Yu-Gi-Oh! Nebula (Chapter 2.)

I posted this some time ago on Pojo, but I'd like to update on both forums. This is the first chapter, keep in mind this was nearly a year ago and thustly the grammar/punctuation/dialogue tags are not good to start with. My writing gets much better down the road.

"It has been 8 years since the world was mostly destroyed by the three Nebula brothers. A reactor that had the power to the world's energy was used to power three Celestial Gods. The three brothers formed an organization to ensure there was no true civilization, barring occasional cities to preserve human life. However, after years of control, people have began to realize how brutal the organization better known as "Nebula" is. they have began to fight back, but Nebula is persistent to end the lives of every rebel."


It had become cold outside as the started to set. A man who looked to be his early twenties was lying behind a large rock in a debris-filled Wasteland. He sat up and looked at the sunset.

"I gotta get out of here..." The man said.

He looked to the west and saw a small town. He stood up and carefully walked through metal scraps and wasted rubble. He looked at a large gash on his leg and shook his head before continuing.

He saw a small shard on ice land near him. He wanted to run, but there was nowhere too run. He took his duel disk out of his backpack and attached it to his arm and carefully looked around. He saw a trail of dust to the north.

He activated his duel disk as he saw a young man jump off an oncoming vehicle causing the dust trail. The young man was being followed by a knight-like figure carrying a lance. It was a duel monster.

"How in god's name can you two be so persistent!?" The man asked, nearly falling.

"Apollo demanded that I take you, Brian. He's believes that you know far too much." The other man said.

He had his duel disk on his arm and "Royal Knight of the Ice Barrier" on a monster zone. He took the card and placed it in his deck, then shuffled it.

"Darlell, leave Brian to me." The man said, waving at the driver of the vehicle. Darlell nodded and stopped the vehicle, which appeared to be a poorly made jeep.

"Why not just let him duel me? He's way better than you, Tony." Brian said, shuffling his deck.

"Because, Apollo wants you alive. You've seen Darlell kill over a dozen people with his powers. You'd be no different. At least I don't inflict actual damage." Tony said.

"Whatever, as long as I can hold you off for a while longer." Brian said.

"Then you may have the starting move." Tony said.

Both Tony and Brian drew five cards and set their life points to 4000. Brian drew his first card and rubbed sweat off of his forehead.

"I'll start by summoning Machina Sniper in attack position." Brian said.

He watched as a large metallic soldier appeared in front of him. The mechanical soldier mounted a massive metallic sniper rifle on it's soldier and had it aim fixed on Tony.

"I'll equip it with Break Draw and set two cards face down." Brian said. "Turn End."

Tony laughed and began his turn by drawing a card.

"Thanks for that. Since you control 4 more cards than I do, I'll just special summon Medium of the Ice Barrier. Since her attack is 2200, I'll mow over Machina Sniper's 1800 easily." Tony said.

A woman with a beautiful blue and periwinkle dress with golden marks on it appeared in front of Tony. She appeared to be meditating.

"Not a chance!" Brian said."I activate Rare Metalmorph, giving Machina Sniper an extra 500 ATK!"

The metallic soldier looked down and a liquid metal began to cover it's body.

"I activate Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy Rare Metalmorph." Tony said, smirking. A raging wind blew the hologram of Rare Metalmorph into shreds, and the liquid metal vanished. Brian didn't seem phased.

"Now, I believe I'll attack. Since you've activated a trap card, you can't activate anymore spells or traps for this turn thanks to my Medium." Tony said. The woman's eyes opened. She raised her hand, and spirits from the ground below began to howl as they rammed into Machina Sniper. It was dissolved and destroyed rather quickly, much to Brian's dismay.

(BRIAN: 3600) (TONY: 4000)

"I'll activate Moray of Greed and return both Shock Troops and Geomancer of the Ice Barrier to my deck to draw two cards." Tony said. He added the aforementioned cards to his deck and shuffled it, then drew 3 cards.

"Now, I'll play both Medallion of the Ice Barrier and Swords of Revealing Light. I'll add Royal Knight of the Ice Barrier to my hand by Medallion's effect, and due to Swords, you can't attack for 3 of your turns." Tony said. A small medallion appeared in front of Medium, and Tony took his Royal Knight from his deck and added it to his hand.

"Turn End." Tony said.

Brian drew a card, wondering about Tony's intentions. He had Mercury Scarecrow in his hand to stop a direct attack and Ancient Gear Soldier to defend himself, but he had no idea how to pull off an effective offense. He looked at his newly drawn Geartown and frowned.

"I'll set a monster and end." Brian said. A large face down card appeared.

"My move, then." Tony said. He drew a card and laughed.

"I'll summon Blizzed, Defender of the Ice Barrier in attack position." Tony said. A large white bird with massive white wings appeared in front of Tony and screeched.

"Now, Medium shall destroy your set monster." Tony said. Medium raised her hand and unleashed howling spirits at his face-down, but Brian triggered his face down.

"I activate Sakuretsu Armor to obliterate Medium!" Brian shouted. A demon-like creature latched itself onto Medium and crystallized her. The crystallized Medium shattered along with the armor.

"I hate that card. It's really impeded by progress over the years." Said Tony. "Turn End."

Brian grinned and drew his next card.

"I'll activate Machine Assembly Line." Brian said. A large empty and quiet factory surrounded the two. Conveyor belts, magnets, and metal containers were all over the place, but Tony remained unimpressed.

"I'll flip my Ancient Gear Soldier. Thanks to Assembly Line, it gains 200 ATK." Brian said.

Another metallic soldier appeared in front of Brian, though this one was far less new and looked extremely old and primitive in comparison to Sniper with it's most powerful feature clearly being it's Gatling gun in place of a hand on it's right arm.

"I'll end." Brian said. He could barely stand and noticed blood was trickling down to his foot.

"Getting weak, I see." Tony said. He drew a card.

"I'll tribute my Blizzed to summon Royal Knight in attack position. With 2000 attack, this next part will be more painful than the wound Darlell gave you..." Tony said.

The bird transformed into a large ice crystal. The knight burst out of it and gave a loud war cry and slammed its lance onto the ground. An ice-encased coffin appeared on Brian's field.

"When Royal Knight is tribute summoned, an Ice Coffin Token is place onto your field in attack mode. It has 1000 ATK compared to my Knight's 2000, unfortunately for you." Tony said.

The bulky knight aimed its icy lance at the Ice coffin. It threw the lance into into coffin, causing it to shatter. Brian's brown hair blew in the cold wind caused by the Royal Knight.

(BRIAN: 2600) (TONY: 4000)

"Now, when Royal Knight inflicts damage, I can send my "Ghost Spirit of the Ice barrier" from my deck to my graveyard to destroy one card you control." Tony said.


"Turn End." Tony said. Tony looked at the surrounding factory. The Ancient Gear's part were all picked up by a large magnet and transported then dropped onto a conveyor belt.

"My move." said Brian. He drew a card and placed it into his hand.

"I summon Scrap Recycler." Tony said. A small metal being that looked like a bucket fused with the back of a motorcycle appeared. it appeared to have a fist as an attack method.

"With his effect, I'll send Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon to my graveyard, then I'll return Soldier an Sniper back to my deck to draw one card." Brian said. He repeated these steps and ended them by drawing a card.

"I activate Solidarity. Now my recycler's ATK raises by 800 as long as the only types of monster in my graveyard are machine type." Brian said. Scrap Recycler covered itself in a silver aura as its ATK rose to 1900.

"Turn end." Brian said.

"Well then, now I can make you squirm." Tony said. He drew his next card. The Swords of Revealing Light card vanished, but it was irrelevant to Tony by now.

"I summon Dewdark of the Ice Barrier, then I'll tune both it and my Royal Knight." Tony said. Both monsters became small balls of light that began to circle each other.

"A cold wind in the night becomes the messenger of death as a great dragon approaches from the heart of the icy lands! Synchro Summon! Grugnir! Dragon of the Ice Barrier!" Tony shouted.

The balls of light formed into a small ball of wind. It began to increase in speed before it burst into what, to Brian, felt like a hurricane. It was great enough to knock Brian down and nearly be blown away. At the same time it made him feel like he was in a freezer.

When he looked again, he saw a massive dragon with icy armor around its entire body. It roared at Brian and prepared to launch an attack.

"I'll activate his ability and discard both Pilgrim and Mirror of the Ice Barrier to destroy Scrap Recycler and Solidary." Tony said, smiling.

Grugnir stomped one of its feet. Scrap Recycler attempted to drive away, but it and Solidarity were almost immediately encased in Ice. Both cards shattered into pieces.

"Now, you'll be left with almost nothing! Attack him, Grugnir!" Tony shouted. The winds began to kick up, but Brian stood up.

"Hell no, Tony! Not now!" Brian yelled. "I discard Mercury Scarecrow to negate the attack of Grugnir."

"You..." Tony whispered. "Turn End."

Brian managed to smile as he drew his next card.

"I activate Geartown." Brian said. The walls of the Assembly Line were destroyed as a City formed around the two duelists. The city was filled with stone roads and towers with signs powered by gears, all constantly moving.

"Now I'll summon Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Chimera. Since I have Geartown, i can summon Ancient Gears with one less tribute. Since Chimera has 6 Stars, he doesn't need a tribute at all." Brian said. A stone creature with gearwork powering it appeared. It had three different heads, but each of them looked at Grugnir in the eye. All three heads roared as its ATK raised from 2300 to 2500 due to Assembly Line.

"No...!" Tony yelled.

"Yes!" Brian yelled. "Attack Grugnir!"

The Chimera hopped onto Grugnir's back and began to chew on its neck. Grugnir began to fly and rammed into one of the Geartown skyscrapers in an attempt to get Chimera off, however, both were unable to sustain life after the crash and both were destroyed.

"I end." Brian said.

Tony drew his next card and screamed.

"You'll die for doing that! I won't have my heirloom be defiled ever again!" Tony shouted. "I activate Salvage to return Pilgrim and Dewdark to my hand!"

Tony looked at his hand carefully.

"I summon Pilgrim of the Ice Barrier!" Tony yelled. A woman in a red dress with a seal on her head appeared. She gave one look at Brian before raising her hand.

"Make him feel pain!" Tony yelled.

The Pilgrim immediately began charging electricity before sending it at Brian, she took a small portion in his chest. He screamed and nearly fell, but managed to keep his balance.

"End." Tony said.

"You... You have psychic powers too?!" Brian asked.

"Indeed." Tony said.

(BRIAN: 1100) (TONY: 4000)

Brian drew his next card which he then summoned.

"I summon Ancient Gear Engineer." Brian said. A thin mechanical soldier appeared with a drill for one hand and a claw for the other. It had a glowing green eye that looked at Tony. It took a step back.

"Attack Pilgrim!" Brian yelled.

Engineer, with its attack at 1700 due to assembly Line, lunged at Pilgrim. Pilgrim shot electricity at it, but it was ineffective. Engineer's drill pieced through pilgrim, destroying her almost instantly.

(BRIAN: 1100) (Tony: 3800)

"You finally managed to hit me!" Tony said.

"I end." Brian said.

"My move..." Tony said. He drew his next card.

"I activate Wetlands, which puts an end to Geartown." Tony said. The city began to crumble as swamps began to cover the streets. Grass grew over the debris to form a depressing arena.

"When Geartown is destroyed, I can summon an Ancient Gear from my hand, deck, or Graveyard! I'll choose Gadjiltron Chimera from my Graveyard!" Brian said, grinning. The mechanical Beast climbed out of the water and onto the grass, then shook before jumping in front of Brian.

"It's too late! Now I summon Dewdark in attack mode." Tony said. A ninja like man appeared in the middle of the Wetlands and revealed a shuriken.

"Thanks to Wetlands, all Aqua-type level 2 or lower water monsters gain 1200 ATK. Dewdark is just that. To make this my crowning moment of success, as long as the only minster I control are level 2 or lower, I can attack you directly. Good bye, Brian!" Tony yelled.

Dewdark threw his shuriken at Brian.

"Not today, Tony." Brian said. He took his Mercury Scarecrow from his graveyard and revealed it.

"By removing this from play if its been discarded by its own effect, I may destroy an attacking monster and a monster I control with a higher level. I choose Engineer." Brian said. He removed his Scarecrow from play and watched as Engineer lunged in front of him to take the Shuriken. Engineer exploded, and a mechanical scarecrow appeared from the water below Dewdark and dragged it into the water.

"I haven't lost yet!" Tony yelled. "Turn end!"

"Sure..." Brian said as he drew a card.

"Every time a machine type monster was destroyed, 2 Junk Counters were placed on Assembly line. 8 exist now, and I can remove any number and send assembly line to the grave to summon a Machine Type with a level equal to or less than the number on Junk Counters." Brian said.

"You mean, I've...lost?" Tony asked.

"Yes. I remove all 8 counters and send away assembly Line to summon Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon from my graveyard." Brian said. The assembly line crumble into the water. Two large, eroded metal wings rose from the water. Two large claws then appeared. Then, the creature burst out of the water and into the sky. It flew back around and pointed its long, steel tail at Tony.

"Chimera! Attack!" Brian yelled. A chimera head opened its mouth to reveal a cannon. It launched a small fire burst at Tony. Tony was unable to block the attack and yelled in pain.

(BRIAN: 1100) (TONY: 1500)

"Please! Not the Gadjiltron Dragon! That was used by one of our most dangerous members...!" Tony said.

"Before that man you speak of turned to Nebula, he gave me this deck. I'm going to bring him and the leaders of your organization down, no matter what!" Brian yelled. "End it, Gadjiltron!"

The dragon opened its mouth and began charging energy. Tony silently watched as the energy charged.

"You will one day obey the Nebula, Brian!" Tony yelled. Gadjiltron Dragon fired its energy blast at Tony, who shielded himself with his arm. The blast landed in front of him, the resulting explosion blowing him several feet away.

(BRIAN: 1100) (TONY: 0)

Darlell put in his black jacket and got out of his jeep. He ran over to Tony to look at his condition. tony appeared to barely be alive, but it appeared as through "Grugnir, Dragon of the Ice Barrier" had been burnt in half, along with a few other cards in his deck. Darlell put him over his shoulders to go back to the jeep.

"See ya sometime, guys." Brian yelled from a distance. Darlell looked around, unable to see Brian. He saw his jeep start up. Darlell tried to catch up to the jeep, but it was too late; Brian had managed to hijack it.

"Finally, I can head to the coast. North Carolina seems to be about 400 miles away..." Brian said. Brian suddenly began to hear breathing, and looked in the seat behind him. There was a young teenage boy.

"The hell? Who are you and when did you get in here?!" Brian asked. He stopped the jeep.

"I'm Danny, please don't kill me! I'm not working with them! When that guy in the car was watching you two duel, I snuck in hoping I could get a ride to the coast!" Danny said.

"Why would you want to go to the coast?" Brian asked.

"Because! I want to find a rebellion that wants to beat people like those guys you faced!" Danny said.

"You crazy? You'd do best just to part ways with me when we get to the next town. Where did you come from, anyway?" Brian asked.

"From that town in the west. I headed out when I saw a duel going on." Danny said.

"So now you want to join freedom fighters? I'm still not trusting you." Brian said.

"I have family that went missing. My mom and dad have wanted to see my older brother again for months. I've decided to go and find him." Danny said.

"Fine then. I have a few things to take care of with the organization myself. We'll travel and find this rebel group, it can't hurt." Brian said. Brain tried to start the jeep again, but it wouldn't move. Both Brian and Danny got out of the car to examine the problem, when they what looked like a horrible squid creature with spikes on it's tentacles. It had latched onto the jeep and dug its spiky tentacles into the ground.

"It's not that easy to get rid of me." Darlell said, approaching Brian and Danny.

"You used your Worms to keep Tony safe and to get here fast, I'm betting?" Brian asked.

"Yes, and now I will just have to kill the both of you." Darlell said.

TO BE CONTINUED



CARD OF THE DAY:

GRUGNIR, DRAGON OF THE ICE BARRIER
WATER
7 STARS
DRAGON/SYNCHRO/EFFECT
2500 ATK/1700 DEF
1 Tuner + 1 or More non-tuner WATER monsters.
Once per turn, you can discard up to 2 cards to the Graveyard to select the same number of cards your opponent controls. Destroy the selected cards.

CHAPTER 2: Rebels

Three young men stood near a poorly made jeep, all with their duel disks activated. Brian and Danny, looking at a squid-like worm attached to their jeep, readied their decks.

Darlell, standing in front of them, removed the card "Worm Tentacles" from his duel disk. When Danny began to step towards the jeep, Darlell placed Lightning Vortex in his spell and trap zone.

A large, bright lightning bolt instantly hit the jeep, causing a small explosion. Danny, being near the jeep, ducked as the explosion occurred. Brian, who decided to shield himself with his arms, was hit in the legs and arms with several pieces of shrapnel. He yelled in pain and collapsed onto the ground. He looked up at Darlell before passing out.

Danny stood up and looked at Brian's condition, and then at the jeep.

"You're powers... how are you so in control?!" Danny asked.

"Years of discipline and hard work. Most cards I use become real, and most people tend to really get startled by the creatures I enjoy. Worms are quite horrifying, and their attacks are truly brutal. Something you, kid, will now feel," Darlell said. He shuffled his deck and set his life points to 4000.

"I have to duel you...?" Danny asked, twitching a small bit.

"If you want Brian to have any shot at surviving," Darlell said.

"Fine," Danny said. He shuffled his deck and set his life points to 4000. Both players drew 5 cards.

"I'll begin," Darlell said. He drew a card, staring maliciously at Danny.

"I'll summon Worm Ugly in attack position," Darlell said. A hideous, terrifying ball of mush and goo with eyes and a small mouth appeared onto the field. Danny felt like vomiting when he heard it plop onto the ground.

(Worm Ugly: ATK/DEF: 100.)

"I'll set 2 cards face down and end my turn," Darlell said. He carefully watched Danny.

Danny drew a card and calmed down.

"I activate A Legendary Ocean!" Danny yelled. A hologram ocean contained by clear walls surrounded the two. The ocean was filled with small fish and various ruins now inhabited by sharks and eels. Danny smiled.

"I'll make you regret what you've done," Danny said. "I summon Sea Serpent Warrior of Darkness in attack mode!"

An armored humanoid appeared in front of Worm Ugly. It was, under the violet and metal armor, a sea creature. It growled in an attempt to frighten worm Ugly, but the ugly ball of slime had no response.

"Because of Legendary Ocean, his ATK and DEF are increased by 200," Danny said.

(Sea Serpent Warrior of Darkness ATK: 2000/DEF: 1700.)

"Next, I'll set one card face down and attack Worm Ugly," Danny said.

"I activate Nightmare Wheel before you attack. Your monster can no longer attack or change its battle position. The best part? During my standby phases, you take 500 damage," Darlell said, chuckling.

A large wheel appeared near the Warrior. Two large skeleton hands picked up the warrior and placed him in a slot on the wheel. The warrior attempted to escape, but the hands placed shackles on it. The wheel appeared to growl and began to spin. Every time it spun, the warrior felt its armor be sc***** by a large pair of teeth at the top of the wheel.

"Then... I end," Danny said.

"I draw," Darlell said. "You can't do much when you seem to lack powers. Regardless, you take 500 points,"

(DANNY: 3500) (DARLELL: 4000)

"Now, I tribute Worm Ugly to summon Worm Prince in attack mode," Darlell said. The ball of hideousness melted, and a creature rose from the goo left behind. A orange human-like creature with sharp looking wings on its back appeared. It gave out a horrible scream that made Danny cover his ears in pain.

(Worm Prince: 2200 ATK/400 DEF.)

"How are you immune to these screams?!" Danny asked.

"Because I'm used to them. I trained myself to withstand screams. So much so that I feel nothing more than pure ecstasy every time I hear a scream or screech of that caliber," Darlell said. "Now, since I used Worm Ugly for the tribute summon of a worm monster, I can summon it to your field in attack position,"

The ball of hideousness appeared on Danny's field. It turned to look at Danny. Danny felt completely terrified, but figured that's what Darlell was going for. He calmed himself.

"I attack your Worm Ugly with Worm Prince," Darlell said.

The Prince jumped up and dive kicked Worm Ugly. Worm Ugly splattered into pieces. Danny felt a bit on goo hit his arm. He almost immediately felt its acidic properties and yelled in pain, trying to wipe it off with his shirt. It barely helped. Eventually, it stopped eating at his arm, but it left a large mark on Danny's left arm.

(DANNY: 1400.) (DARLELL: 4000.)

"With Worm Prince's effect, I can add a Worm monster from my deck to my hand," Darlell said. "I choose Worm Xex,"

"This is harsh..." Danny said.

"Maybe you should've stayed home, boy. What's your name, again?" Darlell asked.

"Danny Johnson," Danny said.

"Interesting name. You know, I think one of our prisoners is a man named Greg Johnson, and he looks quite similar to you. Both of you have rather short brown hair, gray eyes. He was a bit taller than you, but that's it from what I remember," Darlell said.

"That's my older brother! Tell me where he is!" Danny shouted.

"I'd prefer to keep tormenting you." Darlell said. "I now activate Destruct Potion. My Worm Prince will be destroyed if I don't control another Worm monster by the end phase anyway, so I'll use Destruct Potion's effect to destroy it and gain life points equal to its attack."

The Prince faded into a pink mist, which howled as it entered Darlell. Danny shuddered as he saw this. He felt like he was watching someone be possessed.

(DANNY: 1400. DARLELL: 6200.)

"I'll set a card and end," Darlell said.

"I'll have to win this..." Danny said. "While I'm drawing, I activate Dust Tornado to removed the wheel on my Sea Serpent Warrior!"

"I activate Dark Bribe. You draw a card, and your Dust Tornado is negated." Darlell said. The Tornado barely began to form before it dissipated. Danny reluctantly drew a card. It was Warrior of Atlantis.

"I summon Warrior of Atlantis!" Danny said.A creature that appeared to be a hybrid of a human and a shark appeared to the field. One of its arms seemed to have a projectile spear attached to it. It aimed it at Darlell.

(Warrior of Atlantis: ATK: 2100/DEF: 1400.)

"I'll attack you directly." Danny said. The Warrior released the small spear which went through Darlell, delivering no real damage to him.

(DANNY: 1400.) (DARLELL: 4100.)

"You have no psychic powers, or any that you do are so weak I couldn't feel it. Brian would've been more interesting to duel since he had at least some real power with certain cards..." Darlell said, yawning.

"Shut up," Danny said. "I end,"

"Good, now I draw. You take another 500 thanks to my Wheel." Darell said.

(DANNY: 900.) (DARLELL: 4100.)

"I'll set a monster and end," Darlell said.

"Really? That's it!? Good!" Danny said. He drew a card and raised his hand.

"I'll summon Doom Creeping Manta in attack mode," Danny said. A large Manta ray appeared above the duelists. It looked to have an excessively sharp tail and body, as if the entire thing was a massive knife.

(Doom Creeping Manta: ATK: 1500/DEF: 1400.)

"I'll attack your face-down with Warrior of Atlantis," Danny said. His heart began to pound.

"It, unfortunately for you, is Worm Millidith. It equips itself to a monster you control and during every standby phase unleashed 400 points of damage to your life points," Darlell said. Danny's look went from pained to completely shocked. Doom Creeping Manta went right past Millidith and slammed into Darlell.

(DANNY: 900. DARLELL: 2600.)

"It means nothing," Darlell said. Millidith attached itself to the front of Warrior and drove its claws into him.

"I have to be able to do something to you...!" Danny said. Danny raised his hand and called for Warrior to attack. Another spear went through Darlell, but he suffered no injury.

(DANNY: 900.) (DARLELL: 500.)

Danny had no choice; He ended his turn.

Darlell drew his final card and watched as Nightmare Wheel took 500 life points from Danny.

(DANNY: 400.) (DARLELL: 500.)

"How can you be so cruel?" Danny asked.

"Because, you joined with the man who nearly killed my partner. I sincerely despise you for it, because Tony is the only friend I have. If you enrage me, I'll make you suffer for it. It eases my mind, and makes me feel better." Darlell said.

Millidith spat acid at Danny which hit him squarely in the chest. He collapsed and began yelling in pain.

(DANNY: 0. DARLELL: 500.)


Slowly, he began to lose consciousness. He began to see fire surrounding all three of them, and began to wonder what happened. Before he passed out, he saw Darlell being hit in his torso with a small fireball.


When Danny woke up, he found himself in a small bed. He looked out the window and saw that the house was in an actual town and realized he was in an actual house. He noticed he had bandages around his arm and chest, where he had been burned. He continued looking outside.

"So, you're awake?" Brian asked. Danny turned to see Brian in a doorway. He was in a wheelchair. A young woman and a young man both were behind Brian. Danny looked at Brian's bandages that covered his legs and the few that were on his arms.

"Yeah. I remember losing to Darlell, and then fire appeared out of nowhere. Then I passed out. Where the hell are we and who are those two...?" Danny asked.

"I'm Charles," The man said.

"And I'm Lyra. We're both freedom fighters who came across you guys. I created that fire and drove Darlell off, but he'll probably be back," Lyra said. "We're also in a city called Daedalus. It was made a few years ago, and it's about 300 miles away from the border of North Carolina. Brian told us you both were headed to the coast,"

"We were," Danny said.

"Well, you're gonna have to wait till you recover. You can't cross the ocean or beat Celestial Gods in your condition," Lyra said.

"Celestial Gods? What are you talking about?" Danny asked.

"Beings that came from the stars. They're controlled by the leader of Nebula," Lyra said.

"What can those things do besides destroy worlds, exactly?" Danny asked.

"I think that's what they were meant for. The only documents we have of them being seen were when the world was badly damaged. Three swirling creatures slammed into the earth, and this was the result," Lyra said.

"Great, and the base where these guys live is in the Black Sea, right?" Danny asked.

"That's what we've heard. Crossing the Atlantic won't be easily with the patrol out there, but I think we can accomplish it within a few weeks," Lyra said.

"Do you guys know that guy who was after us?" Danny asked.

"Yeah, him and Tony chased us a while back. This guy Brian seems to be their new target. What'd you do to tick em' off, Brian?" Lyra asked.

"I raided a base of theirs and stole important documents. One of the Nebula Brothers then demanded that I knew too much and sent those guys after me. That's how this kid got dragged into it," Brian said.

"By your logic we're kids too. My sister and I are only 16. You look to be in your twenties," Charles said.

"I'm 25," Brian said. "You know, I was going to go to college and lead a decent life, and then this crap happened. So, I had nothing better to do than fight back because I knew I'd be able to take a couple of guys down,"

"We lost our parents. They got us below ground over themselves. What about you, Danny?" Lyra asked.

"My entire family survived. I was 8 when it all happened. We went below ground and survived everything, but my older brother was taken by Nebula, so I'm going with Brian to stop Nebula from their rule," Danny said.

"We're coming too. Both of us are following a man who calls himself the Blue Phoenix and his followers. He's sort of a legend, but I'm mostly following him because world travel will give me info on artifacts and ruins I've sought out," Charles said.

"I'm following him because it could get me some answers on who the leader of he organization is," Lyra said.

"Now that we're clear on motives, I'm going to rest a bit more. My chest and arm feel awful," Danny said.

"Fine by us. As long as you get some rest, you'll be fine, Charles and I are fine doctors," Lyra said.

"Oh, and why is this Blue Phoenix a legend?" Danny asked as he went back to bed.

"He supposedly uses this deck an old dueling legend used a few years ago. He's never actually dueled when we were present," Lyra said. She and Charles left the room. Brian remained.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Brian asked. "It's dangerous, and I don't want an innocent teen getting killed,"

"I think I'll be fine. I'm just looking for my brother," Danny said.

"I know how you feel, in a twisted way. I'm looking for an old mentor, most of all. He taught me a lot during the first couple of years of our new world when Nebula first formed. After a while, things happened and I went on my own," Brian said.

"Why are you bothering to look for him?" Danny asked.

"It's both a bond between a aster and a student that's hard to break and an unrelenting hatred. I can't really explain it. I can tell you now, don't expect me to teach you much. I was left somewhat bitter to life lessons," Brian said. He slowly left the room, leaving Danny to sleep.

Danny thought about everything suddenly changing. He thought his parents must be terrified and sad, that he'd die on his way to stop Nebula, that he'd never meet his brother again, that his brother was dead, and that they'd never make it back home together. He thought of each combination of these possible, repeatedly. They shuffled through his mind, but he eventually grew too tired and fell back asleep.


CARD OF THE DAY:

WORM PRINCE
LIGHT
6 STARS
REPTILE/EFFECT
2200 ATK/400 DEF
If this card destroys an opponent's monster by battle, you can add 1 Reptile-Type "Worm" monster from your Deck to your hand. If you don't control at least 1 other Reptile-Type "Worm" monster, destroy this card during the End Phase.