Episode 1: A Stranger In Familiar!

[fallers_npcs]

Today on Melemele, there has been a strange and rash sequence of events!

Officer Jenny has been busy, as a series of thefts has been noted across the city. The wealthy industrialist Viren has been targeted several times with valuables relating to the Pokemon Groudon.

As researchers are coming into the town today to help work on the Ultra Hole situation, on invite of the Aether Foundation, it seems that someone might have slipped through into the town. A certain woman in green might have been spotted in several of Viren's locations before a theft has been seen.

Some people might be starting to get uneasy about the influx of people. Perhaps it's time to investigate some of these rumors that a thief might have made their way onto the island...

Comments

IN THE AFTERMATH | CLOSED, SETO

[shadowslipping]

"Hahhhhh...." This has been a very, very long evening. Yuume- still in her shadow's armor, though she's replacing the goggles back upon her hat- sighs as the end of the nonsense finally seems to come with in reach, briefly turning to her Audino. "...You did quite well in there, Audino..~ ...Tomorrow I'll have to treat you neh?"

"Aaaaudiii..."

"Ahaaa...you're tired huh..." So is she, not that she'll acknowledge it. With another sigh, the armor melts off, shadows into shadows and slipping down to her feet and beneath it. "We should both return to Nina's home, neh..."

That's the plan anyway. But, well...

There's something she's apparently forgotten about!

[blue_ice]

Kaiba has had a Time today. He shakes his head as he gathers up his wayward Pokémon, ready to take them home for a nap when he spots the shadow...ah. Right. That.

"...you didn't tell me your work was of that nature."

[shadowslipping]

"MNGh-" Ah.

Ah yes. The reason she ran in to begin with.

Seto was there. Which means Seto saw that. Which means....hmm.

"Strictly speaking, I wouldn't call that typical work practice..." Yuume starts rather awkwardly, rather predictably avoiding eye contact. "...if anything, it was a very abrupt bit of improvisation..."

Don't lie Yuume, even if it's with omission!

[blue_ice]

"Just how much has changed in all these years?"

Kaiba shakes his head. Shadow nonsense is nothing new, but that particular implementation is.

"But...I suppose I should thank you for taking it out so quickly."

[shadowslipping]

There is Something she wants to say. Something, it's rather clear. But she's avoiding it. She...

"...I would hardly say I did that much," she mutters, her Audino fidgeting. "...Audino had a severe disadvantage...we only did what we could, and even then..."

...

....... "Hahhhhh...." The woman rubs her forehead, grimacing. "...Not everyone can do that, Seto. Most people can't do that, they certainly can't just...pull an armor on without a field being present, let alone just..!" She fumbles, rather clearly at a loss for words. "...They can't do that."

[blue_ice]

Kaiba can definitely hear the empty spaces where words should be. He shakes his head.

"Goomy was the same, but she tried hard. And I'm glad she got through safely. But...what do you mean field? Is there the potential for it everywhere?"

[shadowslipping]

The look Yuume gives to the sky is telling. It's the sort of look a lot of people make when they realize they've said a little Too much, and now have a hole to dig out of.

If only digging out of such a hole wouldn't merely make it larger.

Yuume's face is now buried in her hands entirely, her Audino sensing the stress and awkwardly offering an ear tassel to pull. Look, it helps, really! Really, really!

(Yuume does not take the ear tassel) "....Unless someone else with a compatible duel glove appears, no...there is no reason a 'field' should be put up..." The grimace she has does not entirely fade as she finally looks to Seto himself. "For that matter there was no field here, tonight, as I never activated the glove itself. What you saw was my shadow- nothing more, nothing less."

[blue_ice]

"...And if the gloves are as common as disks were?"

Kaiba's frown deepens. He can imagine so many ways all of that can go wrong.

"I don't think I like this future of yours. But at least the shadow's only you. It's not personal dislike, I'm just not the heroic type. I leave that to the experts."

[shadowslipping]

Oii oiii... "Well, realistically the question should be if 'Fallers' from my specific time in our realm are so common..." There is a notable wince when he remarks on the shadow. 'Only her'. Yes.

Yes it certainly 'is'...

Also. "More than that, that definitely isn't something that typically happens...nor is 'heroic feats'."

Actually at that, she crosses her arms. "And for someone scolding me over that, you're one to talk..! The reason I ran into that was because I saw you go in there after all..! And you don't even have a shadow! Just what were you doing?"

[blue_ice]

"I wasn't scolding. Just observing."

Not...really? He sighed and shook his head.

"My Pokémon fancy themselves heroes. I'm responsible for protecting them. I tried to pull them away, but they're stubborn."

[shadowslipping]

"I see..." Oiii oiii....

...

"Hahhh..." Ultimately if she leaves this, it's going to bring more questioning. Her arms still crossed, Yuume closes her eyes and mulls over her options. "...When you say... ...you don't like the looks of the future now...."

...Did he mean 'heroics'?

...Or did he mean the shadows...

[blue_ice]

"Most people are fools when given power. I worry about who has access to it, other than you, and what that means for society."

Says the man who fancies himself king.

"And my experiences with shadow magic weren't...the greatest."

[shadowslipping]

And there's that grimace again. "Magic is..." She pauses, blows out a long, long exhale as she again seeks out the words, and then ultimately gives up and gestures forward. "...This is...not going to be simple to explain, I..."

Desperately, she turns. "It looks like magic. I know it looks like magic, some of it absolutely is magic but... ...What we know of...of Shadows, what we know of souls, of duels, that's not a magic," Yuume finally manages. "It's..."

She breathes. "...The glove was created, when instead of hiding those who awoke the shadows of their souls, one man sought to instead find harmony with them," she whispers softly. "...And in turn, find a way to allow the battles and duels they wished to have... ...a way to exist without harm, to anyone, or anything... A way for them to exist with the people of light without hurting them by mere existence.

"...and... ...That man succeeded. ...He's the one who runs the company now, where I am from."

[blue_ice]

"So...we're back to that. Again. Without the rampant death."

That's about as much as he understands. He pinches the bridge of his nose.

"I hope. I just..."

It's probably silly to worry so much about a world he's not going to live in, but.

"As long as Mokuba's all right."

[shadowslipping]

"...Frankly if it hadn't been for the move to make everything accessible, there would have been."

She pauses, and quietly explains. "Shadows began to wake without anyone's involvment- typically from trauma, or strife...but the trouble was their influence on Solid Vision. Simply being present would make the damage real; for a time things moved to AR-Projection simply to offset it. As it is, it completely ruined the ability to host Action Duels at that point," she murmurs- and Seto may in fact have spoken to Reira about those earlier on. "By making the glove..."

Yuume holds her hand out, pursing her lips. Ultimately a screen appears above it, and she seems to go to a settings panel. "...I can't well start a duel with no one here but...aha."

'Saved gestures'.

With a hand motion, a 'hand' of cards appears- it's not unlike the V1 duel disk. First, a line on the ground, like a bridge- and the rear moves to the front as she slowly walks to demonstrate, albeit at its side. Another motion- a spinning ring, at the front, like a shield. Another, and they scatter to both sides...

"...The Glove doesn't utilize Solid Vision. It uses the energy the shadow would typically pull; it coats the area in a realm entirely impossible to damage, or even be damaged in, and uses that power to further draw each card and their cooresponding spirit from the realm. It bypasses the reason shadows were a danger- it isn't quite the Action Duel there was decades ago, but..." ....

"...Well. It's a matter of time, I think- my apprentice managed to make a system that even works around road traffic...imagine something like that during a 'Battle City', neh?" no yuume battle city was terrible ahhhhh

"Great Grandp- erm...'Mokuba'," she coughs, though it's clear this is a very awkward way for her to address him, "Is fine. Actually he has a shadow himself, though I've only seen them....twice?"

The settings panel is closed, and she fusses with the normal menu with narrowed eyes. "I might have a photo..."

[blue_ice]

"It'd certainly be a spectacular show."

And probably end with someone half-dead. A liability for his company, so he wouldn't approve it unless he was sure he could control it. But an interesting prospect, nonetheless.

"...a photo?"

He really shouldn't, but his natural curiosity takes hold and won't let go.

[shadowslipping]

"Aaah. The duels are quite fun as far as I can tell...I've only really done so occasionally, with an audience..." There's yet another cough, and she flips through the folder. "Shirou-kun...my apprentice, however, feels they've lost the creativity they used to have; there is plenty of tactics, and sportsmanship, but older duels used to have more..."

There is a pause as she thinks of the word. "...Spectacle wouldn't be the right term, but I suppose the methods you could entertain an audience varied a little more? Over all, you could participate in more areas for that matter...ah-" There it is. "There... ...for personal keeping, a lot of my relatives gave me pictures from when I was younger," she coughs, going a little bit red as she turns the photo over. The old man's face cannot be seen- he's holding an infant however, and more alarmingly a large and almost ethereal dragon in armor seems to be standing at his side. His attention is divided- one part on the baby, one part on the dragon as he seems to talk to it.

The dragon seems intrigued, and enchanted by such a small thing. "This...was apparently not long after I was born," she says softly. "That is...Great-grandpa. And with him, that is his shadow; 'Maat', she's called."

[blue_ice]

"Mokuba..."

He can't see the joy he'd surely recognize even on the aged face. He can only see the weathered hands, the gentle grip...and be reminded of just how long he's abandoned his brother. With a clearer head he'd be able to admire the guardian dragon, but here...he squeezes his eyes shut tight, forcing himself to breathe.

It's a good minute before he calms down enough to say, tightly: "...of course he was happy. You were a cute kid, I guess."

[shadowslipping]

"Do you think..?" She trails off, the smile she had falling quickly when she recognizes the tension of the other's tone. Her glove hand lowers, and with a sudden and cold sense of understanding she stares.

"Oh... ...no," she realizes, hurriedly turning the screen off. "...I should never have done that," Yuume hisses quietly. "I... ...I can't even imagine how that would feel, to see that while you're still..."

The woman bows her head, and steeply. "I...I cannot apologize enough for that..."

[blue_ice]

"It's...fine," Kaiba says tightly. He forces himself to remember to breathe, fighting back a tidal wave of emotion he can't entirely keep under control. He can't lose it here.

"I believed you the first time, so I should have expected it. I'm not...usually so irrational. It'll pass."

Anything to keep from breaking. He fights back the quiver in his voice and continues. "But that's a fine dragon. It protected him proudly...the same way the memory of Blue Eyes kept me going when I stumbled. I should have been there to see it."

[shadowslipping]

"It's not irrational, to be shocked by the image of someone years apart from you," she emphasizes, drawing back. "For that matter it wouldn't even be your fault that you couldn't be there at this time in the image! I..."

Well. She doesn't know that for sure. All anyone knows is 'Seto Kaiba disappeared', and Mokuba seemed sad but accepting. That's all they've ever known.

"How can I just talk about these things you won't see, as if that would ever be alright..." she mutters, drawing her arms close.

[blue_ice]

"It is my fault."

Kaiba frowns and leans forward.

"I should have listened to Yugi and Mokuba. Should have accepted things the way they were. But I just had to chase the phantom of the pharaoh instead of cherishing my brother, and I abandoned him when that was the last thing he needed!"

His voice was trembling now, shoulders shaking. His eyes were burning.

"And I can't fix that, I can't go back for him, because altering the past would erase you and all your friends."

[shadowslipping]

....

Heh,

".........What?"

Well, now she's confused. "I- ...Did you think you vanished in your dimensional tests?" she chokes, blinking rapidly. "...You came back from those, your experience was what contributed to the later Subway...You...You were present for the start of the Dimensional War, did you truly think...so lowly of your last actions before coming here..." she quietly finishes, the understanding falling into place within the same moment.

[blue_ice]

Kaiba swings his head up, wide-eyed. For once he looks young, close to his actual age. Lost and longing...

And then her words sink in and he angrily turns away, wiping at his eyes.

"...I just...assumed, given the nature of the tests and the warnings, that my disappearance was related."

He still avoids eye contact, folding his arms. His cheeks are tinged pink.

"If that wasn't my last act, what was?"

[shadowslipping]

"...." That...is where she looks away. "That... ....was why I didn't say. ...We don't know what happened," she admits quietly. "...But whatever it was, it wasn't that. It would have been after you passed me in age if anything," she huffs, though the sound is more to hide her own frustration at what she doesn't know. "Considering not even my relatives have ever said, I would wager it wasn't something you did- but it was something serious, most likely." That much, she won't deny him.

"But you came back from those tests. I ride that subway between four different dimensions at home even- sometimes I have work in the alternate cities."