The Silver Slifer Chronicles Chapter 23: A Mind Polluted, a yu-gi-oh gx fanfic

Author's Note: I own nothing in relation to Yu-Gi-Oh GX.

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See the end of this chapter for a list of cards introduced into the story.

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CHAPTER 23 – A MIND POLLUTED

The next day, I made it a point to test out the new cards I had received from Sartorius first thing. I quickly crossed the island to the massive Obelisk Blue dorm, still filled with sleeping students on the cloudy Saturday morning. I didn't encounter a single person on my trek through the giant mansion, eventually coming to a stop at Sartorius's private dueling chamber. I knocked on the door, and immediately got a response.

"You may come in," came Sartorius's reply. I stepped into the chamber silently, and found him standing at the opposite end of the room with his duel disk already equipped. I blinked and scratched my head.

"You're sure good at predictions," I commented with a raised eyebrow.

"One of my talents," was the reply. "Let's find out what skills you really have!"

Sartorius activated his duel disk, and I quickly equipped mine and switched it on.

Alistair 4000 – Sartorius 4000

"You can have the first move," I offered, examining the new cards I had received with uncertainty.

"Very well," Sartorius replied, drawing his first card. "I'll begin by summoning Arcana Force III – The Empress (1300 / 1300)!" The Empress turned out to be a strange grey alien-like humanoid with large ruby-colored eyes. A holographic duplicate of the card itself appeared over its head, and gradually began rotating.

"Are you a believer in fate, Mr. Rhein?" he inquired with curiosity. "This card possesses two different abilities, but which one it uses depends on when the card stops spinning. Go ahead, stop it."

I glanced at the spinning card. First Temperance, now The Empress. I guess this guy had an affinity for tarot cards. Unfortunately, I knew nothing about the meaning of the cards, so aiming for a specific orientation was out of the question. I waited for a few moments before shouting out, "Stop!"

The card slowed and eventually came to a halt. It had stopped right-side up. Sartorius didn't bother explaining the effect yet, but instead just selected another card from his hand.

"I'll lay this face-down for later," he continued with a smile. "Your turn to surprise me."

I drew a card, figuring his smile meant Arcana Force III had stopped where he wanted.

"I'll start with the spell card, Pot of Greed," I declared, "which as you know, allows me to draw twice." Grabbing two new cards, I picked out the strongest Level 4 monster I had.

"Next I'll summon Zodiac Taurus (1600 / 1600), attack mode!" I continued, a mystical bluish-silver bull emerging onto the field, an aura of otherworldly energy emanating from it.

"Ah, so you're using the deck I sent you," Sartorius chimed with happiness. "This will be interesting indeed. But unfortunately I must interrupt – for due to Arcana Force III's current ability, whenever you summon a monster to your field, I can summon another monster for myself – namely Arcana Force VI -The Lovers (1600 / 1600)!"

A blue and black creature about as human-like as The Empress joined the field, crossing its arms and kneeling in a defense stance. Like The Empress, a card appeared over Arcana Force VI and rotated slowly. Strangely, I didn't even have to ask for it to stop, because it automatically locked itself into the upright position.

"Oh sure, like that's fair," I commented sarcastically. Sartorius just smiled.

"You were going to stop it in that position anyway," he explained. "Don't you see? Your fate has already made your decisions for you, Alistair. The future can't be altered."

"…Uh-huh…" I said, not quite understanding what this guy was getting at. "Right, well let me show you what your Empress's destiny is! Taurus, attack Arcana Force III!" Taurus charged across the field and slammed itself violently into Arcana Force III, blasting it into pieces. Sartorius calmly shielded his face with his arm as his Life Points dropped to 3700.

Alistair 4000 – Sartorius 3700

"I'll add one face-down and end my turn," I concluded, a bit unnerved that Sartorius seemed indifferent about the entire duel.

"Don't get too confident just yet," he commented, drawing his next card and examining it. "My cards can tell me far more about you than your own." I raised an eyebrow, not exactly sure what he meant by that.

"Well I've concluded that you're some kind of fortune teller," I said. "But that certainly doesn't mean I believe in any of that stuff." Sartorius laughed calmly, still holding the card he drew.

"Perhaps by the end of this duel, you'll have more faith in the meaning of your cards," he replied. "Now where was I? Ah, of course. Due to Arcana Force VI's ability, all Arcana Forces on my field count as two tribute monsters. I'll exercise that ability by sacrificing Arcana Force VI!"

The Lovers dissolved into golden dust and vanished, while Sartorius played the monster he had just drawn.

"I summon Arcana Force XIX - The Sun (2900 / 2900)!" he declared. A colossal black and silver creature emerged from behind Sartorius, appearing to be some sort of floating pedestal with a massive orb on top. From behind the orb extended numerous large tentacles that curled around and pointed directly at my field, each one tipped with deadly spikes. As expected, a holographic card representation of Arcana Force XIX materialized overhead and began its usual rotation. I, however, was slightly more concerned with The Sun's lofty total of 2900 attack points.

"You know what to do," Sartorius said softly. "It's your destiny to decide."

I was growing gradually more uncomfortable with Sartorius's "destiny" talk, but concentrated on the massive Arcana Force in front of me. I waited patiently as the card continued to rotate, considering the optimal time to halt its movement.

"Stop!"

The card slowed down, and to my relief, stopped itself upside down.

"Finally," I grumbled as Sartorius said nothing. I supposed I'd find out the upside-down effect of The Sun later on. In the meantime, there was still the issue of that Arcana Force having way more points than my monsters.

"Arcana Force XIX's effect will come into play later, but for now, I believe I'll have it destroy your Zodiac Taurus!" he decided. The massive Arcana Force launched its spiked barbs, attached to chains like anchors. The barbs smashed into Taurus, creating a powerful blast and sending dust and smoke everywhere, and resulting in a deduction of 1300 Life Points.

Alistair 2700 – Sartorius 3700

"I activate a trap card!" I responded afterward, "Light Speed Lag!"

A card flipped upward, depicting a fading Zodiac monster giving off beams of light.

"Taurus won't be leaving the field just yet," I said as the smoke cleared to reveal a ghost of Zodiac Taurus remaining on the field in Defense Position. Sartorius seemed unfazed, and instead just smiled knowingly.

"I have nothing further to play," he admitted. "So it is your turn."

I drew my next card and came up with a plan.

"Firstly, Zodiac Taurus's special ability activates," I stated as a glowing orb of light faded into view. The orb began to orbit around Taurus, much like a planet revolving around a sun. "During each of my turns, Zodiac monsters produce 1 Star Counter, which they use as energy."

I selected a new monster from my hand and placed it on my duel disk.

"And joining Taurus will be my Zodiac Aries (1400 / 1400)!" I proclaimed, a majestic ram about the same size as Taurus taking its place on my side of the field. Like Taurus, it too gave off a strange aura of energy unlike anything I had seen before.

"Next I play a spell card known as Starcatcher Base!" I continued, a green spell card rising beside me depicting a mechanical structure that contained a glowing star within it. "As long as Starcatcher Base is on the field, any Star Counters that appear are automatically drawn from my Zodiac Monsters and stored in Starcatcher Base for later use!"

The Star Counter orbiting around Taurus reacted to the pull of the card I had just played, and immediately began to orbit around Starcatcher Base instead.

"At last I play Cosmic Transmute! This spell first requires a sacrifice, so I'll tribute my Zodiac Taurus," I explained as Taurus dissolved into silver sparkles and stardust. "Now what this spell does is it transmutes my sacrificed Zodiac monster into energy for my other one! So since Zodiac Taurus was a Level 4 monster, I can add four more Star Counters to Starcatcher Base!"

Sartorius merely nodded in understanding as four new orbs of light began to circle my field, illuminating the area in a faint white glow.

"Now with five counters total, I can activate the special ability of Zodiac Aries!" I announced. All of the Star Counters then left Starcatcher Base and actually entered the body of Zodiac Aries, causing a pulsing coat of light to engulf it. "By offering five Star Counters, Zodiac Aries is able to attack you directly! Show him how it's done, Aries!"

Zodiac Aries blazed across the field toward Sartorius, who merely smirked as Arcana Force XIX covered his side of the field in a luminous shield.

"Oh come on!" I growled.

"Since Arcana Force XIX is upside down, monsters are unable to attack directly," Sartorius explained, still smiling. "You see? The cards can see everything, Alistair, and they're never wrong."

"Right, whatever you say," I remarked sarcastically. "I'll finish up with one face-down." It was Sartorius's turn once again, and he looked as confident as ever.

"Why the long face?" he asked after drawing his next card. "You don't realize the meaning these cards hold?"

"They're just duel monsters," I snapped, mildly surprised at the anger that was in my voice. Something certainly wasn't right…

"The Sun is radiant, a bright spot in an otherwise dark life," Sartorius commented, looking up at Arcana Force XIX. I glared at him from across the room, tiny beads of sweat starting to form on my forehead. "Perhaps a friend you recently made… perhaps a quick blossoming of love…"

"You're making no sense," I hissed in confusion. Something in the back of my mind was laughing, things were beginning to spin.

"Then allow me to clear things up!" he stated. "First we'll discover if destiny wills for you to win or not, with the spell card Selection of Fate!"

A magic card appeared on the field that looked like two cards spread out on a table, with a hand at the bottom trying to decide between the two.

"Now all you need to do is select a card from my hand, and if it's a monster, I can summon it to the field immediately," Sartorius explained, holding out three cards from his hand. "Of course, I already know which card you're going to pick."

I was growing dizzier as the duel wore on, so I tried to get the dilemma over with as fast as possible. After selecting the center one, it was to my dismay that it wound up being another Arcana Force.

"Arcana Force I (1100 / 1100) is summoned to the field!" he exclaimed, An almost clown-like figure appeared in front of Arcana Force XIX, and its card representation appeared above. After rotating in a complete circle, it locked itself into the upright position with a ringing sound.

"I'm not finished… next I play my Necro Sacrifice spell card!" Sartorius proceeded. I didn't even know what to make of this card's image, just that it didn't look pleasant. "So by summoning a few of my old monsters to your side of the field, I can summon a monster of my own. Watch how it's done, Alistair! Arcana Force III and Arcana Force VI, return to the field, on Alistair's side!"

Sure enough, two beams of light rocketed out from Sartorius's duel disk graveyard and placed the two Arcana Forces I had seen earlier onto my side of the field. I quickly placed them both in defense position, while my mind was still battling with something… it felt as if my head was going to split. Two floating cards appeared over the Arcana Forces I had just received as a gift from my opponent, and this time it was Sartorius's turn to stop them. Surprisingly, they both stopped right-side up, although Sartorius still seemed pleased.

"Now then, allow me to introduce you to Arcana Force XVI – The Tower (2600 / 2600)!"

Rising next to Arcana Force XIX was another unusually large alien-like creature, this one shaped like… well… a tower, unsurprisingly. It stood just as tall as The Sun, with what seemed to be a countless number of strange "eyes" surrounding it in four rings, as if this "tower" had four floors. The bottom of it was round like an orb – it had no legs – and it floated aimlessly in the air. The Tower's card quickly materialized and began rotating like the others had, but didn't immediately place itself in a position.

"I'll let you call this one," Sartorius said to me, apparently pretending that I wasn't in such a sickly condition at the present time. "And with good reason, Mr. Rhein, for The Tower represents you."

If I was supposed to be shocked by that comment, I wasn't able to feel it… I instead felt like collapsing onto the ground. I collected myself and glared through stinging eyes at the smiling Sartorius and the spinning card sitting above Arcana Force XVI. Gritting my teeth, I shouted, "Stop!"

Lo and behold, The Tower stopped upside down. Just as Sartorius wanted.

"Now with all the Arcana Forces set, I activate this!" he declared as his only face-down flipped up. "My Reversing Destiny trap card! Now all monsters with 'Arcana Force' in their names change from right-side up to upside down, and vice versa!" My eyes bulged in bewilderment as The Tower and The Sun changed to right-side up, and The Magician, The Empress, and The Lovers changed to upside-down.

"The Lovers is now upside-down!" Sartorius pointed out obviously. "And since it's on your side of the field, all of my monsters double in tribute value!"

"Big deal, you already summoned," I snapped, a terrible headache building up.

"That is true, but now I can activate the new effect of Arcana Force XIX!" he announced. "By making two tributes, it can attack you directly!"

My mouth went dry as Sartorius sacrificed Arcana Force I. The golden dust that it dissolved into was quickly vacuumed up by The Sun.

"Haven't you figured it out yet, Alistair?" the fortune teller asked with a smile. "You were right all along, Alexis Rhodes is the first one to present you defeat, for she is your Sun! Arcana Force XIX! Attack him directly!"

Even the PSYCHOS were trying to push Alexis and I together. I stared as Arcana Force XIX again fired its dozen or so spiked barbs in my direction, but I certainly wasn't ready to quit yet.

"I play a trap of my own!" I interrupted, my own face-down card activating, depicting a human head being tormented by otherworldly radiation. I wasn't about to chuckle at the ridiculous irony. "It's called Chaos Inversion! And it exchanges the attack points of The Sun with the points of any other monster on the field!"

I was about to select a monster to switch The Sun with, when my trap card glowed brightly and instantly shattered. The attack went through immediately afterwards, blasting me back across the room and slamming into a wall as for the first time in my life, I was defeated.

Alistair 0000 – Sartorius 3700

The monsters on the field didn't disappear, and Sartorius didn't move from his spot.

"Don't feel disappointed," he chuckled. "Destiny leads people down the most unexpected paths, however this path seems to fit you perfectly. You tried to push The Sun away, but The Tower's upright effect protects all Arcana Forces from spell and trap cards!"

I laid against the wall, not entirely sure what was happening.

""We each have two sides, Alistair – one dark and one light," Sartorius continued. "Your dark side pushes Alexis away with trickery and pranks, while your light side wishes to protect her, to shield her from those wishing to do her harm. All this lies within the knowledge of the cards, Alistair. They see everything!"

I'm not exactly sure what happened next, but Sartorius's entire body was engulfed in a shimmering white aura. My hands fell to my sides lifelessly, and my new Zodiac deck spilled out onto the marble floor. It was then I noticed a card in it that I had not seen before. There was no image, no name, no text. It was a blank card, shrouded in dark violet light. I quickly found it difficult to breathe, and felt a force compressing my entire body. Gritting my teeth unpleasantly, I opened my now-bloodshot eyes to come face-to-face with a series of red eyes among complete darkness. Before losing consciousness, I remembered hearing five final words from Sartorius.

"Enjoy your new duel spirit…"

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Alistair's new cards:

Zodiac Taurus

LEVEL 4 LIGHT SPELLCASTER

During each of your Standby Phases, add 1 Star Counter to this card. By removing 1 Star Counter from your side of the field, until the end of this turn, when this card attacks a Defense Position monster with a DEF lower than the ATK of this card, inflict the difference as Battle Damage to your opponent's Life Points.

ATK 1600 / DEF 1600

Zodiac Aries

LEVEL 4 LIGHT SPELLCASTER

During each of your Standby Phases, add 1 Star Counter to this card. Once per turn, by removing 5 Star Counters from your side of the field, this card can attack your opponent directly.

ATK 1400 / DEF 1400

Cosmic Transmute

NORMAL SPELL

Offer 1 "Zodiac" monster on your side of the field as a Tribute. Add a number of Star Counters to monsters on your side of the field equal to the Level of the tributed monster.

Starcatcher Base

CONTINUOUS SPELL

When this card is activated, move all Star Counters on your side of the field to this card. As long as this card remains face-up on your side of the field, any Star Counters that are placed on monsters on your side of the field are placed on this card instead. This card cannot be destroyed by card effects while it has 5 or more Star Counters.

Light Speed Lag

NORMAL TRAP

Special Summon 1 monster that was destroyed and sent to the Graveyard this turn to your side of the field in Defense Position. The monster summoned by this effect cannot be destroyed in battle and cannot declare an attack. Destroy the summoned monster during your opponent's next Standby Phase.

Chaos Inversion

NORMAL TRAP

This card can only be activated when your opponent declares an attack. Switch the ATK of the attacking monster with the ATK of another face-up monster on the field until the end of the Battle Phase.

Sartorius's new cards:

Arcana Force I – The Magician

LEVEL 4 LIGHT FAIRY