Hello, again. Akiza vs Yusei was a bit of an irritating chapter. It started with the issue of how long I needed to set up the actual duel. Seriously, a lot of what makes the duel so great occurs in the time leading up to the actual duel. When that happened, some unexpected problems occurred.
First was a Dub and Sub problem with a certain character's name. Earlier I referred to the character of Sayer as Divine (I believe) since my first run-through of 5DS was subbed as my first sub-priority Yu-Gi-Oh! anime. While it is easy to transition for characters like Leo and Luna who do not have many changes in adaptation, Divine's name became a mediocre Sayer when dubbed. Since 5DS is under the "dub-cast" of names, I had to fix it for this chapter.
The next problem I encountered unexpectedly was the "original history" explanation for the present-day characters. I never implicitly stated the characters' theory of how they see duels that occurred in a different timeline. Since the 5DS world was one of the earliest affected timelines and their final bosses have a history with timelines, I had them off-panel share a theory with the Signers. Then, came explaining the actual theory. I wrote and rewrote that section so many times because I was never satisfied with whatever version I selected. The characters needed an in-universe reason for accepting the duels of the original timeline and I just gave some "canon" version so they would be satisfied and I didn't need to explain myself further.
With that done, the duel wasn't a major blockbuster. Compared to the previous duels, this one was low-key in nature with not many driving elements from the perspective of the other worlds. Still, I hope you enjoyed my rendition of it. With that out of the way, I should finally talk about the "present-day" villains.
From the DM World: We have a perfectly able Maximillion Pegasus not feeling safe enough to collect the Millenium Items while hiding the Millenium Eye in his possession. "Yami" Bakura is still strolling around, annoyed that there are no opportunities to obtain the other items. Marik has retired and hopes to help Atem return to the afterlife. Dartz is in the dark waiting for the Egyptian God cards to make their appearance so he can revive his great deity. The other anime villains are related to Seto Kaiba and his focused demeanor is now making it difficult for them to act.
If any are going to act, it will be after "Spoilers" Kaiba vs Atem in the coming duel-cycle revives Seto's competitive spirit and his enemies come out of the woodwork. Following that, Dartz will be the next as the "Spoiler" following cycle will be a Mai Vs Joey Orichalchos duel. The question is which one... (Vote in the comments please!) From there, dominos will fall and the world will be peaceful. (No movies after all.)
In the GX world: Kagemaru is in hiding with his Shadow Riders. The same is true for the followers of the Light of Destruction whom Jaden surprisingly never officially defeated in the original series. Thanks to that, these two organizations will likely still be at large when the "main story" is over because "Spoiler" the rest of the "main story" will follow Jaden's development as a protagonist. With no villains, Darkness will not come out and the GX world is safe enough for Jaden to mature into his Supreme King powers. No Yubel going crazy either.
The 5DS world is practically just as safe; Rex Goodwin and the Dark Signers have all been defeated. Z-One and his group are taking a more diplomatic route even if they aren't upfront about it. If any duels occur, they will not be on the scale as the original series.
ZEXAL world is a weird one that will probably have some friction; The Arclight family are still kind of antagonistic. Dr. Faker is still not a good character while manipulating Kite and Hart. The Barian Emperors are about to go to war with Vector as "Spoiler" his duel against Merag and Durbe is next on the list. All of these "villains" are going to make it difficult to write the "present-day" during the next couple of chapters.
Meanwhile. ARC-V world over here has freaking Z-Arc! Leo Akaba is in a tenuous alliance with his son trying to prevent Z-Arc's awakening and the alliance lasts as long as Yuya and Yuri are at large. (Help, I forget where I placed Yugo. Is he in Yuya or is he somewhere else? Please comment.)
With that out of the way, let's... I forgot about the VRAINS world. With how complicated the situation in that world is, I want to avoid talking about it for as long as possible. Knights of Hanoi are still in a bad relationship with the Ignis. (I misplaced Lightning and his situation as well. Please comment if you remember.) Then, there's SOL Technology who is kind of at large, kind of in the trash, after Playmaker vs Ai. Technically, VRAINS world is acting as Schrodinger's Cat right now with it being in chaos or order depending on how we look at it.
Since I've shared with you my notes on the "current" situation of the villains and my concerns about the story going forward, I hope to see you all in the comments again. Thanks for all of the support and hope you enjoy reading.