Yuugi sees that the kids around the machine are already thinking out their strategies as they talk about trading their figures. He steps in line, but another kid cuts in front of him. Yuugi protests, and the kid snarks that he's sorry, having not noticed Yuugi. The kid points out that Yuugi looks like he's actually in high school, though he didn't realize at first, and asks if Yuugi isn't a little too old to be playing this game. Yuugi chuckles out of embarrassment, asking what his age has to do with it. You get old enough, Yuugi, and people start wondering whether you're interested in the game or the little kids you're surrounding yourself with. Yuugi thinks the kid sounds a tad arrogant.
The Cutter says that if Yuugi is so into getting his little capsule, then he can just go to the machine ahead of him. Yuugi has a bad feeling about the sudden generosity of this little shit, but he goes ahead and ponies up the 100 yen and turns the lever on the front of the machine. When it doesn't produce a toy, Yuugi freaks out and starts shaking and pounding on the machine, wondering what's wrong with it while the kids behind him point and laugh. I guess the answer is that you're the exact right MATURITY to play this game, Yuugi.
A fist comes down on Yuugi's head - the fist of the shop-owner, who yells at him to stop abusing his capsule machine. The other kids are still laughing, but also calling the shop-owner "old man dentures" and scary. Old Man Dentures rants at Yuugi about how he shouldn't break the expensive machine because he lost a measly 100 yen; Yuugi wouldn't be able to afford a replacement. Yuugi mumbles an apology, though he thinks that he should be the one receiving one for losing his money.
As Yuugi is getting lectured, another kid arrives, that the others seem to recognize. They gasp, pointing him out.
Kaiba-sama calls out to Yuugi, and Yuugi looks around at the sound of his name from an unfamiliar voice. Kaiba-sama asks for confirmation that Yuugi is Yuugi, other than the fact that he responded to that name. Yuugi doesn't answer, wondering how this grade-school kid he's never seen knows his name. Kaiba-sama assures him that they've never met, so he needn't look so shocked. He tells Yuugi that he knows him through his older brother, Seto Kaiba.
And boy does Yuugi recognize that name, recalling that Seto Kaiba from his class was an expert at that Duel Monsters card game. Yuugi asks Kaiba-SAMA if he's really Kaiba-KUN's little brother, and the younger Kaiba scoffs. He says he expected to respect Yuugi because of how he beat the person he respected the most for his undefeated status, but he's surprised to see Yuugi is short. Well, to be fair, everyone is short compared to Seto Kaiba. Boy's got legs up to his neck.
No one says a word, which Yuugi notes as an effect of the younger Kaiba's presence, considering how hard they were laughing at him before. Younger Kaiba breaks the silence with his bragging about how he's won championships in Capsule Monsters, and asks if Yuugi knows anything about the game. Yuugi confesses that he knows a little, but he just started playing as a novice. Younger Kaiba chuckles, muttering about how modest Yuugi seems.
Younger Kaiba tells Yuugi not to even think about running, because if he does, his underlings will attack. Then he tells Old Man Dentures that he's taking his capsule dispenser machine off his hands. At first, Old Man Dentures protests, but Younger Kaiba drops a WAD OF CASH on the ground and tells Old Man Dentures to keep the change as he walks off. Old Man Dentures seems appeased, and I'm getting the impression this is supposed to be the very explanation for that child holding the gun too.
Another kid picks up the capsule dispenser machine while Younger Kaiba tells Yuugi that they're going somewhere fun. Yuugi doesn't look like he believes Younger Kaiba. Must be that look on Younger Kaiba's face as he makes a silent promise to his brother that this will be Yuugi's rematch.
Yuugi nervously asks Younger Kaiba to go easy on him, and one of the kids behind him calls him awfully wimpy for a high school student. Yuugi doesn't reply, and while one of the kids shouts at him to say something, another threatens to burn down his house. Woah there, no one needs another Kokurano in this manga. One was quite enough, thanks.
The kids see his pendent and are so desperate for a reaction from him that they start pulling on it with intentions to smash it.
The kids flinch away, and one on Younger Kaiba's side of the shipping box where they've set up the game points out that Yuugi's face has changed. Younger Kaiba was told about this transformation by his brother, and claims it makes him even more eager to beat the person he's kidnapped. Yami tells Younger Kaiba that he should play him instead of bragging. You know what they say about counting your chickens before they hatch.
Younger Kaiba gestures to the game board in front of them, referring to it as "Crisis Hill" and his favorite version of the board. Yami tells Younger Kaiba to just set up the board, and that he's not concerned with the level. Younger Kaiba directs Yami's attention to the capsule machine he's set up next to them, saying that if he used his own pieces, he'd win too easily. He says that he and Yami will take turns getting capsules out of the machine, and tells Yami to go first.
The machine gives Yami a level one capsule, and Younger Kaiba has one of his mini-gang get one for him, which is level five.
Anyway, looks like Younger Kaiba is a straight gambler too. He pulls out a knife and says that if Yami loses, he'll have to lose one of his fingers, because baby when it's love if it's not rough it isn't fun. Shit, child, your brother is a shitty person who hit someone in the face with a briefcase, but at least he never threatened to cut off anyone's FINGER! That's an escalation that doesn't need to happen.
But I appear to be the only person who thinks so. Yami seems perfectly calm as he accepts the terms on his end, and tells Younger Kaiba that if he loses, he'll have to suffer a penalty game. As per the villain code of conduct, Younger Kaiba doesn't ask what the penalty game even is.
In the spirit of full disclosure, Yami tells Younger Kaiba that they are playing a shadow game. That's a courtesy he hasn't extended to EVERYONE, so I hope you appreciate it, Younger Kaiba. He appears not to have anything to say about the declaration, though, instead noting the one-sided nature of their game and how that is the nature of ALL games, really. No need to get all philosophical on us here, child. He's moving his first piece forward, the Ganpo Level Five, though it's impossible to tell how far. Does it depend on which piece it is? Or do they all move the same amount of spaces? Do some of them move diagonally? Where would you get this information??
Details aside, Yami says he's all the more determined by his crappy odds, while he moves forward his Eye Mouth Level One. Younger Kaiba calls Yami an idiot for putting his worst foot forward with a weak monster in his first move. It's right in front of the Ganpo, with Younger Kaiba making fun of how weak it looks in comparison to boot. Ganpo comes alive and chops Eye Mouth in half with its baby axe.
Younger Kaiba isn't shocked at the life of his tiny monster, but just laughs. I guess Elder Kaiba told Younger Kaiba about this aspect of the shadow game as well, but even so, I would have expected at least a LITTLE surprise. Younger Kaiba may be younger, but he looks old and articulate enough not to really believe in magic anymore.
He tells Yami that he has one less monster now, but Yami is unperturbed, chuckling. Younger Kaiba is more flabbergasted by this than the living monster, and asks why Yami would be so happy. Yami states that he loves teaching lessons in gaming to bratty little sadists. He points out that when one player is severely disadvantaged like him, the opponent reveals their weaknesses through arrogance, and that's the first lesson.
Younger Kaiba is so furious that Yami is presuming to teach him about the game that he shoots up out of his chair. Yami just tells him that lesson two is never losing one's temper. Younger Kaiba growls at the unwanted advice. Yami announces that he's moving his Great Paa Level Four monster forward now. It faces the Cobra'd monster on Younger Kaiba's side, and they both kill each other. Yami says that now he has three monsters, and Younger Kaiba has four. Younger Kaiba calls Yami an idiot again, pointing out that he's still much stronger than him, despite also having lost a monster.
Next, it's Younger Kaiba's Dinosaur Wing against Yami's Flowerman, which ends in about the way you'd expect. Younger Kaiba declares the obvious fact that Yami only has two monsters left. Yami takes his turn by moving one of his pieces to the left, which Younger Kaiba mocks as a stupid, cowardly move, and counteracts by moving a piece of his own to attack from behind.
Was there a way Younger Kaiba's piece could have GOTTEN behind any of Yami's pieces? Either the translation of this part is a little iffy, or the description is. Or both. I don't know. Younger Kaiba's piece destroys the one Yami moved, and he laughs about how Yami only has one piece remaining while he has four. He thinks he's already won the game. Yami chuckles and Younger Kaiba demands that he stop laughing as though he knows what he's doing. Younger Kaiba is taken aback when Yami claims his laugh is one of victory.
Second of all, HOW DOES ANYONE KNOW THESE MONSTERS' SPECIAL ATTACKS? That's the most annoying part of the "chess" comparison earlier, because chess only has 6 types of pieces with unique moves, so you only have to keep track of those. This game has 250 types of pieces, which would be impossible to keep track of without some sort of guide, but there doesn't appear to be any that they're using. How are they getting the information on the pieces that they need?
I never get an answer to that burning question. This is readily available as compensation, though:
Younger Kaiba can't believe he lost, but his humiliation doesn't end there. Yami points at him as he declares a penalty game. A capsule appears above so that it can encase him, and Younger Kaiba wonders if this is the the penalty game that drove his brother to madness. You bet it is, right down to the putting the loser in the place of a monster bit. It's essentially identical.
Before Younger Kaiba disappears under the capsule, though, he points at Yami with relish, in spite the copious amount of sweat pouring down his face. He reveals with a giggle that Elder Kaiba has been steadily preparing his revenge in a secret Younger Kaiba describes only as "Death-T." Yami ruminates on the strange term as the capsule snaps shut around Younger Kaiba.
Yami stands from his chair and gives a useless speech to a not-listening Younger Kaiba as he walks away. Apparently, Baby Kaiba should think about how he's not actually Yami's enemy while he's in his capsule. Younger Kaiba is only thinking about how dark the illusion of the capsule is and how claustrophobic it's making him, though, as he screams for help from his older brother. His entourage is gathered around him trying to calm him down instead. Yami says they'll play again when Younger Kaiba has thought about the lessons Yami imparted today, which is just the biggest middle finger ever.
So, what did I think of this chapter overall? Younger Kaiba is younger in two senses, and the second is that he's the kind of antagonist that would have come from the earlier chapters of the story. He was like a carbon copy of his brother, except way more needlessly sadistic. The extreme cruelty he was showing made him seem like he was imitating early villains in style, which gave an illusion of flatness that I wasn't too wild about.
This is not to say Younger Kaiba is ACTUALLY flat. In a few ways, he's more complex than his brother. He claimed to be working as the original Kaiba's proxy, but gave hints with his notes of respect for his brother that perhaps he was more motivated to BEAT the original Kaiba by proxy. There were hints of dimension in there toward the end too, when he's calling out for his brother to help him, indicating that he depends on his brother to help him a lot. These are only hints, of course, far from fully developed, but I think there's enough of them to give me hope for a little development in the future.
I've heard this Death-T thing should provide that and more risky games, but there's more unrelated content to absorb before that in the next chapter. Bring it on.
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