Disclaimer. I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! It belongs to Kazuki Takahashi and crew.
As Yugi was walking home from school one day, he noticed a crowd of children huddling near a candy store looking excited. Yami appeared, watching the group of kids with interest. "What's going on over there?"
Yugi glanced at him. "Oh. There's this old coin machine that gives you these little things called Capsule Monsters. It's pretty popular with Elementary and Junior High students. Each capsule has a different monster in it."
Yami rubbed his chin, intrigued. "Anything else about this game?"
Yugi thought for a second, then nodded. "Yeah. Each monster could have a different level. They range from one to five. The game is kinda played like chess. You know what chess is right?"
Yami made a sound of agreement.
Yugi continued. He was now standing near the children, and decided to switch to thinking. /Yeah. So anyways, two players pick five monsters that they think are the best, then pit them against each other. The monsters fight on a 8x8 game board. The game boards come in different themes./
Yami was listening closely, absorbing all the information.
/There's like fifty different battle fields and two hundred fifty different monsters to choose from. You win by defeating all of the opponents monsters. Each monster has different attack strengths and abilities, so you can't just charge right in.
You need to think strategically.
What's more, you can't know the identities of the opponents monsters until the game starts. That's what makes it so interesting!/
Yami turned to Yugi, his eyes shining. "Let's go check it out!"
Yugi smiled. /You're like a little kid./
Yami quickly regained his composure. /No I'm not./
Laughing, Yugi went to check out the long line of children waiting to try the coin machine. Someone cut in front of him. "Hey! No cutting in line!"
The kid frowned at him. "Cutting? You were just spacing out man. Besides, that's a high school uniform innit? Why are you even here? You're too old to play Capmon."
Yugi blinked. "Age doesn't mean anything to real gamers."
The kid sighed, stepping back. "Fine. If you want it that much then go ahead of me. This time anyways."
Yugi accepted the offer. "Gee, thanks."
The line moved up and it was his turn to go. The sign on the machine said 100 yen. "Let's see..." He pulled out some coins and put them in the machine. He turned the knob, but nothing came out. Frowning, Yugi shook the knob, banging on the glass.
"Come on! Give me something!" But the machine refused to comply.
Some kids snickered in the back. "Heh. What an idiot. It ate his money."
Yugi kicked the machine. Suddenly, a fist came out of nowhere and smacked him on the head. "Hey! Brat! You're breaking my machine!"
The other children scattered. "Waah! It's old man dentures!"
Yugi rubbed his head, looking up at the fuming elderly with giant teeth. "Sorry."
'Dentures' eyebrow twitched. "YOU THINK AN APOLOGY IS GOING TO FIX IT? THAT MACHINE IS WORTH MORE THAN YOU EVER COULD BE!"
Yugi blinked, rather confused at how to respond. He felt Yami twitch.
/It's not fair. The machine ate your money./
Yugi inwardly sighed. /This old guy doesn't seem to care./
'Dentures continued to rant, throwing his arms around angrily. Someone arrived at the scene, with long unruly black hair. A few snickering individuals follwed behind him. One kid shouted and pointed.
"Hey! No way! It's Kaiba! The Capmon champion!"
Another nugded a friend. "Shh! Look! He's walking towards that high school kid getting chewed out by the old man!"
"Hey Yugi!"
Yugi turned, seeing the rather small boy walk confidently towards him.
'How does he know my name?'
Seeing the puzzled look on his face, the kid grinned. "Don't rack your brain. You don't know me. But you know Seto Kaiba right? He's my big brother"
Yugi twitched, as Yami radiated shock in his head. "Kaiba's the master at Duel Monsters."
The kid laughed.
"Heh. My brother masters ANY game.
I can't believe a little shrimp like you beat him. I thought you might've been cool but I guess I was wrong."
Yugi glanced at the other children. They were all watching silently. Kaiba's little brother stepped foward, catching Yugi's attention again.
"As you may have heard, I'm the Capsule Monsters champion. I won the last tournament. How about you? Looks like you play too!"
Yugi blushed a little. "Uhh, I'm not that good yet."
Little Kaiba crossed his arms. "Come now. Don't be so modest...Get him!"
Yugi jumped, as Little Kaiba's goons brought out tasers. Yugi noticed a tightness in his chest. Yami was getting agitated.
"Where did you get the tasers?!"
Little Kaiba ignored his question. "Don't even think of trying to escape." He turned and grabbed the capsule machine. "Hey! Geezer! We're taking this!"
'Dentures' growled. "What! How dare you!"
Little Kaiba tossed a wad of cash at him. "Keep it."
Instantly the man was sweet as pie. "Oh oh? Thanks little boy! Come again!"
Little Kaiba's goons herded Yugi after Kaiba's little brother. While dragging the machine, he glanced back at Yugi. "We're taking you somewhere special! Aren't you excited?"
/No./ Answered Yami in Yugi's head.
Little Kaiba smiled to himself. 'This is it big brother. Today you will be avenged.'
He lead Yugi and the others to an abandoned warehouse, not unlike the one that Jonouchi was tortured in. Forging Yugi to sit with the tasers, they left him and walked back to Little Kaiba, who sat across from him.
A capsule monsters board was in the middle of the table. "Don't you get it yet? Yugi?"
Tearing his gaze away from the tasers in the kids hands, he looked at Little Kaiba.
"Yes. I do."
Kaiba's little brother smirked. "Well. Seems you have some brains after all. That's right. You and I are going to play Capsule Monsters."
Yugi fidgeted in the chair. "Please take it easy. I'm not that good yet." Little Kaiba raised a hand, and his goons surrounded Yugi.
"What? Are all high schoolers this wussy? Mess with us and we'll burn your house down! Then use the remains as firewood!"
Yugi lowered his head, trembling with anger. But it wasn't his anger. Someone grabbed his puzzle. "Look at this stupid necklace! Let's smash it!"
The Millennium Puzzle flashed, startling the kids. Yami took over, glaring furiously at them.
"Get your filthy hands off my puzzle you brats!"
They stepped back. "Hey Kaiba! He's not the same anymore!"
Little Kaiba didn't look surprised. "I know. My brother told me about how he changes when he plays games. That's the punk I want to beat!"
Yami crossed his arms, looking smug. "Quit showing off and let's play."
He was about to send Yugi to sleep but stopped when he begged him not to. /No please! I want to see how you play! I'm interested!/
Yami hesitated, fighting his belief to hide the truth and the desire to listen to Yugi. In the end, he agreed.
/Alright Yugi. You can watch./ But there was hesitance, and Yugi noticed it. There was no response from him.
Shaking himself back to the waking world, Yami stared confidently at Little Kaiba. "Let's do this. Think you have what it takes to beat me?"
End Of Chapter Sixteen Part One
