Hybrid Chronicles, The

Chapter the First

At a dinner party, crowds of people enjoy chatting and prattling about the futility of life. Or rather, the conversations convey sentiments of useless tidbits of gossip, like the tale about the President of General Motors dating Madonna's adopted niece. Everyone knew it wasn't true, but they spoke of it nonetheless.

Two women sit at a round table in the center of the room. One is twenty-seven, with sleek, shiny blond hair. Her dress is violet, to match the color of her eyes. On her neck is a 24-karat necklace, apparently a gift from some suitor. From time to time, she fumbles with her jewelry, a sign of severe apprehension.

The other woman is elderly, with gray hair and a wrinkled face. She has seen much hardship, and her eyes droop. Her gown is a pale yellow, and looking at her makes one feel a great pity for all women, young, old, and in-between.

This latter was the first to speak. "Ziama, I have heard the most breathtaking news, and I regret having to wait 'til tonight to relate it to you."

"What is it, Grandmother?"

"My dear Ziama, your lover—young Kaiba—is feeling suicidal."

At this statement, her companion laughed. "Oh, not Cecil! He would never kill himself! You must be joshing, Grandma."

"Ah, would that I were, Ziama! I hate being the bearer of bad news, but three days ago I heard tell that Cecil Kaiba went to ask his father for permission to sail across the Atlantic and hunt the Great White Beast. Mokuba refused. A row commenced, and then Cecil threatened to take his own life if his father didn't change his mind."

Ziama had started to weep. How could Cecil do this, when he had her? Then the tears came out more profusely, and she was unable to voice this question. All that came out was an incoherent, "owknsealdthtwome?"

"If this were not enough," continued the old woman, "it was discovered that Cecil was found in a room with a loaded pistol, and he had planned to pull the trigger. The gun was aimed at his neck, and he would've succeeded, had some friend of his not come in to stop him."

The young woman pulled at her necklace with such a tight grip that it snapped cleanly in two. When she realized what she had done, her crying became greater in volume than previously. A couple of kind-hearted youths came and asked her what was the matter. Ziama'sgrandmother shrugged them off, giving them some false story about the woman being extremely sensitive to onions. Then the old lady took the broken necklace from Ziama's hands. A few minutes later, Ziama was alone at the ball.

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"I have decided to give you the card you desire."

Cecil blinked. Was his father serious? Give him the Hybrid card, which he had begged and begged for? That card was perhaps the most powerful that Kaiba Corporation had ever created, since KC took over Industrial Illusions.

"Yes," Mokuba told his son, seeing his surprise delineated in his countenance. "The Hybrid card. But I think its also time I gave you something else, too." He handed his son a card, face-down.

The young man turned it over. "Blue Eyes White Dragon!" he exclaimed.

"Of course. Cecil, when your uncle died in that terrible plane crash near the Rockies, we noticed that his will designated you as the successor of the Blue Eyes. There was a whole lawsuit concerning this line in the will, since you were only seven years old at the time. Both sides were very heated, but my brother's will remained unaltered in the end. It was decided that on your twenty-first birthday, you would became the rightful owner. So, here it is, son!"

"But…weren't there three Blue Eyes?"

Mokuba frowned. "That's the strangest thing of the whole deal, my boy. Only one Blue Eyes was found. The other two appear to have vanished into thin air, as the saying goes. Some individuals in the lawsuit were accused of actually stealing the other Blue Eyes for themselves. But to this day, their whereabouts are unknown. However, all of the Duel Disks are activated in such a manner that if anybody plays Blue Eyes, the world will know."

"That's incredibly disappointing…But what if I play Blue Eyes, father? Won't everyone know then as well?"

"There's a simple way around that, Cecil." Mokuba paused, while his son waited, anticipating the answer. "You are forbidden from playing the card." This was said in a tone of such finality that it was suggestive that it would be a great error to question it.

But Cecil Kaiba was never sensitive to tones, and he was weary of his father's rules. "Then why give it to me if I can't play it?"

"Seto wanted it to be given to his nephew. However, the card is rated WC-198; in other words, it is within the top two hundred most powerful cards without a cost. And any card on that list is immediately forbidden."

"But aren't Kaibas exempt from rules about forbidden cards?"

"Yes; that may be, but you still can't play it, without breaking your filial duty to me, your father," Mokuba said, appealing to a side of Cecil that did not even exist.

"How about fulfilling my filial duty to my uncle? There must've been some reason he wanted me to have Blue Eyes…and what better reason than to play it?"

"Next your going to tell me you'll be drinking tea with Naomi Motou, Yugi's daughter! And if you ask for my permission to do that, I'll tie you to a chair and prevent you from going! About the card: my orders are that you will not play it, no matter what. Is that clear?"

Cecil was infuriated. "I am twenty-one years old, Father, and therefore I believe I'm my own master. If I wanted to drink tea with Naomi, I wouldn't ask for your blessing. And if I want to summon Blue Eyes in a duel, I'll do so. You no longer can constrain me!" Having said this, Cecil stormed out.

Mokuba was troubled. Who knew that a single card could cause so much pain, possibly rip the family apart? Of course, Cecil had always had a hot temper…a lot more like Seto than his father. Since that day thirteen years ago when Seto had plunged to his death, Mokuba had felt a lack of guidance in life, and it had been very difficult to raise Cecil. In some ways, he was glad to see his brother in his son. It almost felt as though a piece of Seto was still on this earth. His greatest fear was that he would lose Cecil as well, and he knew Blue Eyes White Dragon would give his son an unquenchable thirst for adventure. The best he could do was bar his son from playing it, even though this was futile.

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There was a knock at Cecil's door. "What is it?"

"Excuse me, sir, but I brought you the Hybridization card," said a mild, glassy voice.

"Oh, it's you Reginald. Come in," Kaiba said, very tense because he was still upset with his father.

A meek man, with a bald pate and a forked moustache, sauntered into the room. He wore a purple vest, with white stockings. Reginald extended his arm, handing Cecil the precious card. "I hope it is satisfactory."

Cecil read the effect. It was perfectly in order, and he assured the valet of this. "Would you like to stay for tea?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, but I have a date for tea with Miss Naomi Motou."

They both laughed.

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A cocky fellow with a bad hair-do had just come out of a tournament and was congratulating himself. "Suckers!" he shouted at the other seven people in the top 8.

"I'd say you're the loser, buddy," said a man in a cloak that was as black as night.

"Who's talking? I didn't see you in the tournament."

"I am Snowgrass, and I thought it'd be a good time to test my dueling skills."

"Fine. Name's Nolez. And I'm up for a duel. But here's the thing: When you duel Nolez, you make a risk. And if you lose, you must relinquish your entire deck to Nolez."

"I accept."

"Then let the game…begin!"

4000/4000

"Nolez always goes first, and this is no exception. I draw, and summon Saggi the Dark Clown!" A harlequin with too much make-up, and covered in dabs of black and purple, appeared on the field. It was merely a Jester out of the King's Court. "Then I set two cards face-down, and end my turn."

Snowgrass started his turn by summoning Mataza the Zapper, a green warrior who looked like the Jolly Green Midget, compared to its Brobdingnagian counterpart. It carried a leak for combat.

"Mataza, attack Saggi with all your force!"

Nolez shook his head. "Like I'd let that happen, Snowgrass. I activate Mortification! This spell card only affects three types of monsters. You see, it's like a game of Rock-Paper-Scissors, except…different. The three monster types Mortification targets are: Spellcaster, Warrior, and Dragon. Spellcasters are Superior to Warriors, Warriors are superior to Dragons, and Dragons are superior to Spellcasters. Nolez knows things that would astound you! He he he!"

A force field enveloped Saggi, as Mataza the Zapper rushed toward it with her leak. A mirror image of Mataza was seen for a split-second, and the reflection attacked Snowgrass' Life Points. "What happened?" he asked, dazed.

"Why, it's simple, Nolez knows! Mortification forces the losing party to take damage equal to the ATK points of the monster affected by it. Because Saggi is superior—being a Spellcaster—you took the damage of Mataza's attack. But never fear: Nolez knows your pain!"

2700/4000

Snowgrass set a face-down, and ended his turn.

"Perfect!" Nolez exclaimed, when he drew his card. "I summon Norgi, the Light Clown!"

The new monster was a lot like Saggi, except instead of blue and purple, Norgi was heavy with yellow and red.

Norgi the Light Clown
LV 3/ LIGHT/ Spellcaster
ATK: 500 DEF: 250
This monster cannot be Normal Summoned or Set. This monster can only be Special Summoned if there is a face-up 'Saggi the Dark Clown' on your side of the field. Treat all Equip Spell Cards equipped to any monster with 'Saggi the Dark Clown' in its card name as if those cards were equipped to this monster also.

"Nolez proudly equips Saggi's Archery Arsenal to, who else, Saggi the Dark Clown! And thanks to Norgi's Special Ability, he gets the effect as well!"

Saggi's Archery Arsenal
Equip Spell
This card can only be equipped to 'Saggi the Dark Clown.' A monster equipped with this card can attack your opponent's Life Points directly.

"Both Saggi and Norgi attack you directly!"

Mataza jumped aside as her master was blasted with the weapons of the dual clowns, cackling while he was at their mercy.

1400/4000

Snowgrass began his turn, knowing that he was in great danger of losing the duel when Nolez went again. But he drew "Mystical Space Typoon, to destroy your face-down!"

"Nolez thought you'd try that, and so Nolez activates his face-down, Rageki Break! By discarding one insignificant card from his hand, Nolez can destroy one card on your side of the field. And he chooses Mataza the Zapper!"

"Oh, no!" Snowgrass shouted, feigning exasperation.

Snowgrass was now monster-less. "I guess I'll just have to, activate Hybridization!"

"Nolez has never heard of that card, and Nolez knows every card by heart. Explain yourself, Snowgrass."

"Oh, I have some affiliation with Kaiba Corp and Industrial Illusions, and Hybridization is one of their latest developments. But think not that it has anything to do with Polymerization, although it is similar. Two monsters unite to become one. And now you're about to witness the first time this card ever will be played, when I hybridize two of two rivals in the game. For the two monsters I wish to hybridize are…Red Eyes Black Dragon and Blue Eyes White Dragon!"

Nolez' eyes widened after he heard this declaration. "Then you must be, Mokuba Kaiba's boy."

"That be me!" Cecil laughed as he threw his cloak behind him. The silhouettes of Blue Eyes and Red Eyes were set against the orange October moon. This duel took place at nighttime. "And now meet, Red Eyes White Dragon!"

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A team of computer programmers was casually watching their screens when someone shouted, "Alert! Alert!"

The person who had thus shouted was Carrie McCullers, and everyone recognized her voice because she was very nosy and got into everybody's business. She was obnoxious and vexatious, aggravating and ubiquitous. You couldn't hide anything from Carrie.

"What is it, Carrie?" the head programmer asked her, politely, because if one did not humor Miss McCullers, they might not have a job the next day.

"Someone has just played Blue Eyes White Dragon in Sector 14, Little Ridge Town."

"Let me see," said the chief programmer, in a tone of incredulity.

Carrie called up the image she was referring to. The chief programmer smiled sardonically. "That's just Kaiba's boy. He's exempt from our search for Blue Eyes."

"But isn't it illegal to play it in the first place?" Carrie asked, desperately. "Isn't it a violation of WC-193 or something?"

"WC-198, I am told. But again, Kaiba is excused from this penalty. According to the International Code of Dueling, any person who bears the surname of Kaiba is allowed to play absolutely any card he or she so desires. They do not have to comply to the rules, as you and I do. And if you alert me about a Kaiba again, Carrie 'Hot-Shot' McCullers, I ensure you that you will not ever see the inside of a KC laboratory again after that."

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The first Hybrid monster ever created now stood in the middle of the field. It had a white coat, but with a very dark tint to it. It was scalier than Blue Eyes, and its red eyes were the size of doorknobs. No monster ever looked more intimidating, not even the Egyptian gods back in Seto Kaiba's day.

"Allow me to explain about Hybridization. Any two monsters can be hybridized, and the new monster formed has an ATK equal to half the combined attack power of the monsters who were hybridized. For example, if we hybridized Dark Magician and Drillroid, the new monster would have and ATK of 2050. So my dear pet Red Eyes White Dragon has an attack power of 2700! And I have him attack your Saggi! So long now!"

REWD flared up as he launched his pitiless attack on the poor dwarfish clown. Saggi held up his archery as a defense, but the attack went right through this ersatz shield and blasted the clown to smithereens.

1400/2500

"I end my turn!" Cecil said, triumphantly.

At that precise moment, the earth shook, as a new monster appeared on Nolez' side of the field. It was Goldd, Wu Lord of Dark World. He had discarded it by the effect of Rageki Break, and now it had returned to rumble.

"Nolez likes the card he just drew. In fact, he likes it so much, that he'll play it right now! But first, a little change is in order. Nolez hopes young Kaiba is aware that there is a storm watch going on right now, and even though the dark sky appears to be free of any hazards, even meteorologists can be wrong sometimes. And so, without further ado, Nolez activates Heavy Storm!"

Cecil's single face-down was swept away with the winds.

"Now that that nuisance is out of the way, Nolez will play the card he just drew! Nolez sacrifices both Norgi the Light Clown and Goldd in order to summon the one, the only, Ultimate Obedient Fiend!"

Ultimate Obedient Fiend was the same shade of bright red as Slifer the Sky Dragon. His ATK is 3500, a whopper.

"My monster attacks your Red Eyes White Dragon!"

"There's still time to call off your attack, Nolez. Only, you're making a big mistake."

"Says you. Nolez is destroying your only monster, and reducing your Life Points, and you say Nolez is making a big mistake? Nolez refuses to call Obedient Fiend's attack off."

"Don't say I didn't warn you," Cecil said to himself.

Ultimate Obedient Fiend dug his jaws into REWD's neck. You could feel the tension if you had witnessed the duel. Red Eyes White began to bleed. Then it vanished in a puff of smoke.

0600/2500

Nolez looked very pleased with himself, until he saw the impossible. Red Eyes White was gone, but in its place stood Red Eyes Black Dragon and Blue E yes White. What was worse, they were very angry. And what was worse than that: they were attacking him!

"White Lightning! Inferno Fire Blast!" Cecil shouted at the top of his lungs.

0600/0000

"But, how could Nolez lose?" Cecil's opponent asked, as the monsters vanished from sight. "Nolez had everything under control. Nolez doesn't understand!" And he shook his head very rapidly, as if demons were flaying him.

"Simple," said Kaiba. "I purposefully left out a minor detail. You see, whenever a Hybrid monster is destroyed, the two monsters that formed it are automatically Special Summoned, if they were in the Graveyard. Then, they both attack the opponent directly. There is nothing either player can do to stop this direct attack. You have lost 5400 Life Points, when you only had 2500 to spare."

"That card is dangerous. It should have a cost."

"Well, it doesn't. At least, mine doesn't. And since you lost the duel, Nolez, I do not have to pay your victory prize, which I believe was my deck. However, you, having lost, owe me something. What I desire, is your Norgi the Light Clown."

"Well, you can't have it!" Nolez started to run.

The hologram? of Red Eyes White Dragon stood in Nolez' pathway. It would not let him past. "I would've gladly given you my deck had you lost, boy. Now, hand over Norgi or this will not be pretty."

"Never! Nolez does not obey Kaibas!"

"Who holds your allegiance? Yugi Motou? But," Cecil sneered, "you can have it your way. I'll just flip a coin to decide your fate."

"Is Nolez supposed to believe that Kaiba thinks he can control Nolez' future?"

"Are you from Missouri? It doesn't matter whether you believe it or not. Now, let's see…Heads is Chiron the Mage; tails is Breaker the Magical Warrior. So, Chiron and you can die by being eaten alive by dinosaurs, Breaker and you can enjoy a nice hot, flame-filled journey to death. And here it goes!"

Nolez was fretting about now. What if Kaiba really intended to kill him? If he was anything like his uncle, Kaiba wouldn't hesitate. But it had to be some kind of legerdemain or sleight-of-hand.

"Breaker. Guess you'll have to take the heat. I summon Blazing Impachi." A tree that was on fire was glowing boldly against the night sky. "My dear friend Nolez, for the last time, will you listen to reason and hand over my desideratum, namely Norgi the Light Clown? Or will you have to suffer a most painful death?"

"Nolez will give Kaiba the card! All right?" He searched his deck for it, and handed it to Cecil, who quickly put it in his vest pocket.

"Now can you release Nolez?"

"I'm afraid not, buddy. You haven't yet hugged Blazing Impachi, who came all the way from the Dominion of the Beasts just to see you."

"You're joking, right?"

Cecil wore a grim smile. "No, of course not. I really think you two ought to become acquainted. Just step forth a little. Now, Red Eyes White will shock you." As he said this, REWD attacked Nolez as if he were a duel monster. This frightened Nolez and he ran into Impachi, cracked his skull on the scorching bark, and fell to the ground with a clatter. Flames from Blazing Impachi climbed up Nolez' clothes as if they were made of silk threads. Man, deck, and Duel Disk all burned to ashes, and not a trace remained of them twenty minutes later. Then the not so hologrammic Red Eyes White Dragon and Blazing Impachi disappeared from the field.

"One down. Five thousand more to go," Cecil Kaiba said to himself.