interrogated by Alexis over how he and his crew changed the hearts of people and her gradually learning other info from the likes of Ruri and Yusho.
- Frothy Mugs of Water: Dionysus is shown drinking grape juice instead of wine, but Yuya is mentioned stumbling around as if drunk when he drinks it.
- The Ghost: Shun Kurosaki is mentioned in dialogue but never seen. Yuto explains that this is because he wants no association with You Show due to Yusho's "cowardice" and focuses on his own path to get Reiji's attention. He finally makes an on-screen appearance in Chapter 28.
- How We Got Here: The story starts with a heist in progress taking place at an opera performance in Academia before Yuya is captured and tells his tale to Alexis.
- Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: Each chapter, outside the Prologue, is titled "Shadows in [X]" with the X being based on the focus of the chapter.
- Incoming Ham: Agni appears towards the Heartland Resistance by belting out "Your savior is here!"
- Last-Second Word Swap: Dionysus calls Yoko a "Mother I'd Like to...Fight".
- Let's Dance: Ame-no-uzume's final words before Yuzu awakens her."Let us bring the sun out of hiding. Let us not wait for a knight to save us. Say my name...and let's dance!"
- Lighter and Softer: Than Persona 5 at the very least since there are fewer corrupt jerks to deal with. Also to Arc-V since the use of the Personas allow the characters to lighten up and have a fighting chance against Academia and gives other characters hope that things will change.
- My Little Phony: Yuya's Xyz monster, Performapal Pop Unicorn, is depicted as a unicorn with a popcorn bucket cutie mark.
- Narnia Time: Ray explains to the heroes that time flows differently depending on which two dimensions are being crossed. As an example, a month in Standard equates to a year in Fusion.
- Once Done, Never Forgotten: After Sora's Persona is revealed to be Bastet-Sekhmet, Dionysus remarks the time Sekhmet got drunk from alcohol dyed to look like blood. Sekhmet is quite annoyed that he'd bring it up.
- Pass the Popcorn: As Yuya explains the effects of his new monster, Performapal Pop Unicorn, the narration lampshades how Sora and Futoshi would want a bucket of popcorn to watch the chaos about to unfold.
- Plot Armor: Chapter 28 has Reiji and Himika discuss this. You Show, considered nothing more than the remnant of a coward who disappeared one day, is now getting blessing among blessing like the fact that two members are now have Personas and are learning Xyz and Yoko's convenient appearance that had her capable of suing Leo Corp. for their actions.
- Point of Divergence: The Persona drastically changes the story to a great degree.
- The summoning of Persona means that Yuya confronts his mental issues much, much sooner.
- Yoko meets with Yuto and Shun at a soup kitchen she works in, meaning Yuto gets to see Yuzu and Yuya earlier than in canon. She also arrives in time to learn how Himika was threatening to buy out her husband's school, preparing to file a lawsuit in retaliation. Sylvio and his goons were also kicked out of Leo Duel School for their false accusation stunt.
- Sora gets his Heel–Face Turn earlier due to Yuzu, Yuya, and Yuto beating up his shadow.
- In the anime, Reiji vs Yuya ended in a draw because of Shun carding Professor Marco causing Reiji to cut the duel short. Because of Yoko threatening with legal action, Reiji has no choice but to let Yuya win the duel or else face Mama Yoko's wrath.
- Instead of learning Fusion from Sora, Yuzu decides to first learn Xyz from Yuto and later gets Pendulums from Ame-no-uzume.
- Yuzu asks her Persona to let Ruri use the teleportation powers to escape Academia. This leads to Ruri and Rin escaping Fusion and hiding out in Synchro, meaning they won't be infected with parasites and Yugo won't jump to Standard, also preventing Yuto’s death.
- Sora leaves for Academia earlier due to Ruri borrowing the teleportation powers of Yuzu's bracelet to teleport Yuri to Standard because of an emergency meeting by Akaba. The Personas also allow Yuya, Yuzu, and Yuto to reunite with Yusho, something that the three (technically two, Yuto is a spirit at that point) don't do till Season 3.
- Precision F-Strike: Upon learning about Reiji asking Sylvio to cause the stunt by stealing his Pendulum monsters, Yuya shouts that Reiji is going to pay with his "F***ING LIFE!"
- Rage Breaking Point: Obtaining these are usually the catalysts of getting a Persona.
- Yuzu: Yuya being mocked by Sylvio, pushed to the side by Gongenzaka, and then seeing her father pushed to the ground by Sylvio and his goons has her tired of being a Neutral Female.
- Yuya: Completely snaps when he hears Hokuto and Yaiba bad-mouthing his dad and Reiji's reprimanding of them is just to tell them to be quiet as it's a reminder of everything he has suffered for three years.
- Yuto: Being hounded by three Obelisk Force goons and wanting revenge against them. On a non-Persona note, he snaps when Shadow Sora talks about all of the ways he wishes to torture him.
- Ruri: Snapping as she finds herself surrounded by Obelisk Force soldiers and is about to be squeezed to death by an Ancient Gear Golem.
- Shuzo: Motivated by his daughter to finally stand up against Sylvio and his stupid lawsuits and to eschew Yusho's smiling philosophy.
- Sora: Pissed at Sylvio calling him a coward since he didn't participate in the LDS vs You Show duel.
- Real Life Writes the Plot: The author reveals that the Sylvio vs Yuzu duel was mostly written due to the release of Yuzu's new Melodious monsters (two of them Pendulums).
- Retroactive Wish: Yugo is making a prayer and asks what would it take to have Rin back in arms. When she does, he promptly asks what what would it take for them to have a year's supply of ramen.
- Running Gag: Numerous people fainting whenever they see a Persona.
- Shout-Out:
- The author admits that the code-name role call was based on the opening of Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves.
- Yuya/Arelquin is surrounded by soldiers with spears and escapes by imitating how Esmerelda got out of her situation.
- Ame-no-uzume was based on Baal Zebul, even introducing herself with the same phrase Baal does.
- When Yuya finally lets loose at Reiji, he screams "I'M A HUMAN!!!" from the climatic scene at the train station of The Elephant Man. Moreover, Dionysus demands Yuya to break through his facade by shouting "Let me in. LET ME IN!!!"
- Yoko's dressing down of all of the laws Himika broke, ending it with the phrase "And the term, big fat lawsuit" was based on the Daria episode, "Arts N' Crass".
- Shadow Sora's palace is a walking Five Nights at Freddy's reference. During the heist, Yuzu even sings the opening lines of Five Nights at Freddy's: The Musical. Shadow Sora's punishment for Yuto is based on the story "Count the Ways".
- Yuzu lights her bat on fire and shouts, "Break out the butter, I'm gonna make toast!"
- What does Shuzo say when he finally awakens his Persona? "My blood...IS ON FIRE!"
- While in Synchro, Ruri mentions that the situation of Tops, Commons and the Friendship Cup reminds her of a film where the protagonist goes "I'll be back", and the response to that was "Only in the reruns."
- Author notes reveal that Sora's Phantom Thief attire is based on Krile's Berserker outfit.
- When Yuya is getting annoyed with Sylvio, he recalls a wrestling promo where an up-and-coming rookie in jean shorts shouted "Ruthless Aggression". More Cena references arrive when Yuya explains that Yusho's invisibility makes him like "The guy you can't see" and he waves a hand in front of his face as well.
- Ayu has a classmate named Anya who's into a show called Bondman. Ayu also wonders if Anya is also a psychic.
- Nakajima apparently fought "Shooting Star" Yoko in the past. He notes that she broke his $500 sunglasses.
- Reiji shouts, "There is no God! That's why I stepped in!" when Himika notes that the coincidences surrounding You Show's good fortune is considered an "Act of God". She later snarks if Reiji has plans to be like Alexander the Great to have the dimensions united and pacified. Speaking of Reiji, the heroes along with Zarc and Ray discuss how Reiji only has 12% of a plan.
- Yuri and Ruri discuss a show they watched when they in Heartland about a woman who fights off a man who wishes to be a benevolent dictator..
- Title Drop: Chapter 10 has Yuya, Yuzu, and Yuto officially name themselves "Arc Phantoms".
- Waxing Lyrical:
- Some of the lines during the awakening of Dionysus are taken from the songs "Cult of Dionysus" from The Orion Experience and Dionysus
- When Yuri confronts Ruri in Synchro he paraphrases a line from "obsessed"
Yuri: I know your star sign, I know your blood type, I know how you like tucking a strand of hair behind your ear when you're nervous.- Himika's narrations about Reiji smiling mention that she hates that condescending smirk and sees it at every guy at work.
- Weird Crossover: One of Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V and Persona 5, but the addition of Taweret and Khonshu adds Moon Knight (2022) to the mix.note By Chapter 18, it adds Like a Dragon by reference to Shuzo singing "24 Hour Cinderella" with Goro Majima with an author's notes stating the reference hold more importance in the future. The Fusion Interlude introduces Koichi Adachi and Joon-Gi Han along with the main characters of Devil May Cry.
- Wham Episode:
- Chapter 19 not only has Sora getting his Persona but we find out that Ruri sent Yuri to the Standard Dimension when he's found in You Show Duel School. Sora going "Well...shit." at the end punctuates the wham.
- Chapter 22 elaborates on what Dionysus saw when he encountered Yusho. Yusho has his own Persona.
- Chapter 28 starts with a note from the author saying "You never saw this coming". She's right. Reiji's Plan B is to hire a man known as "The Wolf"...otherwise known as Zenkichi Hasegawa who, unbeknownst to Reiji himself, is actually off to investigate him over signs of corruption. And he's aided by Sophie!
- Wham Line: Chapter 28 has Nakajima contacting someone who goes by "The Wolf". The end of the talk reveals...The Wolf: Right. Inspector Hasegawa out.
- Wham Shot:
- The end of Chapter 19 has someone appearing at You Show Duel School. Said person? Yuri.
- When Zarc makes his Confidant bond with Yuya, it turns out to be "The Counselor".
