Courting Alexis

Winter break had come to a end and classes at the Academy resumed.

At the moment, the Slifer's were facing the Obelisk's in a game of tennis.

"Alright class, get your game on! Tennis game that is." Ms. Fontaine said as Jaden and Syrus faced off against Jasmine and Mindy.

"Come on, would someone please tell me what Tennis has to do with dueling?" Jaden asks.

"Everything: taking turns, thinking on your feet and the harder you play the better you do." Mindy said hitting the ball towards him.

"Well in that case." Jaden jumps in the air and whacks the ball with all his might but the ball swerves towards Alexis.

Ryan happened to be watching another match and observed the ball speeding towards Alexis.

"Yo Alexis, heads up!" She heard someone shout and saw the ball. Suddenly a figure jumps in and whacks the ball causing it to fly towards Dr. Crowler and hit him in the face.

The person who shouted the warning stepped forward as the one who blocked the shot that would have hit Alexis landed a few inches in front of her; he was tall with long brown hair, wearing a tennis uniform.

"You good?" Jasmine and Mindy ran over to check on the blonde Obelisk.

"Yeah, would you like me to carry you to the nurse?" The brown-haired guy asked as he turned to face the girls and flashed Jasmine and Mindy a grin, that seemed to ensnare them right away.

"No thanks, I'm fine." Alexis assured the boy politely.

The brown-haired boy was staring at Alexis.

'*Wow, Alexis Rhodes is much hotter up close.'* He thought.

Alexis raised an eyebrow, clearly uncertain about not receiving a reply.

"Do you need me to carry you?" She asked.

"No, it's just that I've seen you from Obelisk Blue but I've never thought I'd have the pleasure of talking to you." The brown-haired man said as he grasped Alexis's hand, holding it like a gentleman would, as if he was about to kiss the back of it. He realized what he was doing, though, and quickly released the hand.

"Let alone, touching you." He added.

Jaden narrowed his eyes.

"Anyway, back to my match. Now, what was the score? Probably love-something." The boy murmured to himself as he walked off.

At the nurse's office Jaden was apologizing to Dr. Crowler while Ms. Fontaine was treating him.

"I'm really, really, really sorry. Is that enough?" Jaden asks.

"No, not even close." Crowler said.

"You know Dr. Crowler I was there and technically Jaden wasn't even the one who hit you with that ball. If you don't mind me saying." Ms. Fontaine said putting some ice on his face.

"Well I do mind because Jaden was the one that started it. I saw the whole thing with my own two eyes…well one eye." Crowler said as Ms. Fontaine sweat drops.

"Cyclops." Jaden coughs.

"Care to repeat that you Slifer Sludge?" Crowler asks.

"Look if you're going to punish me how about I just quit playing Tennis, I don't even like it." Jaden said.

"Oh really? In that case I can think of no better punishment. I'll make you play, and you'll learn under the tutelage of our school captain." Crowler said.

"Aw come on. I said I was sorry." Jaden said.

"Oh you will be." Crowler growls.

In the girl's locker room, Alexis was putting her gym clothes away after slipping back into her blazer.

"Hey Alexis." Jasmine and Mindy had smiles on their faces.

"We found out more about that hot tennis guy for you." Mindy said.

"I don't recall asking you to do that." Alexis replied.

"Who exactly was that guy anyway?" Kaoru asked.

"Harrington Rosewood from the Rosewood Sporting Goods chain."

"He's a third year Obelisk Blue." Mindy stated.

"And..." Kaoru added. "He's a top ranked student. What does that matter?"

"He's rich and a hottie. He's total boyfriend material." Mindy said.

"Go get him before someone else does."

"Guys, I'm not looking for a boyfriend right now." Alexis sighed.

Their conversation was soon interrupted.

"Where's the freaking tennis team meet." The four heard Ryan mutter out loud.

"Hey Alexis, do you know where the tennis team meets up?"

"Out on the court, why?" She replied.

"You know that incident from this morning. Well Dr. Crowler is punishing Jaden for hitting him in the face with a tennis ball."

"I still don't understand." Mindy said.

"The tennis team captain's the reason Crowler got a shiner." He walked to the court.

At the Tennis Court, Harrington was serving tennis balls at rocket pace and Jaden was struggling to keep up.

"I thought we were doing Tennis, not speed drills." Jaden pants as Harrington serves the ball and knocks Jaden to the ground.

"Come on Jaden. No pain no gain. You gotta hustle to build that muscle. Pick up the pace to win the race." Harrington said.

"Alright I get it, lay off the sports clichés." Jaden said.

"Hey there's no I in the word team. That's the first rule of tennis." Harrington said.

"Really? Even when you're playing singles?" Jaden asks.

"Moving on, time to work on your forehand and backhand. I'd say 1000 strokes will make tennis more your racket, get it?" Harrington jokes as Syrus, Ryan, Jasmine and Mindy watch from behind.

"Oh I get it, this guy is nuts." Syrus said.

"No kidding." Ryan mumbled.

"He is a bit obsessive." Jasmine agrees.

"Let him obsess over me." Mindy said.

Alexis then walked into the gym.

"Sorry I'm sweating so much I've just been kicking this guy—" Harrington started but Alexis ignores him and walks to Jaden.

She approached the exhausted Slifer with the Shiba siblings.

"You're not going to believe this Jaden." Alexis began.

"We found out from Prof. Banner that someone spotted Chazz." Davis added.

"I knew that from Arisa already." Kaoru grumbled in annoyance.

Harrington overheard the conversation and wasn't happy.

"A dumb bench loafer like Jaden talking to Alexis. No way! Time for me to run interference."

"TIME OUT!"

Everyone saw the angry tennis captain walk over.

"You can't talk to a first round pick like Alexis. You can't even return a tennis ball so stay away from my little Obelisk Pixie!"

"Obelisk Pixie?" Syrus said confused.

"Get lost Harrington." Davis demanded. "This doesn't concern you."

"I'm warning you, Jaden. Just stay away from her. Don't make me go athletic on you."

"Chill out, I was just talking to Alexis." Jaden added. "So you were saying Lex..."

He jumped suddenly when Harrington put himself in front of him. "Lex? What is that? Some sort of pet name? Where'd it come from? What's it mean? What's it short for?" He demanded.

Jaden gave Harrington a cool look that would've made his past life's self proud.

"Alexis." He said shortly.

"You'd like me to believe that, wouldn't you? But I don't. Which is why this little huddle is over." Harrington said.

"Good, now get lost." Jaden replied.

"No way, when a huddle's over you gotta battle." Harrington said.

"So you want a Tennis match?" Jaden assumes.

"Not quite. I wanna duel. Winner becomes Alexis's fiancée."

"I love weddings, but this is just crazy." Jasmine said.

"Well I don't know about the stakes, but I'll duel you. Let's throw down." Jaden grins.

"Oh boy." Alexis rolls her eyes.

"If this guy duels as well as he plays Tennis then Jaden's in trouble." Syrus said as they grabbed their duel disks.

"Ready. Let's duel." Harrington said.

"Get your game on Harrington." Jaden declares.

Jaden: 4000

Harrington: 4000

"Two cuties dueling it out for your hand in marriage, how do you feel?" Mindy asked Alexis, who folded her arms across her chest.

"Please, Mindy, I'm not getting married." She replied.

"Oh fine, engaged. What, are we splitting hairs here?" Jasmine asked.

"I'm not getting engaged either, Jaz." Alexis said, giving Jasmine a look.

"We're only sticking around to see if the rumors are true." Davis added.

"What rumors?"

"Whether or not Harrington's as good as Zane."

"Those are the rumors?" Syrus asked. "If he's as good as my big brother, then Jaden's in for it big time."

"Service!" Harrington shouted as he drew his sixth card. "First, I'm gonna volley a Spell Card at you, Service Ace. And, just like a power serve, it's gonna make you sweat. Here's how it works, I pick a card from my hand, then you have to choose if it's a Spell, Trap or monster. Guess right, you're fine. But if you don't, then you get served a whopping 1500 points of damage."

"Alright I pick Spell." Jaden said.

"Are you sure? You can still change your mind." Harrington teases.

"Uh then I pick Trap." Jaden said.

"Monster." Harrington reveals his card to be Mega Thunderball. "Looks like we found another thing you're bad at."

Service Ace activates and a blast hits Jaden.

Jaden: 2500

Harrington: 4000

"And with one facedown I'll end my turn." Harrington said.

"My move." Jaden draws. "I summon Elemental Hero Avian!"

Avian: 1000/1000

"Now show Harrington why you're the real king of the court! Quill Cascade!" Jaden said as Avian releases a storm of feathers at Harrington.

"I don't think so! I activate Receive Ace! This trap negates your attack and you receive 1500 points of damage! Good luck feathering this storm." Harrington said as the feathers rebounded back towards Jaden.

Jaden: 1000

Harrington: 4000

"That's 30-Luv. Though I do have to pay 3 cards because of the trap I played." Harrington said taking 3 cards from his deck to the graveyard.

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

"Boy you are lazy, makes it a lot easier for me! I play Smash Ace! It lets me flip the top card of my deck and if it's a monster." Harrington starts.

"Don't tell me. I get nailed." Jaden groans.

"Hey you're starting to get the swing of this." Harrington drew a card and reveals it to be Mystical Shine Ball.

"Lady Luck hates me." Jaden groans.

"Well she loves me. Of course, most girls do and now get ready!" Harrington said as another blast flew towards him.

"I don't think so! I activate my trap Feather Wind! Ever heard of it? Or should I say ever caught wind of it?" Avian blows his wings causing the blast to fly out of bounds towards the others.

"Move!" Kaoru yelled.

"Sorry but your ace just got blown out of bounds." Jaden smirks.

"Well you know what they say: you win some you lose some. Sometimes you gotta take hits to give them." Harrington laughs.

"Oh great, more clichés. Well here's mine: he who laughs last laughs hardest." Jaden said as he started laughing too.

"This is pathetic." Syrus said.

"Now they're seeing who can laugh the longest." Jasmine said.

"Idiots." Davis muttered.

Harrington stopped laughing as Jaden drew a card as his turn started and smiled. "Sweet. I play Polymerization to fuse Clayman and Burstinatrix in my hand in order to form Elemental Hero Rampart Blaster in Attack Mode." Jaden said and the female armored hero appeared on the field next to Avian (A: 2000/D: 2500).

"Now, that's how you duel." Syrus said.

"Like that? Then you're gonna love this. Avian, attack Harrington directly with Electric Orb." Jaden ordered and the winged hero formed a ball of crackling white energy and threw it at Harrington.

**Jaden: 1000**

**Harrington: 3000**

"Rampart Blaster, attack now with Rampart Barrage." Jaden ordered and the giant feminine hero fired a series of rockets from her cannon arm that exploded around Harrington.

**Jaden: 1000**

**Harrington: 1000**

"Look like we're all tied up." Jaden said.

"Way to go, Jaden." Syrus cheered.

"So, got any clichés to say now?"

"I suppose I have a few in store but, in this case, I'll let my cards do the talking for me. And this one says it all. Deuce."

A card appeared on Harrington's field depicting score board with '40' on either side of it.

"Well at least they stopped laughing." Alexis said.

"All tied up. Got anymore clichés?" Jaden asks.

"I do." Harrington drew. "But I think I'll let my cards do the talking for me. I play deuce! I can only activate it when we both have 1000 life points. From now on each of us can only attack with one monster and life points don't matter. You win by being able to damage your opponent twice in a row." Harrington explains.

"So it's just a straight up head to head match?" Jaden asks.

"That's right, I told you it explained itself. I summon the Big Server!" Harrington said as a cyborg looking man with a tennis racket appeared.

Big Server: 300/ 300

"And the reason his serve is so big is because he can attack you directly. Go Spike Serve!" Big Server whacks a spike ball towards Jaden which explodes creating a cloud of smoke.

Jaden: 700

Harrington: 1000

"Advantage Harrington. One more strike and you're finished, the duel will be over and Madison will be mine." Harrington said causing Jaden to growl. "By the way, the Big Server has a special ability that lets me take Service Ace and add it to my hand. You get a new card too, but let's be honest it won't matter there's no way it'll be as good as this." Harrington said as Jaden drew. "Now I activate Service Ace and I'm sure you remember what it does?"

"How could I forget?" Jaden said as Harrington held up a card. "I guess Monster." Jaden said surprising him.

"You got it." Harrington said revealing another Mega Thunderball causing everyone to smile.

"Yes! We're still in this!" Syrus cheers while Madison breathes in relief.

"Oh yeah well let's see if you're still in it after this! I play the Giant Racket and equip it to Big Server!" Harrington said as a giant tennis racket appeared on Big Servers' back. "So, still think you're in it?"

"To win it, I can take that Server guy down easy." Jaden said.

"Maybe but not on your first try. You see when a monster is equipped with this card he can't be destroyed in battle once and I don't take any damage." Harrington smirks.

"And since your Deuce only allows me to attack with one monster per turn. I won't be able to destroy him." Jaden realized.

"Exactly. You're not in it, you're not all over it, you're about to lose it." Harrington mocks.

'Not as long as there are still cards in my deck.' Jaden drew and grins. "Alright! The ball's in my court now! I activate De-Fusion and defuse Rampart Blaster in Clayman and Burstinatrix. Now I have 3 monsters so even if you block my first attack I still have two more." Jaden said causing Harrington to laugh.

"I'm starting to see why you're a Slifer, you don't listen. As long as my spell is active only one monster can attack." Harrington said.

"I'm starting to see why you're a snobby Obelisk, because you underestimate your opponent. I activate the spell Feather Shot! It allows Avian to attack as many times as there are monsters on my field. I drew this when you activated the Big Server's ability. Well guess what, it mattered! Go Avian!"

Flying high in the air Avian used Quill Cascade 3 times to destroy Big Server and damage Harrington winning him the match.

"This can't be." Harrington said in shock.

"That's game!" Jaden said doing his signature pose.

"She was my first draft pick, my Marquis girlfriend, my soul mate! This can't be." He cried before he ran out of the courts in tears.

"Sheesh, talk about pathetic." Kaoru sweat dropped.

"Alexis, I guess I'm your fiancee now."

"So what does fiancé mean anyhow?" Jaden asks causing everyone else to fall to the ground.

"Does he seriously not have a understanding of that word?" Davis sweat dropped.

"It means friend...at least for now." Alexis said.