Speaking of which...
Anzu, Jonouchi and Yuugi are gathered around the blocked exit while Jouji continues to slumber in a remote corner of the panel. Yuugi is staring up at Jonouchi, unable to fully articulate what was just implied. Jonouchi shouts that it's not like Honda to die, or at least not to give up on his life so easily. I agree, which is why that nonsense was so cheesy back there.
Yuugi is freaking out, though silently. At first he thinks that Honda was in that situation because of him, but he's quick to throw out that notion when he ponders how his grandfather and Honda were actually STOLEN from him. He curses Kaiba as he grits his teeth and stares at the floor with a heartbreaking thousand-yard gaze.
Anzu sees this and pats Yuugi on the back, assuring Yuugi that Honda will be okay because he's sure to be safe. Jonouchi is shouting at the block obstructing the exit, trying to get a message through to Honda on the other side. Jonouchi yells that they're going ahead and that Honda has to use his undeniable guts to survive. He has tears in his eyes when he calls Honda and idiot and promises that they'll all wait for him.
Jonouchi stands and calls for Anzu and Yuugi to join him, but Anzu tells him to wait, because Yuugi looks strange. He's frozen, that strained wide-eyed expression fixed on his face as he's hunched over on his knees. Jonouchi stares at him.
Mokuba has walked into a panel, commenting on how stubborn Yuugi and company are, and asking for Seto to agree. All Seto does is say Mokuba's name like it's a question.
Mokuba reminds Seto that they made a bet before creating Death-T, on which stage Yuugi would lose. He says he recalls that Seto bet Yuugi would lose on Death T-5, and Seto calmly states that Mokuba bet Yuugi wouldn't get past Death T-4. Oh, I guess the death theme park thing isn't quite as over as I thought. Anyway, The bet makes Mokuba upset because his game with Yuugi is Death T-4, and Seto is essentially betting on Mokuba losing that match and Yuugi to advance to Seto's Duel Monsters game with him.
Mokuba curses Seto, who follows up on Mokuba's complaint by standing by his gamble. He knows that Mokuba can't win against Yuugi, and was against him even being involved with the project from the very beginning. Mokuba begins to protest, but Seto cuts him off to remind him that he challenged Yuugi to a game without Seto's knowledge before, and he doesn't know the result, but he can guess. Mokuba pouts, stuttering that he just wanted Seto to praise and approve of him.
This is a really interesting interaction, though I knew it was coming, since these panels are very popular to share online. What people usually DON'T share, however, are the ones that lead up to these, where Seto is admitting that he never wanted Mokuba to be part of this revenge plot. They also don't pay much attention to the fact that, in order for Mokuba to know enough about Yuugi to challenge him in the first place, Mokuba had to spend a significant amount of time with Seto, talking about what happened.
We know they're close because of this. Or, at least they were. Close enough for Seto to tell Mokuba about his defeat at length, and Mokuba to watch him descend further and further into madness working on a revenge plot. I can extrapolate from here that when Mokuba saw he and Seto growing further apart because of his defeat, he would become more obsessed about worming his way back into Seto's attention by following him down the same track. And despite not wanting Mokuba going down that road with him, Seto relented and gave him his own part in the plot.
Why? Well, I think that can have a lot of different answers, depending on the person reading, but my interpretation of the panels above is a bit softer because of what came before it. The lesson he SHOULD have learned back in his first appearance was that his cards should have meaning to him outside of just winning. Yami's punishment on him just made his disposition worse, however, because it came to him as humiliation rather than a lesson. He interpreted the loss itself as being the experience of death, not having his agency taken. He's more manipulative and dismissive than ever, treating others as though they're playthings to an insane degree, because he thinks his issue with Yuugi comes from losing. He's still convinced there's no better strategy than using people like pawns in his own game.
But with his admission that he didn't want Mokuba to be part of the game, he's also admitting that he didn't see Mokuba the way he does everyone else. There's still a part of him that wants him close, and that's in conflict with the GROWING part of him that wants to dominate the world alone. This is why ultimately allowing Mokuba to participate is serving two very different purposes in this battle with himself as well as Yuugi. Seto is keeping Mokuba near, which is feeding the part of him that is still attached to him. However, he's also trying desperately to push Mokuba away with hurtful words and casual disinterest, because Seto's scared that if he allows himself to continue to cling to any other person, he'll be weak enough to lose again.
Seto doesn't want Mokuba to lose, the reason he wasn't going to let him participate in Death-T at first. But he eventually came to the conclusion that if Mokuba DID lose, he could be disgusted enough with the loss to let go of any emotion he still had for him. The panels above only show the conclusion, but all the factors that went into it are by far more interesting.
Meanwhile, Yuugi is still trapped in a frozen state. His friends are asking him if he's alright through his stupor, and eventually he stutters around to telling them that there's something inside him that he can't control. Anzu assures him that he's just tired and stressed, and it's okay to feel that way, but he's talking about something else. Yuugi admits that there's something he's been keeping from them for a while.
I knew it! After Jonouchi told Yuugi in the last chapter that he returned the missing puzzle piece, Yuugi now knows that Jonouchi's friendship is actually genuine. So, with friends staring, Yuugi is finally able to confess much like Jonouchi did; inside him, he has another personality that he knows nothing about. Jonouchi and Anzu are alarmed at this news, but continue to listen as Yuugi tells them that ever since he solved the Millennium Puzzle he's blacked out and turned into another person. He admits through tears that he was scared of these black-outs, but he was also scared to tell them because he was afraid their friendship would end just when it had started.
Jonouchi goes from shocked to tender as he lets Yuugi know that having another personality doesn't change anything, because they'll always be friends. Yuugi's tears remain, but he smiles at Jonouchi as Anzu echoes his sentiments. Yuugi is grateful, and just like that, Anzu picks up Jouji as they rocket down the hall to their next destination. Yuugi looks back one last time to think at Honda that he'll be waiting for him to catch up.
As they approach an open door, Anzu says she hears cheering on the other side. They stop in the doorway at the top of a set of stairs, and Yuugi and Jonouchi's jaws drop.
Yuugi recognizes Mokuba standing across the arena, who tells him it's time for another game, and demands that he get into the game booth alone. Yuugi glares, looking determined, though his friends tell him it's not safe for him to go by himself. Jonouchi volunteers to go too, but Yuugi firmly tells him that he needs to do this himself. Jonouchi seems unconvinced, but Yuugi tells him that he won't be a coward anymore. When were you EVER a coward, Yuugi? Seriously, being scared about your possessions by an unknown entity and blacking out, in addition to the possibility of losing your friends because of this does not make you a coward! Even if it did, WHO COULD BLAME YOU??
He also tells Jonouchi that his friends will be with him even if they don't physically go into the box with him. Jonouchi is touched as Yuugi tells him that he and Honda showed him what true courage is about, which I'm guessing is facing the parts of yourself that you're afraid of. Meh, that's fair. Jonouchi agrees, and Yuugi says he's not afraid of his other personality anymore as he closes his eyes. Jonouchi and Anzu look on as he grows quiet, but note that he's doing that thing he does again.
Jonouchi and Anzu gape at Yami as he walks toward the booth, Jonouchi's brain trying to catch up with the reality of the transformation. Yami walks up the path with his hands shoved in his pockets casually while the crowd identifies him as Mokuba's challenger and heckles him accordingly, shouting that he can't possibly win.
Yami stands in the doorway before Mokuba, who has already taken his seat. Mokuba congratulates Yami for making it to his stage of Death-T, and Yami snarks that Mokuba is the same old brat from their last game. Yeah, your little lessons don't seem to be doing much good, do they Yami? Mokuba also recognizes that Yami is the same version of Yuugi that he played before, saying that it's good to see him. He also points at the elevator off a third path leading from the box, telling Yami that's the way to the goal he's been working toward, Seto's Duel Monsters Dome. Yami asks for confirmation that if he beats Mokuba, then he'll proceed straight to Seto. Mokuba says beating him is impossible anyway, and this game will mean Yami's death, along with his friends.
Yami glances back to find that Anzu and Jonouchi have been restrained by two guards, pressing guns into the backs of their heads. Yami calls out to them and then turns back to Mokuba, pissed. Jonouchi tells him not to worry, and just to spank Mokuba's little ass. Yami still looks nervous, but Mokuba is already declaring the start to their game as well as its theme.
He tells Yami that the game they play in the box will be reproduced in virtual reality below them. Class out the ass. I wanna play! As long as I don't have to die when I inevitably lose. Mokuba begins to open a Level Five capsule with the intent to use it as a demonstration. He says it's one of his pieces, and the other weaker piece he has represents Yami, and sets them next to one another to battle.
So, what did I think of this chapter overall? It was another overwhelming one. There was a LOT going on with these Kaiba brothers, but I covered my interpretation of that above. Convoluted as it seems, it's the only way I can manage to reconcile all the facts, which are contradictory at first glance. But, then again, so is Seto Kaiba himself. He's got a mentality much like Shadi did, that getting support from others is a sign of weakness, and that others can be used and abused in a game of "the ends justify the means."
All the same, the way that Mokuba maintains a close proximity to his brother is a sign that he's struggling to give himself over to that ideology completely. If he didn't WANT Mokuba around on any level, he wouldn't have shared all that information on Yuugi with him, or cared enough not to want him participating in Death-T, or, hell, made him vice-president of Kaiba Corp. Mokuba clearly isn't a pawn to Seto like everyone else seems to be, but it's also clear that Seto is trying to convince himself that he IS. At the very least, he's trying to make himself not care about him either way.
Will he succeed? I guess that depends on how he reacts to Mokuba's loss, which we all know is inevitable.
It'll still be fun to see how Yami pulls it off.
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