Mokuba is still trying to escape Yami's grip on his arm, gritting his teeth and growling, but Yami's not letting up. Jonouchi repeats that it's Mokuba, and Honda wonders why he's trying to steal Yami's star chips. This is the VERY question I have, Honda!
Yami doesn't appear to exert any effort to hold Mokuba back as the child squirms and says "no" over and over, but he does look somewhat flabbergasted, wondering why Mokuba is on the island in the first place. In the next panel, Mokuba has calmed down and is seated on the ground outside the box, fists clenched and staring at his lap. Yami and friends mill around.
Suddenly, Jonouchi starts shouting at Mokuba, calling him a weasel as he says that two of Yami's star chips are still clenched in Mokuba's thieving little fist and he should give them back. Mokuba gives Jonouchi a sidelong glare and grinds his teeth before he squeezes his eyes shut and refuses to return them. Jonouchi growls, temper turning him red, but doesn't get to continue berating Mokuba. Anzu has stepped in, leaning over to nearly Mokuba's level, asking if he's still mad at Yami. Given that Yami is the one who made Seto the way he is, Mokuba says that he's of course still sore. Anzu's delicate press for confirmation that Kaiba's condition hasn't changed isn't delicate enough.
Yami and friends don't have anything to say to this, and that's probably best. Mokuba says that he didn't steal the chips to get revenge on Yami, though, so they shouldn't assume that. He mocks them for thinking they're smart, but he bets they don't even know why Pegasus had the tournament in the first place. Yami and Jonouchi's mouths are agape with shock as Mokuba states that the reason is because Pegasus wants to beat Yami and take control of Kaiba Corp.
Yami is astounded that Pegasus wants Kaiba's company. I don't know why. Does he know that businesses are always trying to buy each other out, or what? His friends are asking the right question, crowding around Mokuba to wonder at him how beating Yami is supposed to help Pegasus take over Kaiba Corp.
Mokuba begins by stating the vague backstory of Pegasus creating Duel Monsters and becoming a young genius game designer, yada yada... Pegasus thought he had to get bigger, though, so Industrial Illusions teamed up with Kaiba Corp to develop the duel boxes currently being used on the island. Mokuba says that Seto was the one to design the boxes, but when he lost to Yami in the final stage of Death-T, the stock in the company plummeted and management went downhill. Pegasus jumped at the opportunity to buy the company for a low price, and made his offer to the Big Five, the biggest stock-holders in Kaiba Corp. The Big Five have most of the decision-making power in the company because of their 60% ownership of shares, and the president being out for the count. They were perfectly willing to sell the company, under the condition that Pegasus beat Yami and regain investor confidence, since it dropped so significantly when Kaiba lost his status as best gamer in Japan.
I would like to say that those investors have their priorities wrong, but honestly, this is how the stock market actually works most of the time. It's high-class gambling, through and through, and people will fold based on what seems like some really flimsy issues like most other gamblers. Kaiba was the lucky rabbit's foot in the black jack player's pocket in this scenario. When it loses its mojo, the gambler's off to find a new lucky charm.
Mokuba says that his plan was to steal all of Yami's star chips in order to disqualify him before he had to face Pegasus, so that Pegasus wouldn't have technically defeated Yami, and the deal would be off. I don't know if that's the best logic, kid. Yami asks him if that's why he came to the island, and Mokuba says that it was actually the Big Five who brought him there. He chuckles and says that this is because he has a certain key. Yami, Jonouchi and Honda stare at Mokuba, asking what this key he mentions is for.
The Big Five went to Mokuba's house two nights before to get some documents from Seto's safe that they needed to complete the deal with Pegasus. Mokuba protected these documents by swallowing the key to the safe in front of them. Anzu trails off as she starts putting two and two together when combining the fact that they took Mokuba with the one that he swallowed the key.
Jonouchi and Honda look a little queasy at this story as Mokuba gets serious again, saying that he's not going to let the Big Five have Kaiba Corp, even if they have to tear him open. Yami appears to have a small smile when he says Mokuba's name next. Mokuba looks at Yami and says that even though Yami might not believe it, Kaiba's real dream was always to build Kaiba Land to allow poor kids to have fun. Death-T was his revenge plot, but not his reason for building the whole park. Yami looks a little frowny in the next panel. Mokuba continues by shouting that the original Kaiba Land was why Seto worked so hard on Kaiba Corp, and why Mokuba is willing to give his life to defend it, so that Seto can continue working on his dream when he wakes up. Jonouchi, Honda and Anzu stare in silence for a moment, then Anzu leans down and says she believes in him, asking if he can believe in Yami now.
Mokuba is shocked at this suggestion. Anzu pleads with him gently to give Yami's chips back.
Vlad gloats at having finally found Mokuba, who led him on quite the wild goose chase. He grabs Mokuba's wrist, forcing the boy to drop the chips into his hand instead, saying he's confiscating them. Jonouchi tells Vlad the Hair Impaler to hold his horses, because two of those chips are actually Yami's and need to be returned. Vlad the Hair Impaler is exasperated that he has to tell them again that the only way to get star chips is to win them. But dude, YOU didn't win the ones you took from Mokuba. Seems a little hypocritical of you.
Yami says that if those are the rules, then he challenges Vlad the Hair Impaler to a duel. Vlad turns this challenge down, saying he doesn't play games. Woah, someone in this world who doesn't play games. Color me shocked. Vlad the Hair Impaler DOES suggest that he can arrange for a special opponent, though. He points at the booth they had only left minutes before, and everyone looks on in surprise at what they see there.
Gotta hand it to the weirdo, though, because conical hats are the best hats.
Conical Hat Weirdo makes his dummy point at Yami, and it says in a strange wobbly font that it will take revenge on Yami for doing what he did. In fact, revenge is repeated multiple times, just to get the point across. Yami is disgusted by the portrayal, thinking it's more of a mockery of one of the greatest duelists he's ever met. He growls angrily and promises to never forgive Conical Hat Weirdo. Yami, we've already discussed why you've done way more damage to Kaiba than an asshole making fun of him with a puppet could ever do, so sit the fuck down.
Vlad the Hair Impaler tells Yami that his opponent is right there, so he should get in the booth already and duel. Mokuba struggles against Vlad's hold as he denies that this is his brother because Seto is in the hospital. I thought you just said that Seto was being cared for in the mansion. Goodness gracious, kid, get your story straight. He encourages Yami to beat that Conical Hat Weirdo up. No, seriously, Yami, punch him in the face.
When Yami enters the box, the puppet giggles.
While Jonouchi urges Yami to beat the ventriloquist, Honda can't help making the obvious comment on how messed up that puppet is. Vlad the Hair Impaler chuckles as he monologues in his head about how Yami doesn't realize it yet, but Conical Hat Weirdo isn't a participant in the tournament so much as an "assassin" brought there to murder him. Why doesn't he just DO that then? What's the point of playing the game? Vlad the Hair Impaler thinks that the puppet is supposed to enrage and throw Yami off his game enough to defeat him, but that doesn't really answer my question. How does that KILL him? Essentially, it's supposed to make it so that Yami loses and Pegasus gets Kaiba Corp, which I guess means that Mokuba was wrong that the deal is only that Pegasus himself has to beat Yami.
Okaaaaaaay. Still not seeing how this will cause literal death.
Vlad the Hair Impaler asks Mokuba if he recognizes him, and upon taking a closer look is appalled. He identifies Vlad as Saruwatari, his body guard at Kaiba Corp, with a life-threatening spike of hair glued to his forehead now. HOLY SHIT HE HAS A NAME! Saruwatari is flattered that Mokuba remembers him, but it hasn't really been long enough for him to have forgotten. He says that he was already working for Industrial Illusions when he was Mokuba's bodyguard, a spy for his real boss. Mokuba is shocked by this revelation, and Saruwatari continues by saying that babysitting Mokuba allowed him to relay secret information to Pegasus. We know what the word "spy" means, man.
He implies that he stole something else from Kaiba Corp, and encourages Mokuba to watch with a chuckle. About time, too, because the duel is about to start. Dummy!Kaiba tells Yami that they'll each bet 3 star chips, and Yami grudgingly agrees to bet all of the ones he has left. Mokuba, if you hadn't tried to steal Yami's chips, this NEVER would have happened! But, I'm still starting to like you and I can't explain it.
Dummy!Kaiba shouts the start of the duel, and plays Battle Ox. I think it's interesting to note that this panel shows Conical Hat Weirdo holding the hand, and Dummy!Kaiba playing the card. It's not really clear why this is a visually commanding image to me, but it is. Yami stares in shock at the hologram that appears of the ox, because it's indeed one of Kaiba's actual cards. Yami shakes it off and plays a card of his own in return, the Dark Magician, which blasts the ox with his Black Magic attack and kills it.
Conical Hat Weirdo gives Dummy!Kaiba a screaming expression and mocking dialogue about Yami having gotten him. Yami isn't amused, wondering how much the ventriloquist is going to joke around. Yami, he's a VENTRILOQUIST. He's not going to stop. Jonouchi notes that Yami's looking pretty stressed out even though he's winning, and Anzu states that it's because of the puppet. Honda says that the dummy is affecting Yami in a strange way. That's not the only thing that's about to affect him.
Dummy!Kaiba draws a new card and giggles, saying that the his dragon has risen from Hell for revenge. He asks if Yami is ready for it, and all Yami can do is look on in shock.
So, what did I think of this chapter overall? As much as I normally HATE exposition dumps with a fiery passion that burns, Mokuba's worked. It was understandable because Mokuba WOULD want to explain to Yami why his defeat of Kaiba ruined everything for his family, in the exact irritated and desperate tone that he did here. It was interspersed with flashbacks from Mokuba's point of view too, which helped to illustrate where he was coming from, and present his story in a more sympathetic way. Because this is new information, I didn't get bored, and I was genuinely intrigued by this development.
I also like how Mokuba thinks this is the SOLE reason why Pegasus is having his tournament. He has no inkling that anything else could be going on. The information here perfectly explains EVERYTHING, and there's no reason to read anything more into it. Unless, of course, you factor in the one piece of the puzzle that doesn't seem to fit, the Millennium Items. I'm sure Yami and Bakura have a glimmer of suspicion that this isn't the whole story, but we'll see if they talk more about it later.
The only thing that makes NO SENSE about the chapter is how Pegasus supposedly hired this ventriloquist to beat Yami at the game. I thought Pegasus WANTED Yami to get to into the castle, and information we get later is going to make this guy seem even more ridiculous, because he does have OTHER reasons for Yami to be there other than just getting Kaiba Corp by defeating him. Looks like another really clumsy and nonsensical red herring set up by good ol' KT. Hold on to your hats, guys.
"Vlad the Hair Impaler chuckles as he monologues in his head about how Yami doesn't realize it yet, but Conical Hat Weirdo isn't a participant in the tournament so much as an "assassin" brought there to murder him. Why doesn't he just DO that then? What's the point of playing the game?"
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I don't remember if the Player Killers were actually out to kill Yugi, aside from PaniK, who most certainly was. Maybe it's just flowery language. Then again, PaniK.
Maybe this is another of those punny jokes in the Japanese language that doesn't translate over, I dunno. *shrug*
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