REIYOKU STORYLINE / YUUME BACKSTORY (Up to 'S3')

[shadowslipping]

In the year 2115, dueling has seen many changes since it's creation in the 1990s. More than even history itself has recorded.

As far as history is concerned, DM happened, but rather than GX and 5Ds following, such events happened...in their own way. In their own dimensions. Maybe more similar to canon versions of events happened later but as is, in the year 2015, the events of Arc-V occur.

And end dramatically.

For reasons unknown to Yuume herself, and indeed much of the world, the dimensions at one time began to remerge- and then were split yet again, triggering a domino effect by the altered memories. War between the dimensions began, and while it ultimately ended it took 9 years to do so.

And nothing was the same after that.

People began to realize their 'shadows', their 'ka beasts'. Victims of certain aspects of the war even lost them, frozen in timeless comas until methods to wake them were created. Worse, with the arrival of shadows, solid vision became dangerous in their presence.

Something needed to change.

While harmony came between the four dimensions, research into a new form of dueling began- this became AR dueling. Further connections between dimensions resulted in another Heartland, and eventually the events of Zexal- but even by that time, it was clear AR was not a permanent solution.

At least not to Kaiba Corp.

By the year 2115, a mere 11 years before Zexal can occur, dueling is changed. While locations like Heartland are havens of AR dueling, the Glove is introduced for those with Shadows- allowing duels that resemble a blend of card battles and physical combat. Methods to harvest and bind other shadows to items are formed. Doctors to heal those who crack their gloves to wrongly steal or harm the shadows of the living, are made, and Officers to track and punish such people.

And amid all of this, Yuume was born.

Yuume Kaiba as she was born, was born in a time when her great (great-great) grandfather still lived due to such matters of time-lock and tragedy, and where relatives from the family were still few enough that the elder could pay visit to such an event. Her 'great grandfather' (great-great-great is such a mouthful, of so the family would say), old and sentimental, would idly compare her to his elder- and of course long gone- brother...

Which led to a few poor choices on her parent's part. Their hope, initially, was that their little girl would follow that elder Kaiba's legacy. They would huff and scold her away from too much fiction and 'nonsense', push her to do well in school...

But Yuume would be her great grandfather's...well, great granddaughter, and in response to such prompts and expectations rebel.

Fiercely.

By the time she was 14 her parents no longer even held such lofty expectations over their daughter. They simply wanted her to attend school at all. Yuume took to skipping and tormenting the ones tasked with getting her back, every bit as mischievous as her ancestor- perhaps more so in some ways.

It was during an escape from one of these runs that she would meet her first, and best friend, Kimi. And from there take to hiding at her sickly, bedridden friend's house. Yuume and Kimi would share frustrations and dreams and desires- they would talk and bond and excitedly wonder about the things they simply 'could not' do.

Among these things was take part in the official unveiling of the 'Locksmith' Machine.

Up until then, shadows were rare to awaken on their own. It took danger- great risk and stress, and a stroke of fortune for a shadow to arise. The Locksmith however, would be a device that simply allowed people to wake their shadow without any harm involved, and among the various locations to test them, Yuume's city was included. She and Kimi would go, hand in hand, excited to live their dreams...

And tragedy would strike.

Yuume's shadow would wake, but appear to devour the shadows of everyone present in the room- including Kimi's. Yuume, terrified, would flee for her life only to find she was the only one who couldn't be a target. She would later run from her very home as well, rather than face questioning from the police regarding the events of that day...and were it not for a woman named Kira Ikou, she would have still been found.

Kira would discover Yuume a number of subway stops away from the girl's hometown, as many as the girl's pocket change could afford. She would take her in, help her to change her name, and dedicate herself to hiding the younger from the eyes of those looking for her, on One condition. Yuume would train with Kira's business, the 'White Dragon', in order to undo what had been done. She would train to become a 'Doctor', someone who entered the soul rooms of those missing their shadows to find replacements.

Yuume would thus dedicate herself to the task, taking the surname 'Souryuu' (Pale Dragon). Going through school with more dedication than even her parents had dreamed, and plunging herself into the physical work involved in any successful doctor's career. When she was almost 17, she would already be considered skilled enough to attempt to wake the victims of what was now known as 'Black Rain'.

She would come to a room of slaughtered victims, torn apart within their beds by the metal of the frames themselves; with Kimi the only missing victim.

Where she had already been shaken and closed off, the massacre of Black Rain would only cause Yuume to shut down further. She would blindly dedicate herself to continuing her work as a Doctor, as well as pursuing the haze of a dream she'd had as a child by going into a degree in Ancient History. She would successfully move into her own studio apartment, and life would enter a balance of work, school, coffee (at a cafe near her building), and sleep.

What little she could get.

The year 2135 would be when everything changed. Within the 'Dream', the 'Soul Room' of a boy named Shirou Sekita, Yuume would nearly lose, only to be spared by a shadow within the 'realms'. She would escape, fleeing home to recuperate and consider whether or not to even return- and find herself host to a *second* shadow.

The shadow introduced himself as Reynard- Trickster God of the Blinding Light- claiming that the extent to which Yuume pushed herself from her own shadow had created such a gap, that he was able to simply slip within. While voltile and rocky a start to a relationship, Yuume would refrain from forcing Reynard away when the fox offered to act as a 'buffer'; he would give her access to the 'Raven's power as it were, without the need to interact with the shadowed thing. In return, he would get to enjoy the benefits of the 'Light' world. Yuume would agree, on the condition he help to 'wake' Shirou.

They would succeed- finding the shadow 'Sekhmet' within the rotting head of Shirou's former shadow, 'Ra'. With Shirou successfully awake, Reynard would gleefully seal the deal with Yuume. Yuume's life however, was far from about to return to mundanity.

Not long after healing Shirou, the boy himself would come to the White Dragon to request an apprenticeship- to this, Kira would agree, despite Yuume's protests. Shirou's first assignment with her would be to monitor a case concerning a pair of identical twins, considered difficult due to the overlapping compatibilities required for shadows involved. Yuume would enter the dream, only to discover something odd- the twins claimed to be one single person.

The 'twins'- rather, 'Marika Iidzuna'- would explain that they had been meditating upon their own Shadow. Referring to them as the Trickster God of Roaring Wind, they explained that they had been working to calm them for some time, to great success- but after their last meditation, were attacked. It would be easy to restore themselves however, if Yuume would only re-connect the bonds to their split Shadow. While they came close to restoring the bonds of the shadows to the 'girls' however, Yuume was forced into the waking realm by the 'grandfather' of the girls. A beaten Shirou would frightfully try to explain the matter, but Yuume would be quick to guess herself. Somehow, the girls' 'grandfather'- Marika's father- had a shadow which could split souls. To protect itself and its host, the Trickster God acting as Marika's shadow split itself and her body into 'equal halves'...Children, rather than the adult that Marika had been. Infuriated, Yuume would disarm and apprehend Marika's father, before allowing the White Dragon to enlist the services of those required to handle the remaining matter.

Yuume and Shirou would slowly come to better work with the other, along with Reynard, from that point on- eventually Kira would assign them to an undercover case within the 'TKI Tournament', which was rumored to be the sight of illegally farmed shadows. While they successfully came to the goal of the case, Yuume also reached the finals of the tournament- as it would look too suspicious to simply leave when she had yet to lose, she therefore participated...

Only to be locked in a brutally real battle with the man who she'd presumed little more than a simple barista at her cafe. 'Hatsu Kashiwa' as he was called, would reveal himself to be host of the Trickster God of Earthen Growth. He would attack Yuume in their duel brutally, explaining the matter of the Tricksters as a whole; six great deities bound by blood rather than a match of the soul, sealed and meant to never walk the earth again. For each one that woke would reap great tragedy as well- so Hatsu unveils as he proclaims 'Yuume Souryuu' to be none other than the Yuume Kaiba who vanished in the wake of the Black Rain incident.

Ashamed, despairing, and filled with self-loathing, Yuume not only does not deny the claims, but loudly pretends to have been responsible for them at will, demanding Hatsu kill her on the spot. Hatsu however refuses, sending her further into despair...at which point Reynard angrily snaps his partner out of things. Reminding Yuume that not all of the Tricksters have caused calamity as Hatsu claims- notably the God of Wind- he further more points out to her that once Hatsu is finished here, he will no doubt pursue the otherwise innocent children next. Yuume thus gains a second wind, turning the duel around and brutally launching Hatsu off into the far distance as she wins the match.

In the aftermath, Yuume is clearly still shaken- but with her identity out, Shirou attempts to coax her into being less self-deprecating and defeating, insisting that she's far more than she gives herself credit for. Her shame at being given a pep-talk by an 11 year old is brief, as the cafe table she frequents is once again being served by none other than Hatsu. While she is quick to come upon the offensive, he insists that he's not intending to fight; instead, he wishes to make things up to her.

She refuses, but nonetheless finds him dogging her steps (unknown to her, Hatsu is in fact tailing Reynard, now suspicious of the Trickster God as he realizes his significance)- even when she finally is convinced by Shirou to seek out her parents and reconcile with them. She still lives in her own apartment, and lives her life, but a weight is lifted in the aftermath of embracing her innocence in the matter of Black Rain alongside giving her family the closure they never had.

Hatsu is, however, tailing her when the time comes for her to investigate alongside a pair of Officers for a string of thefts involving the use of shadows.

A 'phantom thief' appears to be using a fire-focused shadow in order to steal various works of art and historic relevance, only to return them not long after. As if playing a game, Yuume and the others attempt desperately to corner him during an announced heist. Hatsu comes closest, but the flaming 'shadow' is lost, leaving them to wait for the next heist to occur. Before that happens however, a string of murders begins to follow...each one left at the scene of the heists. Yuume accuses Hatsu of knowing more than he lets on, prompting Hatsu to disappear, claiming that he'll catch the perpetrator himself. Instead however, the fire-thief himself comes to Yuume's window not many nights later.

The thief introduces himself as Coyotl- very literally the Trickster God of Eternal Flames. Through a complicated process with his host, he managed to obtain the body as his own, and thus infuse it with his own immortal lifespan. He claims to have been 'awake' since the Dimensional War itself- but that is far from what matters. Coyotl explains that Hatsu approached him in search of the culprit of the murders, initially accusing him. But the murdered victims have each been drained of their fluids. Not something he can do. What Hatsu needed to find was someone who could wield water.

Grimly, Coyotl admits he may have unintentionally sent Hatsu to his doom; as it comes to light that the perpetrator is none other than the sixth of the elemental Tricksters, the Trickster God of Churning Waters. Coyotl begs Yuume to help fight her, having narrowly managed to save Hatsu from the event. Yuume agrees, only for them to find themselves overpowered as well- even when Hatsu arrives in a pinch moment to lend his own strength. But Yuume realizes that within the water under the Trickster's control there is a person- the god still requires a host. Pleading for the Host to assert themselves, she manages to break through to the person within; and so the trickster is contained. The human boy, apparently nameless, quietly but firmly swears to never allow 'Mamala' to run amuck again, and leaves to train themselves in order to do just that. Coyotl in the meantime, is convinced to stop his heists and settle down for a bit- to which he eagerly agrees.

By the time the matter of the Water Trickster is resolved, it has been two years. While Yuume is only slowly opening up, the additions to her life are making it harder and harder to be as reclusive as before, allowing her the time to heal. Coyotl even takes in the two twins from the White Dragon, making them regular additions to the 'family'...and a few months after things settle down, 'Mamala-kun' as he becomes known returns, confident in his control of Mamala herself- who even introduces herself alongside the boy.

Life is coming into a happy balance of events- it is enough that Kira tells Yuume she's able to trust her with interdimensional cases, prompting the group to take a trip on the dimensional subway to visit XYZ. The trip over all is enjoyable- it's a rare opportunity for Yuume in fact to grow into her more caring side, helping the 'older' of those with her to come to terms with their own pasts. But as with anything in a protagonist's life, such peace must come crashing to an end.

Kimi, as old as Yuume last remembered, and dazed and confused, is walking down the street.

Yuume tearfully reunites with the girl, who fearfully seems unable to remember anything after going to the Locksmith at all. She's taken to the White Dragon to be checked over, and later granted a temporary motel until things can be settled and sorted out. In the meantime Yuume attempts to catch Kimi up with everything as much as possible- while Hatsu insists that something isn't right, she ignores the other, focusing on Kimi. Ultimately, Hatsu's hunch was right.

Murders are occurring again. People torn apart by metal in the surrounding areas, not far from where Kimi resides. When Yuume and a few of the others go to check on Kimi to make certain she isn't being targeted by the culprit of the Black Rain massacre however, they arrive in time to witness Mamala and Mamala-kun being thrown through the very wall of the building- and Kimi appears to be held hostage by a metal golem.

Battling the Golem however, it becomes apparent that it's merely a puppet- and worse, Kimi is far from herself. Kimi is possessed by her 'new' Shadow- a being introducing itself as 'Apep'. The Tricksters each recognize the name, spitting on the ground at the very sound. It is a being who created enough trouble to nearly eradicate all of existence back in the days they remember...and what's more, it appears to have control over anything metal and synthetically formed.

The group attempts to fight Kimi and free Hatsu from the Golem puppetting him, but it is ultimately appearing to be a lost cause- until finally, Reynard presents an idea. Prompting Yuume forward, they combine their efforts for one last strike only for Yuume to be pushed back...as Reynard uses himself to create a new seal on Apep. He apologizes to Yuume and the others for troubles he's caused, and demands that they not waste the time he's about to give them. The last time this happened, he 'explains', all six of them were sacrificed after all. The seal then activates, freeing Kimi from Apep's influence and leaving them to deal with the chaotic aftermath...which now includes Reynard's seeming death.