As the blimp drifts away from the stadium across the city, the passengers are all fired up about it, gushing about how amazing this is and how they're really flying in the sky. Have none of them ever been in an airplane before? I know for a fact that a good number of them have been in a HELICOPTER, at least, even if it has been a crowded one on occasion. As they stand at the windows, Jonouchi enthuses for the whole night-view of Domino he's seeing. I guess that makes all the difference. Shizuka says that she can see her house, even while Jonouchi is asking her if she can see the streetlights, to which she responds with an affirmative. I think their excitement is making them talk right past each other.
Jonouchi is momentarily humbled by the fact that this is the first time he's seen such a beautiful view. I say "momentarily" because he shortly starts laughing, hands on hips, announcing that only the really strong duelists can fly in the sky. So much for humility. Of course, Kaiba has to knock him down from his high, mocking his happiness and calling him ignorant while walking past. Jonouchi grinds his teeth at Kaiba, stuttering back the insult indignantly. Kaiba smirks at him, predicting that Jonouchi will be frozen with fear the moment he faces a real battle, but invites him to enjoy the beautiful aura of the view below. You're so generous, Kaiba. Jonouchi keeps grinding his teeth and expresses the deep NEED to defeat Kaiba in the finals.
Or, you know, you could just punch him when this whole business is over. I would.
As Kaiba passes Yuugi, his expression turns serious and he wants to offer some advice. Yuugi gives Kaiba a somewhat meek look, but Yami's specter appears behind him, glaring intently at Kaiba from the corner of his eye. Kaiba starts with what he has observed in the preliminaries of Battle City; Yami/Yuugi never once put his god card in his deck, something Kaiba had the opportunity to see from their double duel to this moment. Yami keeps a steady glare on Kaiba as Kaiba shouts at he and Yuugi that THEIR battle can't end this way. He insists that Yuugi/Yami has to understand they've already entered some sort of "god zone" in the finals, and the three god cards will choose the real strongest duelist among them. He declares the beginning of the "battle legend" right now, while Yami remains stoic in his listening, though he has turned his spectral form to face Kaiba full on instead of from the side. Kaiba promises to defeat him and Marik, earning the "King of Duelists" title for sure.
Did anyone actually read any ADVICE in there? I suppose you could say it was implied that Kaiba was trying to encourage Yami to put Slipher in his deck, but it still seems like a rather opaque statement...
And just when Moar Cards Guy announces that eight individual rooms in the blimp have been prepared for each duelist, and they can access them with the permit card he gave them on the ground. Well SOMEONE didn't need instructions. Makes me think that Kaiba isn't as in the dark about these finals as he's led everyone to believe. At least not regarding the layout of the blimp and where he can get to the best room anyway.
Moar Cards Guy tells them them that the finals will begin in an hour's time, at which point the opponent pairing will be determined. So, Jonouchi is shown in the next panel inserting his permit card into a reader on a room door, listening to it beep and unlock. Before he gets much of a chance to explore, his room is flooded with his friends expressing amazement at how nice the room is. Jonouchi demands to know why they're all THERE, answered with a "Duh, they didn't prepare rooms for non-dueling cheerleaders, bro". Jonouchi attempts to order them all out, except Shizuka. While Anzu stretches out on the couch, enthusing about room service, Honda kneels beside a mini fridge which he says is full of food and drink, and Ryuji responds to this with a complaint that he's hungry, Shizuka pleads with her brother to let them stay, all of this being so much happier with everyone together.
Jonouchi attempts to explain to Shizuka, with a harried expression, how a duelist needs that "excited feeling" before a battle, but she doesn't seem to understand too well. I'm not sure I do, either, because "excited" doesn't seem to exclude a small party with friends in my mind, but maybe Jonouchi is just not articulating this well. A couple of minutes later, Shizuka is laughing with someone else a ways away, while Jonouchi sits irritated in an armchair with a drink. Honda leans on the fridge nearby, telling him not to mind it all. After all, there's not much time for ANY of them to be alone with Shizuka.
At first, Jonouchi is rightly ruffled about the implication about Honda wanting to have some time with Shizuka by himself, but he lets it go fairly quickly. He asks why, if Honda isn't going to get to do that, he's not going to someone else's room. Yuugi's for example. Honda calls him an idiot for forgetting that Yuugi is busy preparing for his upcoming duel, and insisting that none of them can disturb him. As he's taking a haughty drink of his soda, Jonouchi snaps that HE'S supposed to be preparing too, but Honda reprimands him. Honda adopts a serious expression when he says that this is VERY important to Yuugi, and at first, Jonouchi appears to grudgingly agree with his arms crossed. He launches himself onto Honda's neck, growling that this is important to HIM also. After he's released Honda and resettled into his seat, he scoffs, but gives Honda belated thanks for bringing Shizuka along. Honda calls him an idiot once more, but says he's welcome as he takes another drink. Then he tells Jonouchi he has to win. Jonouchi smiles and nods.
Yuugi addresses Yami, repeating what everyone else has been saying for the past couple of chapters: this is a fated battle, and it's about to begin. I would think out of all people, Yami would not need to be reminded of this. Regardless, Yami agrees mildly, his worries lying with whether or not he can really regain his memories if he wins this fight. Yuugi is convinced there biggest issue is the one who controls the god card Ra, as well as a Millennium item, Marik. Both he and Yami picture Rishid, unknowingly.
Then, Yuugi lists Kaiba as their next obstacle, with Obelisk. It's THIS god card that Yami pictures in opposition to his Slifer, Ra kind of hanging in the shadows behind the two of them, when he imagines the three gods facing off against each other. He knows he has to be the victorious one. Yet Yuugi has one more deep worry beyond the obvious holders of god cards; the eighth duelist. No one has seen this person before, so Yuugi doesn't know what to expect. Yami also wonders who it actually is.
Your mom. No, seriously, wouldn't that be a fucking trip? Eighth duelist turns out to be Yuugi's mom? I would lose it. Too bad it was painfully obvious who it actually is from the last chapter's final page. She's not quite so unexpected.
As the blimp floats along its merry way above the Domino city lights, we switch to Marik casting a glare out his bedroom window. as he reclines on his bed.
Marik is determined to bury Yami in the eternal darkness with shadow games before he EVER gets a hold of these memories, though. This may be the only time when "over my dead body" is a LITERAL requirement.
A couple of panels show Kaiba sitting in an arm chair in his own room, in a rare moment of semi-relaxation. He's removed his giant starched coat, anyway, and is rearranging his cards, mentally giggling. Weirdo. The next two panels show Mai drinking a glass of wine in her room, gazing out the window and wondering where this blimp is heading anyway. Where no one can hear you scream? I don't know. Bakura spends two panels cutting into a steak and nomming it, juices dribbling down his chin while his expression is vacantly pleasant with a slight touch of creep. Rishid is sitting in the dark on a floor, eyes closed. He appears to be meditating?
He changes that expression really fast when coming up to Jonouchi, though, asking him to go easy if they're facing one another in the first round. Jonouchi makes a confused noise at first, before telling "Namu" that he's not the type to go easy on someone, even if that person is his friend. Instead of dropping a cryptic statement about understanding that first hand already, "Namu" plays the perfect dunce, promising to fight with all he has. Jonouchi happily gives an affirmative, but he's a bit more serious when he thinks that he needs to win no matter who the opponent is, even if it's Yuugi.
At least you guys won't be hooked up to the simplest of death machines this time. Should be easier that way.
Yuugi appears to still be in his room, picking up his deck and putting it in his Duel Disk. His eyes are closed while he listens to Yami's proposition to get this thing started. He agrees.
Moar Cards Guy is standing next to what looks to be a statue of a Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon bathed in a spotlight in the middle of the common area once everyone has gathered. He announces that the duel pairs of the first round will be randomly chosen, which Jonouchi seems surprised by. Moar Cards Guy goes on to explain that the winners of each first round game will be randomly paired up again, making it so that no one will know who they face before their duels. Apparently, each duelist has been assigned a number, one to eight, I'm guessing by which order they arrived and got their permit cards, if nothing else. There are balls bouncing around in the dome over the Blue Eyes Ultimate statue also numbered one to eight and it is at this point Moar Cards Guy says this is not a STATUE, but a MACHINE.
A BINGO MACHINE.
I'M DYING.
Jonouchi looks a bit put out and maybe a little ill when he sweatdrops and mumbles about how old-fashioned this system is, which seems to be the LEAST of how ridiculous it comes across. Like, whose idea was this?? Moar Cards Guy is not paying any attention to Jonouchi, demanding the start of the random pick. The balls pop and bounce around, and we see each duelist numbered as I had assumed, by their arrival time, with "Namu" labeled as 1, all the way to our "mystery" eighth duelist at the obvious number.
One ball clatters into the mouth of the center head of the Blue Eyes extending up through the dome, and is spit out into a cup at the open mouth of one of the heads lowered outside of it. It is a 7.
Jonouchi hunches in the foreground, what little we get to see of his face a bit flushed as he expresses disbelief that Bakura is first up. He wonders who Bakura's opponent will be, and is quick to decide he doesn't want to be the one facing Bakura's mystery strategy deck. Meanwhile, Honda and Anzu are calling for Bakura to do his best, as Bakura himself scratches the back of his head in embarrassment, because being first makes him feel nervous.
Moar Cards Guy is ready to call out Bakura's opponent, once the bingo ball gets belched out of Blue Eyes Ultimate. A guy in a control room viewing footage of what's going on in the common area on a series of screens turns to round goateed man to go check on the eighth duelist, who failed to show up for the random drawing. Goatee agrees, arriving outside the eighth duelist's door in the next panel. He's asked to come in and on the other side of the door he apologizes for the disturbance, but informs the guest that they must head to the common area immediately.
The eighth duelist gives Goatee a glare over the veil covering their nose and mouth, before telling him that the dueling order is already known to them. Goatee expresses confusion, so the eighth duelist says they will be fourth, explaining a fact that they know he probably won't believe, having the ability to see the near future. As expected, Goatee just gives them a confused and weirded-out look. No matter, the eighth duelist isn't paying attention anyway. They contemplate the one with the evil consciousness in the first battle, and something about sudden attacks, though I can't make it out. The grammar isn't really clear here.
Back at the common area, Moar Cards Guy is announcing Bakura's opponent.
Kaiba examines Bakura, wondering how powerful he is. Jonouchi's expression is a bit less contemplative, sweatdropping a bit as repeats the duel pair. Honda mumbles out loud what both he and Jonouchi seem to be thinking; it looks like the match may already have been determined. No word from Bakura, whose back is turned, but he is still close enough to hear this, jackasses. Keep your opinions to yourself.
Marik, looking high as a kite, is marveling at how just the first match is going to be a battle between Millennium Items. The eighth duelist makes a vague statement of how this first duel will be the first test for one person, despite the fact that we're all too aware of who that person is. Bakura still has his back turned for Yami to glare at as he hides the giggle in his asshole form.
Not that he's hiding it very well, obviously.
So, what did I think of this chapter overall? It's no Lord of the Flies or Battle Royale parallel like Duelist Kingdom was, but the beginning of these finals are giving me a similar eerie feeling. Perhaps it's because there's a kid in charge of the whole outfit, all of the adults on board the blimp beholden to him. Perhaps it's because their exit from the society below (and the police force, ineffective as it is) is more blatant this time around. Perhaps it's because there are a lot of warranted questions about WHERE this blimp is headed, with no answer. Regardless of the reason, in the midst of the awestruck mood of a lot of the characters at their elevation above the city, my skin is crawling thinking about what Marik and asshole!Bakura can get up to at this altitude without being held the slightest bit accountable. Things could devolve into madness just as easily as in Duelist Kingdom, and I'm curious to see what KT is going to do with the possibilities.
I hope it's more creative than the damn BINGO MACHINE. I understand Kaiba wasn't in charge of this part of planning his tournament, in the interest of fairness, but I can't imagine his staff couldn't come up with something a bit more high tech. It's not like they're going for aesthetics over tech in this case, either. The machine isn't exactly the prettiest thing in existence. Wouldn't it be a hoot to think of Kaiba having a very firm word with whomever was in charge of the randomization of the duel opponents? Blue-Eyes-shaped or not, it doesn't exactly speak to the capabilities of Kaiba Corp.
Also, I do NOT envy poor Anzu and Shizuka. Sleep will not be easy for them tonight, what with a distinct lack of proper beds and the ability to groom in the morning. At least Anzu's been through this nonsense before, but Shizuka may still find it a little uncomfortable. I'm sure Mai will put them up, though, so that might help.
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