Sink or Swim

The gang was sitting in Professor Crowler's class and he had just asked Alexis to tell him about the different categories of duel monster cards. 
"Duel monster cards can be grouped into normal monsters, fusion monsters, ritual monsters, effect monsters, spells, and traps. Traps are divided into normal, counter, and continuous traps. And finally spell cards can be separated into normal, quick-play, ritual, equip, continuous, and field spells." She answered. 
"Perfect. Well done Alexis, but I should expect nothing less from one of the top students in Obelisk Blue." Crowler praised. 
"Thank you Dr. Crowler." Alexis said as she took her seat.
"Alright, who should we question next?" Crowler asked himself as he scanned the room before landing on a particular blue-haired Slifer. 
"Syrus Truesdale, would you care to explain to the class what a field spell is?" Crowler asked. 
"Um, a field spell is a thing that affects the," Syrus stammered out. 
'Poor Syrus. He's a good duelist, but he can't handle pressure.' Michael thought to himself, taking pity on the boy. 
"Relax Sy, you've got this." Jaden encouraged. 
"I think not, please sit down." Crowler said.
"Now would someone please give me the answer? Someone preferably not wearing red." Crowler said. 
"With all due respect Dr. Crowler, Jaden Yuki, a Slifer Red student, defeated you at the entrance exams. So to be quite honest, you don't really have the right to go around insulting them." Michael said, defending his friends. 
"You know, when he puts it that way, he's got a point." One of the Ra Yellow students said. Numerous students then began to agree with Michael. This infuriated Crowler to no end. This little upstart Jaden is ruining my reputation. If I don't get rid of him, I'll be ruined, he thought to himself.
The day progressed and everyone was in the class of the head of the Slifer Dorm. 
"As some of you know, my name is Professor Lyman Banner. I specialize in some of the lesser-known strategies and tactics in the world of duel monsters. Some that a few might even consider to be unnatural," Banner said. 
"Hey Michael, that was really cool of you how you defended the Slifers from Dr. Crowler." Lily said. 
"I just don't like people looking down on others for no good reason." Michael said as he returned his attention to the teacher, who seemed to be focused on Syrus. 
"And I might have to defend one of them again." He said.
"Syrus." the man called out. 
"Yes sir?" Syrus asked nervously. 
"Would you do me a favor and grab Pharaoh?" Banner asked. 
"You mean your cat?" Syrus asked for clarity's sake. 
"Unless you are minoring as a scratching post." The Professor responded. Suddenly, Pharaoh could be heard bawling at Syrus' feet, alerting the boy to the cat's presence. Meanwhile in another part of the building, Crowler was sitting at his desk writing a letter to someone. 
"I've had enough of that Slifer Slacker Jaden. It's time I got rid of him once and for all." He said to himself and he sealed the letter in an envelope and planted a lipstick kiss on the back.
Crowler then took the letter and entered the boys' locker room, opening the lockers until he found Jaden's. He opened one of the locker doors and found the Slifer's shoes inside and placed the letter on top of them. Crowler had left just in time for Syrus to run inside, having made a wrong turn and being late for gym class. He opened his locker door and found Jaden's shoes inside. He grabbed them to move them out of his way and the letter that had been on top of them fell to the floor. Syrus opened the letter and read what was written on it. 
"A love letter from Alexis Rhodes?!" He exclaimed. The day passed and classes ended.
Michael was sitting at his desk in his room going over the data his laptop had gotten from DA's central computer. 
"Okay, now to see what we can find." He said as he pulled up the data file he needed, only to find it was encrypted. 
"An unexpected turn of events, but nothing that can't be overcome." He said as he engaged the decryption function of his laptop. 
"This is gonna take a while." He said as he read the estimated decryption time. He then noticed a light flash on his screen. It was an alert from the security cameras. Someone was lurking around the girl's dorm.
"I'd better check this out." Michael said as he grabbed a flashlight. He checked the gate to the back of the girl's dorm and saw the chain had been cut. 
'Probably someone hoping to see some of the girls in their bathing suits.' He thought to himself. He began to look for whoever it was, but unbeknownst to him, Syrus arrived at the docks and ran through the gate, not noticing the broken chain. Meanwhile, Crowler was hiding in one of the bushes, hoping to catch Jaden in the act of breaking campus rules.
His hopes were dashed when he saw Michael and Syrus standing there. 
"What are they doing here?!" He exclaimed, drawing the attention of all the female students. 
"Syrus?" Michael asked, confused why he was there. He didn't have much time to think on it as a group of students came over and pinned him and Syrus to the ground. 
"This is not what I envisioned happening to me tonight." Michael said. 
"Just let us go, please?" Syrus said before he looked up to see Lily with two other Obelisk Blue girls. 
"Not until you tell us why you're here. And it had better be a good reason." One of them said. 
"Michael?" Lily asked, shocked to see him.
"I know this looks bad, but please give me a chance to explain." He said as he averted his eyes since the only thing that kept her and the other two decent was a towel wrapped around them. 
"We're listening." one of the girls, whose name was Mindy, said. 
"I was taking a walk when I saw that the chain for the gate to the girl's dorm had been cut, so I decided to investigate. Then Syrus showed up and whoever it was I had been following ran off." Michael explained. 
"I don't know." The other Obelisk girl, who was named Jasmine said.
"Go check the chain yourself if you don't believe me." Michael said. One of the girls did just that and told them the lock had been broken. "Okay, we believe you," Mindy said as Lily breathed a sigh of relief. 
"But then why are you here Syrus?" Lily asked. Syrus explained about the love letter he found in his locker. 
"Syrus, do you have that letter on you?" Michael asked. 
"Yeah, why?" the blue haired boy responded. "Let me see it," Michael asked. 
"Sure." Syrus responded. 
"Syrus, there's two things you should know. 1, this was written for Jaden. 2, Alexis didn't write this." Michael informed him.
"How do you know?" Syrus asked. 
"Simple, I've seen Alexis' handwriting before, and it's not like this." Michael explained. 
"Oh man, you mean I can't even get a fake love letter?" Syrus said. 
"Sorry buddy." Michael said in an attempt to console him. 
"I don't buy it. How do we know he didn't write it himself?" Jasmine asked. 
"Actually, I think this whole ordeal is a set up for Jaden." Michael said. 
"And why do you say that?" Lily asked. 
"Seems like too much of a coincidence for an unknown intruder to break in here and this letter pop up in the same night," Michael pointed out. 
"Be that as it may, you're both still trespassing on the girl's dorm." Jasmine pointed out. 
"I think I have an idea." Alexis said as she filled her friends in on what she had planned.
Suddenly, Jaden got a message on his academy PDA saying that Syrus was being held at the girl's dorm. He got there as fast as he could and saw Alexis, Jasmine, Mindy, Lily, Michael, and Syrus waiting for him. 
"Hi Jaden." Syrus said. 
"Hey. So what exactly is going on here?" Jaden asked. 
"Well to make a long story short, someone tried to get you in trouble and Syrus and I got in it instead." Michael explained. 
"Okay, so why am I here?" Jaden asked. 
"Simple. A tag duel. Me and Lily versus you and Michael. If you win, no harm no foul. But if we win, we're reporting you and Syrus for trespassing." Alexis explained. 
"Okay then. I accept." Jaden said. 
'Well, this duel gives me a chance to gauge Jaden's strength myself.' Michael thought to himself. They all rowed out into the middle of the lake to hold their duel.
All: "Let's duel!"
Michael: 4000 LP
Jaden: 4000 LP
Lily: 4000 LP
Alexis: 4000 LP
"I'll go first. And I summon Etoile Cyber in attack mode." Alexis declared.
Level 4/EARTH/Warrior
ATK 1200/DEF 1600
"I place one card face-down and end my turn." She said. 
"My move. I summon Renge, Gatekeeper of Dark World in defense mode." Michael said.
Level 4/DARK/Fiend
ATK 100/DEF 2100
"I'll set one card and end my turn." He continued. 
"Then it's my turn. And I summon Queen's Knight in defense mode." Lily said.
Level 4/LIGHT/Warrior
ATK 1500/DEF 1600
"I set one card face-down and end my turn." She said. 
"Then that means it's my move. And I summon Elemental Hero Sparkman in attack mode." Jaden said.
Level 4/LIGHT/Warrior
ATK 1600/DEF 1400
"Now, attack Etoile Cyber with Static Shockwave!" he ordered. His monster raised his hand and fired a blast of electricity at Alexis' monster. 
"Not so fast, I play the trap Doble Passé. With it, your monster attacks me directly instead, but then my monster can attack you directly. And by the way, when Etoile Cyber attacks directly, she gains 600 attack points during the battle." Alexis explained before her monster kicked Jaden in the chest.
Alexis: 2400 LP
Jaden: 2200 LP
"You alright Jaden?" Michael asked. 
"I'll be fine. But that Alexis is somethin' else. Sacrificing her life points just to take a swing at mine." the Slifer responded. 
"So I take it you're impressed?" Alexis asked. "Impressed? I think I'm in love," Jaden replied. 
"You're sweet. Too bad I have to crush you." Alexis said. 
"We'll see about that. I end my turn." Jaden said. 
"My turn. And I play the spell card Polymerization. With it I fuse the Etoile Cyber on my field with the Blade Skater in my hand in order to summon Cyber Blader!" Alexis shouted.
Level 6/EARTH/Warrior
ATK 2100/DEF 800
"I remember this monster." Michael said. 
"Then I'm sure you remember her attack. But in case you've forgotten, Cyber Blader, attack Sparkman with Whirlwind Rage!" Alexis shouted.
Jaden: 1700 LP
"Well, so much for him," Jaden said. 'Not good, Alexis has already taken away more than half of Jaden's life points.' Michael thought to himself. 
"It's your move Michael." Alexis said. 
"Thanks, I draw. And I summon Zure, Knight of Dark World in attack mode. And now I'll have him attack Queen's Knight!" He ordered. 
"Not so fast, I play the trap Waboku! With it, my monster can't be destroyed by battle this turn," Lily explained. "I place a card face-down and end my turn," Michael said. 
"I draw. And I summon King's Knight in attack mode." Lily said.
Level 4/LIGHT/Warrior
ATK 1600/DEF 1400
"And due to his special ability, when he's summoned when I control Queen's Knight, I can summon Jack's Knight from my deck," she explained as she summoned a third monster.
Level 5/LIGHT/Warrior
ATK 1900/DEF 1000
"And next I play the spell card Riryoku. This will transfer half the attack points of one monster on the field to another monster for this turn only. So if Alexis doesn't mind, I'm giving half her Cyber Blader's attack points to my King's Knight." She said. 
"Go right ahead." Alexis responded.
Cyber Blader: 2100-1050 ATK
King's Knight: 1600-2650 ATK
"Next I switch Queen's Knight into attack mode. Jack's Knight, attack Zure!" Lily shouted.
Michael: 3900 LP
"Now King's Knight, attack Renge!" She continued. 
"Queen's Knight, attack directly." She ordered. 
"I play the trap Card Defense. By sending a card from my hand to the graveyard, this card negates your direct attack, and then I draw 1 card." Michael explained. 
"I end my turn. You're up Jaden." Lily said. 
"Thank you. And first I play the field spell Fusion Gate. Now we can all summon monsters without Polymerization by removing the monsters we fuse from our hand or field from the game." Jaden explained. 
"And I'm gonna summon this one, my Elemental Hero Flame Wingman." He continued.
Level 6/WIND/Warrior
ATK 2100/DEF 1200
"Next, I play the Kishido Spirit continuous spell, and because of it, Flame Wingman can't be destroyed in battle with monsters that have the same attack points." Jaden explained. "Now attack Cyber Blader with Infernal Rage!" he ordered. 
"Jaden wait!" Michael shouted. But the attack had already been launched. Flame Wingman fired a jet of flames at Cyber Blader but didn't leave a mark on her. "What in the world?" Jaden asked. 
"That's what I was trying to tell you. Cyber Blader gains a special ability depending on how many monsters its opponent controls, and since you have one monster, she can't be destroyed in battle." Michael explained. 
"Rats. But since Flame Wingman can't be destroyed either, she can't do much. I end my turn," Jaden replied. "My move. And I play the Fusion Weapon equip spell on my Cyber Blader. This will give her 1500 more attack and defense points," Alexis explained.
Cyber Blader: 2100-3600 ATK/800-2300 DEF
"Uh-oh. I think you might wanna brace yourself for this one Sy old buddy," Jaden said. 
"Attack Flame Wingman!" Alexis ordered. 
"I play my trap card Rising Energy. By discarding one card, I can raise the attack points of any monster on the field by 1500 until the end of this turn, and I choose Jaden's Flame Wingman." Michael explained.
Flame Wingman: 2100-3600 ATK
"Alright, and since Kishido Spirit is still in play, Flame Wingman won't be destroyed!" Syrus exclaimed. 
"Thanks for the save Michael." Jaden said. 
"No problem." He responded. 
"I end my turn." Alexis said. 
"My move." Michael said. 'I don't have a lot to work with. But maybe I can give Jaden a shot to end the duel.' He thought to himself. 
"I play the spell card Foolish Burial Goods, which will allow me to send a spell or trap from my deck to my graveyard, and I choose my Spiritual Swords of Revealing Light. Next, I place 1 card face-down and play the Exchange spell card, so now myself and a player of my choice swap one card from our hands, and I choose Jaden." Michael said as he began to row towards Jaden.
He gave Jaden the only card he had in his hand and took one of his before paddling back to his spot. 
"It's your move Lily." He said. 
"I draw. And now Jack's Knight, attack Michael directly!" she shouted. 
"I activate the effect of Spiritual Swords of Revealing Light in my graveyard. By removing it from the game, all direct attacks are cancelled this turn." Michael explained as swords made from light appeared between him and Lily's monsters. 
"So that's why you sent it to your graveyard." Lily said. 
"Hm, not a bad move." Alexis praised. 
"I activate the continuous spell The A. Forces. So since I control 3 warrior monsters, they all gain 600 attack points." Lily explained.
King: 1600-2200 ATK
Queen: 1500-2100 ATK
Jack: 1900-2500 ATK
"I place one card face-down and end my turn." Lily said. 
"Hope you guys didn't unpack your bags." Alexis said. 
"Yeah, cause if you lose, you're getting expelled." Mindy added. 
"We are?" Syrus asked. 
"That's not gonna happen Sy, I promise." Jaden said. 
'I just hope I can deliver on it. But with what Michael gave me, if I draw the right card, I'm sure we can win this.' He thought to himself. 
"I draw. Perfect. I play the spell card Monster Reborn to summon Elemental Hero Sparkman from my graveyard." Jaden said. 
"He won't be enough." Alexis said. 
"Maybe not, but with Fusion Gate, I can combine him with the Elemental Hero Clayman that's in my hand to create someone who will be." Jaden responded. 
"I summon Elemental Hero Thunder Giant!" He shouted.
Level 6/LIGHT/Warrior
ATK 2400/DEF 1500
"But he still has less attack points than my Cyber Blader." Alexis pointed out. 
"Which is why I use Thunder Giant's special ability. When he's summoned, he can destroy any monster whose original attack points are less than his own," Jaden explained. 
"Wait, but my Cyber Blader's original attack points are 2100." Alexis said. 
"Which means she's automatically destroyed." Jaden said as a bolt of lightning destroyed Alexis' monster. 
"Even if you beat me, Lily can still beat you." Alexis said. 
"We'll see about that." Michael said as he pressed a button on his duel disk. 
"I play the Reinforcements trap card, which lets me give a 500-point boost to the attack points of any monster on the field, like Jaden's Flame Wingman." He explained.
Flame Wingman: 2100-2600 ATK
"No way!" Lily shouted. 
"And now, I play the Forbidden Substance spell card, and with it, Flame Wingman is allowed to attack twice each turn," Jaden said as he played the card he got from Michael. 
"Now Thunder Giant, attack Alexis directly!" Jaden shouted. 
"Not so fast, I play the Negate Attack trap card, which will cancel your attack and end the battle phase." Lily said. 
"I don't think so. I play the trap card Seven Tools of the Bandit, so by giving up 1000 life points, your trap card is negated." Michael explained.
Michael: 2900 LP
Alexis: 0 LP
"Now Flame Wingman, attack Queen's Knight and King's Knight with Infernal Rage!" Jaden ordered. His monster shot a jet of flames at Lily's monsters, destroying them.
Lily: 2900 LP
"And now Flame Wingman's special ability deals you damage equal to the attack points of your destroyed monsters," Jaden explained.
Lily: 0 LP
Winners: Jaden and Michael
"Way to go guys!" Syrus cheered. 
"Well, a deal's a deal." Alexis said. 
"Well if you ask me, we should turn them in." Jasmine said. 
"Well no one asked you. They won the duel and that's all there is to it." Alexis responded. 
"Well, there was more to it than that. It was close. You girls definitely have game." Jaden said. 
"Indeed. It was a well fought duel, and you should be proud." Michael added. 
"We'll see you guys in school tomorrow. Later." Jaden said before paddling back to the Slifer dorm. 
'Even if we won, I could never have turned them in. This place is a lot more fun with them than without.' Alexis thought to herself. 
'I've never seen Alexis act this way before. Could she be falling in love with Jaden?' Jasmine asked herself. 
"Lucky brat. If it hadn't been for Michael, he surely would've lost. I'll find a way to expel him yet. Just as soon as I find my way home." Crowler said to himself before swimming off.