I think Slifer should actually do something to strike back against first, before we start talking about counter-moves. But hey, how cool will that be when Obelisk gets out there and starts punching, huh? Two titans taking swings at one another is the height of suspense, that doesn't remind me at ALL of the privileged dickheads fighting for control of a country they clearly care less about than the sound defeat of the other. It does NOT bring to mind two dirty old white dudes who have no discernible policies or morals; just a couple of prescriptive tribe labels that do little to draw attention away from how much they really have in common.
No, there's an OCEAN of difference between Slifer and Obelisk that doesn't have to be made up - one of them is red, and one of them is blue. Neither one of them is pretending to be a color they're not, too, so you really get what you see.
Imagine complaining about a negligible disadvantage in CHRONOLOGY. Talk about first world problems.
Yami points at Kaiba and says it looks like the tables have turned, apparently forgetting that he's technically been leading this match in points pretty much the whole time. The fake crowd boos angrily, but a now smiling Kaiba scoffs, retorting that they shall see, then prompting Yami to take a look at his hand. Yami glares over the tops of three cards as Kaiba talks past him and straight to a potential first-time reader, telling THEM that Slifer's attack and defense depend on the number of cards in the player's hand. Kaiba points out that Yami's hand gives his god card a scant 3000 attack points. In turn, Yami draws attention to the fact that Kaiba's XYZ-Dragon Cannon only has 2800 attack points, and he could very well destroy it on this turn. He grows a little grin, not even a SHADOW of the murder grin I miss so much, and says getting rid of that cannon would put an end to Kaiba's plans to summon Obelisk.
Kaiba smiles and DARES Yami to try. They share a glare; determination and a bluff? Defiance and disdain? Only time will tell. Yami wonders what's inspiring such confidence in Kaiba, if he has some way of protecting the cannon from Slifer's attack. He notes the mere 200-point difference between Kaiba's monster and his own, but then suddenly recalls the face down card he had been so worried about in the last chapter. I guess the excitement of summoning Slifer put it out of his mind for a moment, and I can't really blame him for that. Lightning and shit - that'll distract anyone. He remembers that he'd figured the face down card was the Life Shaver he had exchanged for Slifer before. Still, it hasn't even been one turn since he put it out there, so activating it now would mean that Yami wouldn't even have to discard a single thing from his hand.
The picture of impatience, Kaiba asks Yami what's the matter, and demands that he go ahead and hit him with his best shot. Yami looks harried and irritated in the next panel, and other!Marik chuckles at this from his sideline wall, wondering if Kaiba is bluffing, or something else. He thinks it's not half bad for Kaiba to stop Yami with just a single face down card despite his opponent having a GOD card and everything. Yes, impressive, if you ignore all the unsound plays he's made in this tournament up until this point. Which I'm not going to, by the way.
Meanwhile, Kaiba knows that whether Yami attacks or not, he's not going to stop him this turn. Yami turns over in his mind the possibility of the face down card is one that increases XYZ-Dragon Cannon's attack - meaning Slifer could die on him pretty much immediately. Still, he knows if he doesn't attack this now, Kaiba will go on to summon Obelisk thereafter. He wonders if this is all a bluff on Kaiba's part, thinking there's an awfully good chance it's just Life Shaver, but he still doesn't look too sure. Gee Yami, show ME to whine about how you're never in a convincing bind...
Surprise! It's not Life Shaver. It's Interdimensional Transporter, not only quite the mouthful, but also this incomprehensible floating machine with sharp edges and wires and a big aperture-looking eye on the front. It's like something out of my alien abduction nightmares. Anyway, Yami is astonished that the card wasn't Life Shaver, even though his logic on why that card would be pretty useless to even put on the field at this point given how many turns it would need to hang out to be effective. Kaiba tells his Interdimensional Transporter to transport some matter, or an approximation thereof in hologram form I'm sure. It targets XYZ-Dragon Cannon and the composite robot monster fazes out of view, much to Yami's continued shock. Grinning, Kaiba explains that thanks to this spell of his, Slifer has lost its target and its attack is wasted. Indeed, the blast explodes on precisely nothing, but Yami is amazed to see a concentration of light and air splitting as Slifer's attack is winding down, the cannon popping back into existence in that spot. He remarks upon this, and Kaiba responds with a laugh that Yami's turn was wasted.
But Yami soon recovers from his astonishment and mutters that he sees how Kaiba prioritized the face down card to protect his sacrifices. He reminds Kaiba that his turn isn't over, however, and plays a face down card himself. This has Kaiba in EXTREME disbelief, because Yami is CHOOSING to play a card from his hand. When his god requires that card for a full 1000 attack points. I've got to admit, it seems a bit counter-intuitive, and even full-out INSANE, but Yami is smiling when he ends his turn HERE.
Kaiba stares at Slifer, its attack power reduced to just 2000 attack points now, thinking in full does-not-compute mode that it's impossible; Yami now only has two cards left in his hand. He wonders if Yami realizes that he's going to summon Obelisk on the next turn with its 4000 attack points. Yami calls over to him to come on already, as it IS his turn, and teases that XYZ-Dragon Cannon MIGHT just be strong enough to destroy Slifer without Obelisk's help now. He ruins his intense smarm by saying that it's his turn to test Kaiba's will after Kaiba subjected him to a test earlier.
Scoffing, Kaiba doesn't even come CLOSE to having the same crisis of uncertainty as Yami did before, even with all his confusion regarding Yami's play of a card on the last page. He draws a card, thinking he knows exactly what he's going to do, no matter what bullshit Yami says. Kaiba laughs a little, anticipating the disappearance of Lightforce Sword at last so that Obelisk can return to his hand, even as the holographic sword dissolves in a smoke effect. Yami watches, heart pounding, while Kaiba holds a card up just so it hides his right eye. He smiles, promising to show Yami god.
You see this? This is peak spaz right here. Kaiba has just elevated himself from kid you knew growing up who would run around the playground screaming that aliens were chasing him to cult leader putting on full ceremonial show for all his many virgin brides. Zero to sixty in less than a second folks. Somebody fetch this fucking psycho an Oscar, STAT.
As per usual with god card summons, the sky above them fills with thunder and lightning, while Kaiba continues to petition his deity to bring him victory and shake heaven and Earth with its power. Yami's wide eyes stare at the light show as he acknowledges the massive power he feels. Mokuba giggles in childish delight, other!Marik smiles, and Kaiba has his mouth open wide in a massive laughing grin.
I feel like they should have established a safe-word before this point? The play is getting pretty dicey, is all I'm saying.
Smile back down to a semi-normal capacity, Kaiba enthuses about how this is it; the clash of the titans has finally arrived. My copy is still in the mail, but it's worth the wait for sure; Ray Harryhausen's work is an absolute JOY, don't @ me. Yami glares at Kaiba, who predicts that he'll destroy Slifer, and then ALL of the gods will be his, making him the king of duelists. Guess he forgot that there's one more that neither one of them have. Or his brain is so hopped up on the power drug that he's not thinking stright. Either way, he laughs and laughs.
So, what did I think of this chapter overall? I'm tempted to complain that Obelisk didn't strike a damn thing in this chapter, making that title very misleading, but there is an implication that the very SUMMONING of these monsters have a "striking" effect on the players' minds. I've already mentioned how the designs just ooze FUN to the reader, but to the characters the gods are imposing, and this does seem to depend in some way upon the attack power upon appearance. While Slifer's summoning was impressive, Yami says here that OBELISK instills him with anticipation and fear that he didn't feel before. In a way, Yami himself has been hit by the presence of Obelisk long before any blows have been struck, just by its sheer magnitude and intimidating potential force. Kaiba may have been a moment behind in bringing out his god, but that doesn't mean he can't still have the upper hand, and that in itself can be a big shock on an opponent's confidence.
Not that I think it will be much of one on Yami's, at least not for very long. I'm not sure if KT is aware of how disingenuous his teases at Yami's inner "vulnerability" that is never actually there are, but at least he didn't write Yami as having a genius plan the whole time like he usually does in this chapter. I can appreciate the fact that Yami had to confront some real discomfort and not playing it off as a bluff later, even if for a moment. I can also appreciate the fact that his attempt to put Kaiba in a similar state of uncertainty failed spectacularly. Kaiba's arrogance has gotten far too large to suffer that kind of caution, to the point that his first reaction to Yami taking 1000 points off of Slifer's attack was to wonder if Yami was even AWARE that he'd just done it. In his mind, this is his tournament, his time to shine, and no one is more clever or capable than he. He's the star of the show.
Which is the third thing that I can't help but admire about the chapter - Kaiba's theatrics. He's amped them up to 11 here, and it's entertaining as hell. Kaiba has always been very showy, and his incantation and gestures here are a natural and understandable progression of that tendency. The kid is REALLY playing the part of high priest here, and you definitely FEEL his belief that he's summoning an honest-to-goodness god. Of course, that's probably not JUST Kaiba's overly-dramatic nature, since there's a context to all this that we still haven't quite reached yet...
But again with bridges and crossing them when we get there.
No comments:
Post a Comment