Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V (Season 2)

Synchro Dimension Arc (シンクロ次元編 Shinkuro Jigen Hen) is the second story arc of Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V anime series. It follows Yūya and his friends' struggle in City of Synchro Dimension to gather allies and facing the threat from Jean-Michel Roget, a former Academia agent who became the Director of Security and plans to turn Synchro Dimension into his own personal kingdom. There are two opening and ending themes used in this arc. The first opening and ending are UNLEASH and ARC of Smile!, while the second opening and ending are Trump Card and Speaking.

Arrival
Yuzu, who got transported to Synchro Dimension with Yūgo, learned that Rin is Yūgo's childhood friend who was kidnapped by Yūri, and he mistook Yūto as Yūri when he met the former in Heartland, leading to their clash. After clearing up the misunderstanding, Yuzu explained what she knows about Academia. The two were interrupted by nearby people who were referring them as Commons and both escaped. Yūgo explained that in City, there are two social classes: the poor is called Commons while the wealthy is called Tops. There also exist Riding Duel, a Duel that is done by riding a motorbike-like vehicle functioned as Duel Disk called D-Wheel. To promote peace between Tops and Commons, a tournament called Friendship Cup is held, and the one who continuously won will earn the right to challenge the Duel King, Jack Atlas. The two were chased by Security, a group functioned as the police force for Tops who will arrest any Commons from little to no reason at all. The member of Security, Duel Chaser 227 challenged Yūgo to a Riding Duel, which Yūgo accepted, and he easily won after summoning his ace monster "Clear Wing Synchro Dragon", and he and Yuzu successfully escaped. The Duel earned attention from the Director of Security, Jean-Michel Roget, who ordered for the Security to look and capture the two at sight. The next day, the Lancers arrived, but they got separated from each other. Yūya, Serena, Reira, and Shingo arrived at Commons area and were found by Security. Mistaking Yūya and Serena as Yūgo and Yuzu, they challenged them to a Duel. Overwhelmed by numbers, Yūya and the others were surrounded until they were saved by the arrival of Crow Hogan and his friends who allowed them shelter until they found the rest of their friends. However, when Serena and Shingo went out to duel people nearby to find potential allies, Security found and secretly followed them, leading to their capture together with Crow and his friend, Shinji Weber. Reira, however, was saved by Tsukikage before he could be captured. Meanwhile, Dennis and Gongenzaka were invited by a man named Gallager after he witnessed their Duel when the two tried to earn money while looking for the other Lancers. He took them to an underground Riding Duel where it turned out Shun was participating so he can earn the right to enter Friendship Cup, hoping to gain powerful allies against Academia. Shun and Dennis clashed against each other after a brief argument over their skills in Xyz summoning, and Shun started to get suspicious of Dennis' true identity during their Duel. Their Duel was stopped when Security raid the place and they were under arrest.

The Facility
Yūya and his friends were taken to a camp called the Facility, where they reunited with Gogenzaka and Dennis, while Serena and Shun were taken to solitary confinement on their first day: Serena taken there under Roget's order, while Shun after he got into a fight with other inmates. There, they learned that card functions as money, which means if they want to be treated nicely they have to give their cards to the guards as bribery, which explained why they were allowed to keep their cards. Yūya and the others earned the attention of the Facility's "boss", Chojiro Tokumatsu, who demanded them to give them their cards to him if they want to live in luxury. Refusing to do his biding, Yūya challenged him to a Duel to remind him how Dueling is supposed to be fun for everyone, a feat that Yūya succeeded. A few days later, Crow, Shinji, and their friends decided to stage a jailbreak by using the Grand Entertainment Duel that Tokumatsu will hold with Yūya and Shingo as diversion. Not wanting to trouble Yūya and his friends who may got blamed and punished for helping them escape, Crow acted cold towards Yūya so he won't be punished if they escape, which upset Yūya. During the Duel though, the Lancers finally able to convince Crow to let them escape together. With Tokumatsu and other inmates help distracting the guards, they succeeded getting out of the Facility, but now facing against the Arrest Corps. Shun, who was able to escape by himself, saved Yūya and the others who got cornered while trying to escape, while Dennis succeeded in freeing Serena. They regrouped with Crow and the others, and when it seemed they successfully escaped from the corps, they got caught by Roget who turned out to have lured one of Crow's friend into a trap. Before they can be taken back to the Facility, the Executive Council of City asked for the escapees to be taken to them. Reiji turned out to have already explained the whole situation to the council regarding the reason of Lancers' arrival and Academia's incoming invasion. To prove their worth as allies, the council tasked them to enter Friendship Cup where their skills as Duelist will be tested. Following this decision, Roget suggested for Yūya to Duel Jack in the tournament's exhibition Duel. Initially refusing to participate, Yūya reluctantly agreed after learning that Yuzu also participated in Friendship Cup, having been registered by Yūgo who thought it would be easier for her to warn of Academia's invasion.

Exhibition Match
Yūgo and Yuzu went to the stadium to watch the exhibition match, and was surprised to find Yūya will be Jack's opponent, which was confirmed when Yuzu's bracelet was blinking and Yūya performed Pendulum Summon. Yūya, offended when Jack declared that he will be defeated in 3 turns, inadvertently let himself being played into Jack's hands. He tried to finish Jack with OTK by summoning "Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon" and "Rune-Eyes Pendulum Dragon", but Jack activated his trap card to end the battle phase right before Yūya can deliver the finishing blow and counter attacked by summoning his ace monster, "Red Daemon's Dragon Scarlight", which easily defeated Yūya in the third turn like Jack has planned. Before his defeat, Jack told Yūya that his Dueling wasn't entertainment, but was merely for self-satisfaction, which Yūya took as an insult of the Dueling he inherited from his father.

Round 1, Day 1
On the day of the first match, the matches consisted of Gongenzaka vs. Crow, Shinji vs. Tsukikage, Yuzu vs. Tokumatsu, and Serena vs. Tony. Reira was supposed to Duel Shinji, but his refusal to Duel the latter after he gave him candy prompted Reiji to order Tsukikage to replace Reira. While the match proceeded, Tokumatsu and Yūya learned from a rumour that those who lost in Friendship Cup will be sent to an underground labour camp and will never able to get out. The first day of the matches resulted with Crow, Shinji, Yuzu, and Serena winning their matches, though Tsukikage purposely lost under Reiji's order.

Round 1, Day 2
On the second day, the matches consisted of Yūya vs. Duel Chaser 227, Yūgo vs. Shingo, Sergey Volkov vs. Damon, and Shun vs. Dennis. After winning his Duel, Yūya experienced a phenomenon of his mind synchronising with Yūgo during his match against Shingo through their respective dragons, resulting Yūgo to adopt Yūya's Dueling style and mannerism. After Shingo got sent to the underground labour facility where he regrouped with Gongenzaka and Tokumatsu, Gallager, who turned out to be running the place revealed there was a rumour that Roget is from another dimension since he was the one who introduced adding Solid Vision with mass technology when he suddenly appeared in City. He further explained that Roget was gathering strong Duelists for unknown purpose. Hearing this information, Tsukikage secretly went back to the surface to inform Reiji. After the match between Sergey and Damon, which won by Sergey, the next Duel pit Shun and Dennis against each other. Suspecting that Dennis is an Academia agent based on his skill in their previous Duel, Shun set a trap to force Dennis revealed his true allegiance. Shun succeeded in exposing Dennis' true identity by making him reveal the "Fusion" card on his hand, leading Dennis to summon the "Antique Gear" monsters, the same monsters used by Obelisk Force. With his cover blown, Dennis change his Dueling style to be violent and provoked Shun by revealing that he was partly responsible in Ruri's capture, being sent to Heartland to find her and green lit the invasion once he found her. The enraged Shun mercilessly attacked Dennis, defeating him. He attempted to turn him into card, but Reiji has tampered with his Duel Disk, disabling the function, and Dennis was taken away. When Dennis was taken away, there was friction between the council and Security over who will take Dennis into custody, but Sora saved Dennis and sent him back to Academia. Dennis' real allegiance also caused different opinions between the Executive Council and Reiji, making them considering not to accept Reiji's proposal to form alliance and instead tried to find a way to negotiate with Leo. However, Roget also decided to enact his plan, King's Bandit, which is taking control over the whole Security by controlling their minds through the chip planted inside their heads. He then ambushed the council and Reiji and held them captive until the Friendship Cup ends.

Round 2, Day 1
The matches of the second round consisted of Yuzu vs. Sergey, Yūya vs. Shinji, Shun vs. Crow, and Serena vs. Yūgo. In the first match, not only Yuzu got defeated, her D-Wheel was crashed by Sergey, sending her flying and his nearby building, horrifying Yūya and the others who were watching. Fortunately for Yuzu, she was saved by Sora before the Security could get her. The Duel caused Yūya unable to concentrate until Sora showed Yūya Yuzu's helmet that proved Yuzu was safe, allowing Yūya to focus and win the Duel. Unfortunately, since Shinji who got defeated was seen as a symbol for Commons after encouraging them to fight back, Roget used this as an opportunity to make it seems Yūya and the Lancers was on Tops' side, causing Shinji and Crow to think that Yūya was a traitor. Yūya escaped from Duel Palace to meet Sora who revealed that he intended to exchange Yuzu with Serena to the Professor and asked Yūya and Yuzu not to involve themselves with the inter dimensional war again, revealing that he truly cherish both of them as his first friends. Yūya refused, however, pointing out that Academia will invade Standard Dimension once the Professor find out of what he done if they do as he said. They were interrupted by Security's arrival. Yūya pushed Sora away and let himself be captured so Sora can protect Yuzu. Meanwhile, the children who lived with Crow, Frank, Amanda, and Tanner, found Yuzu and decided to take her to watch the match between Shun and Crow. Yūya was taken to Roget's office where Roget tried to win over Yūya by telling him how he used to be an agent of Academia and Sora will eventually betray him. At the same time, the match between Shun and Crow began. The two initially hostile towards each other, Crow believing the Lancers in league with Tops, while Shun became distrustful of everyone after Dennis' betrayal. The two Duelists soon found they have many things in common after Shun saved Tanner, who fell from his place while watching the Duel, changing the impressions between them. The Duel ended with Crow's victory and friendship formed between him and Shun. Seeing this unfold, Yūya decided to trust Sora and declined Roget's offer for alliance, causing him to be taken away and imprisoned. After watching the match, Yuzu and the children were ambushed by Security. They were saved by Sora who gave Yuzu a Duel Disk so she can fight. Together, both of them defeated the Security who pursued them. Sora intended to send Yuzu back to Standard Dimension, but Yuzu told him not to and pleaded for him to cut his ties with Academia completely, believing he is different from them. Tsukikage then arrived and challenge Sora to avenge his brother, but Yuzu able to convince him and Sora to put aside their conflict and focused on the problem at hand. Sora apologized to Tsukikage and promised him a Duel once he saved Yūya. Tsukikage accepted Sora's condition and escorted Yuzu and the children to the underground facility where the Lancers were to keep her save. The match between Yūgo and Serena started with Yūgo getting cornered due to his inability to concentrate for constantly being mesmerised by Serena's resemblance with Rin until he reminded himself of a time when Rin scolded him for not concentrating on his Duel. Roget interfered with the course so the Duel will turn to Serena's favour. In the middle of the Duel, Yūya once again synchronised his mind with Yūgo through their respective dragons. Realising something wasn't right, Serena ignored the Action Card that Roget prepared for her, deciding to Duel without relying on Action Card. Yūgo won the Duel by summoning new monster "Crystal Wing Synchro Dragon" and parted ways with Serena on good terms. Shortly after, Yūgo sensed a a throbbing sensation on his chest and noticed Yūri watching him, prompting Yūgo to chase after the Fusion Duelist. While Serena was escorted to the underground, she was drugged by the Security under Roget's order, rendering her paralysed. She was saved by Reira, who managed to escape thanks to Reiji launching a surprise attack on the Security who took them hostages. Together with Tsukikage, they took Serena outside. Due to Reiji's surprise attack, Roget fast forwarded the tournament, starting the Duel between Yūya and Crow ahead from the supposed schedule to distract the crowds. To ensure his plan proceeded smoothly, Roget planted a device inside Yūya's helmet that emit electricity directly to Yūya's brain. Before the Duel, Yūya pondered about his connection with Yūto and Yūgo and their dragons, feeling it wasn't a coincidence they were sharing the same face and able to connect their minds with each other. Yūya was then called to his next Duel. Telling Crow of their predicament, Crow agreed to help Yūya by putting on a show so Yūya can go through to where Reiji and the council are. Before Yūya could go through with the plan, Roget activated the device in Yūya's helmet that caused Yūya to synchronize with his counterparts and Duel violently, attacking Crow who barely survived with "Raikiri" and his trap card. Realizing Yūya wasn't himself, Sora asked Crow to help return Yūya to his senses while he deal with the Obelisk Force who came to capture Serena and Yuzu. Conceding to Sora's request, Crow able to break the device in Yūya's helmet by destroying "Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon" with "Chidori" that caused the lightning to hit Yūya as well, but Yūya activated the effect of his Equip Card to destroy "Chidori" and depleted all of Crow's LP, defeating him. Hearing the situation from Crow, Yūya quickly left Duel Palace to look for Serena.

Academia Invasion
Reira, Tsukikage, and Serena ended up at an abandoned subway. Knowing they couldn't protect Serena with just the two of them, Reira proposed for Tsukikage to go pick their comrades in the underground facility while he protect Serena from Obelisk Force. While on his way, Tsukikage was stopped by the Obelisk Force and was on the verge of defeat, but he was saved by Sora who finally decided to cut ties with Academia for good. Together, both of them defeated the Obelisk Force, with Tsukikage forgiving Sora his past actions. Tsukikage proceeded to go to the underground camp and Sora went to where Serena and Reira are. Yūya arrived just time to save Reira who was starting to get exhausted from fighting against the Obelisk Force. After defeating the Obelisk Force, they were confronted by another team of Obelisk Force that this time was lead by Barrett who was ordered to bring back Serena and Yuzu by the Professor. Yūya was quickly cornered by Barrett's continuous Trap cards combo, preventing him from attacking nor defending. At the underground labour facility, Crow informed the other Lancers of Academia's arrival. This urged Shun to rebel against the guards, which followed by other people who were working there. The riot allowed the Lancers to escape from the facility. However, Yuzu, who was worried for Yūya after her bracelet was shining, got separated from them and decided to look for Yūya by herself. Sora arrived in the nick of time just before the Obelisk Force could approach Reira and Serena, knocking them out. Unbeknownst to him, he was followed by Yūri who came with another group of Obelisk Force. Before they could Duel, Yūgo arrived and challenged Yūri to Duel him. Getting interested in Yūgo after hearing he has defeated Serena, Yūri accepted his challenge and has the Obelisk Force to hold down Sora's Duel Disk, preventing him from interfering. When Yūya, Yūri, and Yūgo summoned their dragons, it caused an abnormality within them as they suddenly stated they have been waiting for the moment for them to become one. A huge dimensional hole also suddenly appeared in the sky and Yūya and the others began to walk towards it. Before they could go further, Yuzu arrived, transporting Yūri and Yūgo to another location and Yūya returned to his senses. Shortly after, Sergey, who was under Roget's control, intruded the Duel and easily defeated Barrett. With the last of his strength, Barrett transported Serena with him back to Academia. Their captain's defeat, Yūri's disappearance, and Tsukikage's arrival, forced the Obelisk Force to retreat, leaving Yūya to Duel Sergey. Yūya managed to free Yuzu, but was then defeated by Sergey's new Fusion monster, leading Yuzu to be taken away by him

Commons Rebellion
The next day, the Commons began an all out rebellion against Tops, driving the City into a state of chaos. Gongenzaka, Tokumatsu, and Shingo found Yūya and the others in the subway. Hearing what happened, Sora and Tsukikage decided to go save Yuzu while the rest stay until they recovered, though Yūya and Gongenzaka still decided to go shortly after Sora and Tsukikage left while Tokumatsu and Shingo stayed to protect Reira. Roget decided to fasten his plan by having Sergey Dueling against Jack to crush the hope of both Tops and Commons, disqualifying Yūgo. The riot stopped for a moment as everyone's attention were focused on the Duel between Jack and Sergey. Jack's unwavering Duel and Sergey's thirst for destruction overpowered Roget's control over Sergey, resulting in Sergey's defeat and Sergey let himself fall to his death, rejecting Jack's help. Once the Duel was over, the riot continued. With his plan falling apart, Roget declared martial law, ordering Security to take down the rebelling Commons and allowed Tops to take shelter in Duel Palace. Yuzu interrupted his broadcast, revealing Roget's intention to take over the City and begged Yūya to save Synchro Dimension through the Entertainment Dueling they have learned at their school. Yūya at first wanted to go to save Yuzu, but then Sam, the boy who worked as his escort at Duel Palace, delivered a message from Jack for him: he was disappointed in Yūya's Duel against Crow that only showed anger. But if that wasn't the Duel that he believes in, then Yūya must prove it in Duel and to never falter. Now understanding what Jack meant with his Duel being conceited and wanting to fulfil Yuzu's wish, Yūya decided to go to Duel Palace to Duel Jack. Reira, Shun, Tokumatsu, and Shingo went to save Reiji, but found the entrance was heavily surrounded by Security. However, Reiji then came out and knocked them away. Reiji's action was seen by the council as him abandoning them, and Reiji pointed out that the council's authority doesn't have much meaning since they only use it to protect themselves. The council argued that it was natural since they are the foundation of society. Reiji added again that they were chasing after him now was because they were afraid the situation where they could watch over a he and Roget fought was at risk of being falling apart, which proved that they simply betting on whoever will win. Knowing he was right, Reiji told them that mere observers like them has no right to decide the future.

Friendship Cup Final Match
With Shun, Shingo, and Tokumatsu's help, Reiji was able to defeat the Securities and went to the Duel Palace, Reiji figuring out that Yūya will go there once he heard Yuzu's plea. Yūya and the others safely arrived at Duel Palace by riding on Shun's "Raid Raptors" monsters, defeating the Securities who came to stop them there. With the Securities in Duel Palace defeated, the Commons intended to storm the Palace, but Jack told them to stop, not tolerating any interference in his final match against Yūya. As the Duel commenced, Roget ordered another group of Securities to put a stop at the final match. At the same time, Sora and Tsukikage infiltrated the Security HQ. Realizing that the entire Security are being controlled by Roget, they went to the communication room to stop the brainwash. During their Duel, Jack told Yūya that his Dueling was still conceited since he wasn't using his own Dueling. Yūya defended that the Dueling he inherited from his father was his own Dueling, but Jack retorted that Yūya was only copying his father and borrowing his words. The Securities ordered by Roget tried to stop them, but Jack easily defeated all of them, and Yūya able to survive by using an Action Card. As he continued to survive Jack's assault using his Pendulum monsters, Yūya remembered that he was the first person to perform a Pendulum Summon and it's not something that he borrowed from anyone. Realizing what his own Dueling is, Yūya began his counterattack using his Pendulum monsters. When Sora and Tsukikage succeeded in disabling Roget's mind control, the Commons were about to attack the Securities who were have no memories of what happened when Roget controlled them. The Lancers decided to stop the conflict between the two sides for good. Shun, Gongenzaka, and Shingo stopped the Commons from advancing their attack further, while Reiji and Reira went to the Security HQ to confront Roget. Everyone's attention fully focused on the Duel as the exchange between Yūya and Jack intensified. Yūya's Dueling eventually able to capture everyone's heart who began to give their support to him by joining them in Duel Lane, and Yūya finally defeated Jack, becoming the new Duel King.

Final Confrontation Against Roget
Yūya and Jack's Duel managed to unite both Commons and Tops, putting a stop to their conflict for good. Seeing this unfold, the Executive Council decided to retire and abolish the social class system, truly uniting the City as one and left the future of the City to its people. As everyone were celebrating, their happy moment was interrupted when Sora, through the Security HQ's communication room, informed Yūya that Roget has taken Yuzu with him. Yūya and the other Lancers, with Jack and Crow following them, rushed to the Security HQ to save Yuzu. With his plan ruined completely, Roget intended to take Yuzu to Academia with him so he will be pardoned by the Professor. Reiji confronted Roget who decided to take him as well to Academia to please the Professor further. Roget lured Reiji into a room where he has Reiji Dueling against a hologram he projected from another room and made it seem that he was invincible and the Duel will continued on until Reiji reached his limit, but Reiji saw through Roget's deception and able to counter his plan by performing his own loop that will instantly defeat Roget since he received intrusion penalty each time he restart the Duel. Roget attempted to win over the Lancers to his side by revealing Reiji's blood connection with the Professor, Leo Akaba, but Reiji easily exposed his lie by pointing out the fact he was taking Yuzu with him was the proof that he was siding with the Professor. Roget made his escape with Yuzu, and the Lancers following him in tow. Jack and Crow stopped Roget on his track, which gave Yūya the opportunity to save Yuzu. In last ditch of effort and driven mad, Roget activated the inter dimensional traveling device to send the entire Synchro Dimension to the void between dimensions. However, the device malfunction and instead created a wormhole that sucked him in. The malfunction created another wormhole that sucked Yuzu, Yūya, Gongenzaka, Shun, and Shingo. When they came to, Yūya, Gongenzaka, Shun, and Shingo found themselves at Shun's homeland, Heartland City in Xyz Dimension.