Duel and Unusual Punishment

It was a few days after the incident at the abandoned dorm, and most of the academy was still asleep. Michael was in his room collecting evidence to prove Crowler hired Titan, because he had a feeling he'd be needing it. He had just finished when he heard a knock at his door.

"Who is it?" He asked, although he had an inkling.

"The Disciplinary Action Squad, now open up." A woman's voice said. Michael got up and opened the door.

"Michael Shadows, you're under campus arrest." The woman said.

"If you'll give me a minute, there are a few pieces of evidence that I believe will be most important at the trial." Michael said.

"Fine, you have 5 minutes." The woman said.

"Thank you," Michael said before he returned to his desk and picked up Titan's phone and a memory card.

They then escorted him and Jaden, who they had already taken into custody, to the interrogation.

"What?! Expelled?!" Jaden exclaimed in shock.

"That's what I suggest. An example must be made." Crowler said.

"I agree." Maxwell added.

"Chancellor Sheppard, if I may. The reason Jaden and I entered the abandoned dorm was because two other students were in danger." Michael said.

"What do you mean?" The man asked.

"Jaden and I had been taking a stroll in the woods when we heard the voices of two female students call out for help. We followed their voices into the abandoned dorm, and found that they had been kidnapped by a well-known criminal." Michael explained.

"And just who was this criminal?" Sheppard asked.

"The shadow duelist Titan," Michael answered. Numerous members of the staff began to talk among themselves.

"That is a serious claim, do you have any proof?" Crowler asked.

"In fact, I do. My duel disk has a recording function." Michael said as he put his memory card in a projector and showed them footage from his duel, clearly showing Titan.

"But then why was he here?" Sheppard asked.

"Why don't you ask Dr. Crowler?" Michael asked as he pointed at the man in question.

"You're assuming I had something to do with this?" Crowler asked.

"I assume nothing, I know you hired Titan to go after me and Jaden. And this proves it." Michael said as he held up Titan's phone.

"And what is that?" Sheppard asked.

"Titan's phone. He escaped unfortunately, but he dropped this in his rush to get away. And the last number in the caller ID belongs to Dr. Crowler, and if that isn't enough to convince you, maybe this voicemail will." Michael said as he played the message.

"Titan, it's Crowler. Make sure you scare Michael and Jaden off the island for good. Oh, and the check is in the mail." The Dr.'s voice said.

"Dr. Crowler! You hired a shadow duelist to get rid of two students?!" Sheppard asked in fury.

"It's not what it seems." Crowler attempted to lie.

"You can deny it all you want, but the evidence proves that you put students in danger. A shameful action for the Vice Chancellor." Michael said.

"Make that former Vice Chancellor. Dr. Crowler, you are hereby stripped of all rank in this academy, and are no more than a teacher. Mrs. Fontaine will take over as the head of the Obelisk dorm, and before you say a word, be thankful I don't have you fired for this." Sheppard said.

"Boys, I thank you for coming to the rescue of two other students, but I'm afraid that you still must be punished for trespassing into the Abandoned Dorm. However, in light of your actions, I'm going to give you a fighting chance. You both will compete in a tag duel against two opponents of my choice, and if you succeed, you're free to go. If you lose the duel, you will be suspended. Do you agree to these terms?" He asked.

"We accept." Jaden and Michael said in unison.

"Alright. I'll select two opponents for you to face." The man said.

"You're a busy man Chancellor, allow me to handle this for you." Maxwell said.

"Fine. Boys, you have a week to prepare for your duel. You may leave." Sheppard said. Jaden and Michael turned around and left.

"Man, I knew Crowler had it out for me, but to think he'd hire a shadow duelist." Jaden said.

"Well, I say Sheppard let him off too easy, but in any case, I'm sure we can win the duel no matter who we have to face." Michael said.

"You got that right." Jaden responded.

"Michael!" Lily called out before she tackled him in a hug.

"They're not going to expel you or Jaden, are they?" She asked.

"Nope. Thanks to Titan's dropped phone, we got off a lot easier. We just have to win a tag duel and we're in the clear. And if we lose, we just get suspended for a little while." Michael answered.

"Oh, I'm so glad. I'd hate for us to have just started dating and then you get kicked out," Lily said.

"Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere, I promise." Michael said.

"Well, I'll leave you two alone. I'm gonna go work on my deck." Jaden said.

"Alright, I'll see you around." Michael said before Jaden walked off.

"So, want to grab a bite to eat with me?" Lily asked.

"Sure. After all, a week to prepare is plenty of time." Michael said before he walked off with her. Meanwhile, Jaden had arrived back at the Slifer dorm and was going over his cards.

"So all you have to do is win a tag duel and you're in the clear?" Chumley asked.

"Yep. Piece of cake." Jaden said.

"Well, it's a good thing you're partnered with Michael. Between the both of you, I'm sure you'll win." Syrus said.

"Thanks Sy. Although, I wouldn't mind if you had been chosen as my partner for the tag duel." Jaden said.

"Don't say that Jaden. If I was your partner, you'd lose for sure." Syrus said.

"No way, you're an awesome duelist." Jaden responded.

"Yeah, maybe in my dreams." Syrus said.

"Sy, you're a lot better than you give yourself credit for, and I'm gonna prove it to you. Grab your deck, because we're dueling." Jaden said. Syrus grabbed his deck and he and Jaden went down to the shore to duel.

"Remember guys, this just a practice duel, so go easy." Chumley shouted.

"Of course, I'm not sure if Jaden knows how to go easy." He said to himself.

"That's probably a good thing." Alexis said as she walked up to him.

"What do you mean?" Chumley asked.

"I mean Dr. Maxwell is going to pull out all the stops against Jaden and Michael. But why is Jaden dueling Syrus? Shouldn't he be talking strategy with Michael?" Alexis asked.

"Michael wanted to spend some time with Lily. And Jaden is dueling Syrus to try and prove to him that he's a good duelist." Chumley explained.

"Alright Syrus, get your game on buddy, and let's have some fun." Jaden said.

'Yeah, fun for you maybe. I'm probably going to lose in 2 turns.' Syrus thought to himself.

"What are you thinkin' about Sy?" Jaden asked.

"Oh, nothing important." The blue haired Slifer replied.

"Then let's duel." Jaden said.

"Yeah sure." Syrus said apathetically.

Jaden: 4000 LP

Syrus: 4000 LP

"Here I come Syrus. And I summon Elemental Hero Avian in attack mode," Jaden said.

Level 3/Wind/Warrior

ATK&DEF 1000

"I place one card face-down and end my turn." Jaden said.

"I draw. And I summon Patroid in attack mode." Syrus said.

Level 4/Earth/Machine

ATK&DEF 1200

"Now attack Avian with Siren Smasher!" He shouted.

"Not so fast Syrus, I play the trap card Negate Attack, which means it's time for your monster to hit the brakes." Jaden said.

"I should've guessed your face-down was a trap," Syrus said.

"Syrus walked right into that one." Chumley said as Banner's cat walked up to him and began to rub against his leg.

"I told you I wasn't any good Jaden." Syrus said.

"Don't say that Sy, you just made one mistake, that's all." Jaden said.

"Yeah, coming to Duel Academy." Syrus said.

"Don't crack up now Syrus, you just forgot about Patroid's special ability is all. Once a turn it lets you check a face-down card on my field, which would've let you see my trap card." Jaden explained.

"See, even a newbie could get that right, I don't belong here." Syrus said.

"Hold on, I didn't mean anything like that," Jaden responded.

"I know you didn't Jaden. I know you were just trying to help, it's just that." Syrus began to say.

"No, you're right, I shouldn't butt in. We're opponents right now, and from here on out, we're gonna act like it, so here goes." Jaden said as he drew a card.

"Here's everyone's favorite golden boy, Elemental Hero Sparkman!" He shouted.

Level 4/Light/Warrior

ATK 1600/DEF 1400

"Now Sparkman, attack Patroid with Lightning Javelin!" Jaden shouted. Sparkman created a spear made from pure electricity before throwing it at Syrus' monster.

Syrus: 3600 LP

"Now Avian, attack Syrus directly with Windstorm Strike!" Jaden ordered. Avian flapped his wings and sent a gust of wind at Syrus, knocking him onto his back.

Syrus: 2600 LP

"I place one card face-down and end my turn." Jaden said.

"Can I crack up now Jaden? I just got nailed on both of our turns, I can't win." Syrus said.

"Yes, you can Syrus. You just have to have a little faith in yourself!" Alexis shouted from the top of the cliff.

"She's right Sy, don't give up. That's the first thing they teach you in freshman dueling class." Chumley shouted.

"You're right, I can do this!" Syrus shouted as he got to his feet.

"It's my turn. I play the spell card Pot of Greed. With it, I can draw 2 new cards," Syrus said. Syrus looked at the cards he drew, and had quite the reaction when he saw one of them.

'Power Bond!' He thought to himself.

'Judging by the look on Syrus' face, he must've just drawn a sweet card.' Jaden thought to himself.

'If I use Power Bond, I can summon a machine type fusion monster and double its attack points. But I'm not good enough to play a card this strong, at least according to my brother.' Syrus thought to himself as he remembered the time he was about to play it as a kid before being told off by his brother for misusing the card.

'What's gotten into Syrus?' Jaden thought to himself.

"You okay Sy?" He asked.

"I play the spell card Polymerization, and with it, I fuse Gyroid and Steamroid in order to summon Steam Gyroid!" Syrus shouted.

Level 6/Earth/Machine

ATK 2200/DEF 1600

"Now attack Avian with Train Twister!" he ordered. His monster spun its helicopter blades, creating a tornado that crashed into Avian, destroying him.

Jaden: 2800 LP

"Got you Jaden. Had enough practice?" Syrus asked. He then heard Jaden bust out laughing.

"What do you mean 'have I had enough'? Like the old saying goes 'no pain, no gain', and with what I have planned Syrus, you stand to gain a lot." Jaden said.

"Oh boy." Syrus said.

"It's my move. And I play my face-down Polymerization to fuse Sparkman and Clayman to summon Elemental Hero Thunder Giant!" Jaden shouted.

Level 6/Light/Warrior

ATK 2400/DEF 1500

"And now Thunder Giant's special ability activates, destroying your Steam Gyroid." Jaden said as his monster launched a beam of lightning at Syrus' monster, destroying it.

"Now I'm defenseless." Syrus said.

"I summon Elemental Hero Burstinatrix in attack mode." Jaden said.

Level 3/Fire/Warrior

ATK 1200/DEF 800

"Now Thunder Giant, attack Syrus with Voltic Thunder!" Jaden shouted.

Syrus: 200 LP

"Now Burstinatrix, attack with Flare Storm!" he ordered.

Syrus: 0 LP

Winner: Jaden

"And that would be game. Good duel Syrus." Jaden said.

"Maybe for you it was." Syrus responded.

"By the way Syrus, what was that card you drew but didn't play? You looked really excited about it," Jaden said as he looked at the cards Syrus had in his hand.

"Power Bond and Limiter Removal in your hand?! Syrus, if you had used these you would've won the duel, so why didn't you play them?" Jaden asked.

"You don't understand, my brother says I'm not good enough to use Power Bond. And I probably never will be. And it's clear you'd never win that tag duel if I was your partner." Syrus said before he took his cards back and ran off.

"Syrus wait!" Jaden shouted. Alexis walked down to talk with Jaden.

"I saw your duel with Syrus. It seemed like he took it pretty hard." She said.

"I just wish he could see what I see. That the only thing holding him back is himself. I mean he had all the cards he needed to win the duel, but he didn't use them, and you know why? Because his brother said he wasn't good enough." Jaden said.

Alexis gasped when she heard what he said.

"What is it? Am I missing something here?" Jaden asked.

"Yeah, his brother goes to this school. And you've probably heard of him too." Alexis said.

"Who are you talking about?" Jaden asked.

"Hello, third year Obelisk Blue and number one duelist in the academy. He's the big man on campus, Zane. And he really is as good as his reputation." Alexis said.

"Yeah? Well, I'll tell you what Alexis, it doesn't sound like he's very good to his little brother. Man, I wonder what happened between them." Jaden said.

"Jaden, you shouldn't pry into this." Alexis said.

"I'm not gonna pry, I'm gonna duel." Jaden responded.

"Jaden, you're not listening. Zane is another league, he might even be better than Michael." Alexis said.

"I don't care if he's as good as Yugi and Kaiba, I'm gonna face him down for Syrus' sake. Besides, this is my chance to see how I stack up to the big man on campus." Jaden said.

'Well, if he's not going to listen to me.' Alexis thought to herself.

"You go get him Jaden." She said.

"Look out Zane, I'm coming for you!" Jaden shouted.