A Duel in Love

(Another sunny day on Academy Island...) Alexis: Duel monster cards can be grouped into normal monster cards, fusion monster cards, ritual monster cards, effect monster cards, trap cards, and spell cards. (In a class in the main building, Alexis is standing at her seat between Jasmine and Mindy, declaiming for the class. Even her fellow Obelisk Blue students are watching her with awe and admiration.) Alexis: Trap cards can be divided into normal traps, counter traps, and continuous traps. (We get a clear view of the classroom. Dr. Crowler is standing at the teacher's lectern in front. The seats in the lecture hall are filled with Academy students, eight rows with eight students in each, divided by a central aisle. The twenty Slifer students take up the first four rows of the teacher's-right side of the classroom and some seats on the side further back, with Jaden and Syrus in the front row; the twenty-four Ra students are similarly arranged on the teacher's-left side, with Bastion second from the end in the second row; and the Obelisk students occupy the middle back area of the classroom and number about eighteen, with Chazz second seat from the aisle in the sixth row and Alexis and friends on the teacher's right next to the aisle in the sixth row.) Alexis: Spell cards can be separated into normal spells, continuous spells, equip spells, quick-play spells, ritual spells, and field spells. Crowler: (singsong) *Perfect!* (not singsong) Well *done*, Alexis! Of *course,* I wouldn't expect *anything* less from one of my blue Obelisks! Alexis: Yes, Doctor Crowler. (She sits down, accepting the praise without gloating.) Crowler: Hmm. Now who should we question *next*? (He scans the front row, then spots a victim.) Crowler: You-- Syrus Truesdale! Syrus: Uagh? (Syrus stands, tense and scared. Crowler looks smug and condescending.) Crowler: Explain to the class what a field spell is. *Please*. Syrus: Ummm... a field spell is, uh, it's the thing that affects the thing that is, ah... (An Obelisk Blue heckler speaks from the teacher's-left aisle seat in the second-to-back row. It sounds like Chazz's crony with the dark blue hair.) - Even *pre-duelers* know the answer to this, ya Slifer slacker! (Several other Obelisks laugh. <1:00> Even Chazz chuckles superiorly to himself. Syrus, meanwhile, is getting even more flustered; his cheeks are going pink with humiliation.) Syrus: No; I *know*! It's uh, uh... (Bastion, seated among his fellow Ra students, looks on with both incredulity and pity that Syrus can't answer such an easy question, but at least he isn't grinning, unlike the guy next to him.) Syrus: Nnngh... Jaden (consoling): Relax, Sy; you *totally* got this. (Syrus is silent, completely frozen.) Crowler: I think not; sit down. Now, would someone *please* give me the answer? (mutters, with smug exasperation) Preferably someone not wearing *red*, thank you? (The Obelisks guffaw again. Syrus is looking down at the desk, ashamed.) Syrus: I blew it. I've made all the Slifers look bad. (Jaden, next to him, is looking right at Crowler, a good-natured smile on his face. Unlike Syrus, he isn't cowed.) Jaden: Y'know som'n, teach? Syrus: Huh? Jaden: You really shouldn't go 'n' make fun of us Slifers like that. Crowler: Huh? Jaden: I mean *I'm* a Slifer, and *I* beatcha, so when you make fun of *us*-- you're really makin' fun a' *yourself*! Crowler: Rrrggggh! (Crowler pulls out a handkerchief and chews it, in an excess of frustration. Jaden chuckles at his own joke, holding up two fingers in a victory sign at the other Slifers. They're all staring at him, and most seem a bit too nervous to laugh at Crowler's expense. Alexis, way up in the sixth row, is also looking right at Jaden. Crowler's still chewing on his handkerchief.) Crowler (think): That's it! I will not tolerate this slacker at my school for another second! I'll see to it he's taken *down*!

(Opening)

ACT 1 <2:50>

(Later on in the day; the students are still seated the same way. Professor Banner, the kindly headmaster of Slifer Red, is sitting at the front lectern stroking his fat, orange-and-brown cat.) Banner: So. As some of you students know, my name is Professor Lyman Banner. I specialize in some of the lesser-known tactics and strategies in the world of Duel Monsters. <3:00> Some that a few might even consider to be-- unnatural. Duel Alchemy for example... (Banner keeps talking in the background as Jaden yawns, already falling asleep. Syrus leans over and whispers to him) Syrus: Oh, by the way-- thanks, Jaden. Jaden: Sure, no prob. For what? Syrus (louder): Sticking up for me! (Banner stops talking.) Jaden: Huh? Uh-oh; I'm thinkin' I might have to do it *again* in a second. Banner: Syrus? (Syrus stands with a yelp, thinking he's in trouble again.) Syrus: Eyyah! Yeah? Banner: Do me a favor and grab Pharaoh, would you? (Syrus is completely confused; he isn't in trouble, but what's Banner talking about?) Syrus: Uh... 'pharaoh'? Banner: Unless you are minoring as a scratch post! Syrus: Uhhh... (Syrus hears a meow from under his desk. Pharaoh, Banner's cat, is rubbing up against his leg, purring. The class laughs, its first-day tension broken.)

(In his office, Dr. Crowler furiously scratches away with a quill pen at a big desk. Several books are stacked on the professor's desk, and a whole bookshelf more of them are behind it. On another wall I glimpsed a decorative suit of armor.) Crowler: How *dare* that Slifer slacker Jaden make a mockery of *me* in front of my class like that! (He puts the quill pen in a stand on the desk and folds the note he was writing, sealing it in an envelope.) Crowler: It'll be the last mistake he ever makes at *this* academy... (He next picks up a mirror and a tube of lipstick, applying a fresh layer of red to his lips. He puts aside the mirror and kisses the envelope.) Crowler: Ah! The big kiss-off! Ahahahahahahaha! (And Crowler has created his weapon; a mysterious note, sealed with a kiss.) <4:00>

(A nonplussed crowd of Academy students, all in matching P.E. sweats, stand in the middle of the Academy's indoor basketball court. Jaden is standing front and center.) Jaden: Huh. I wonder where *Sy* is...?

(Crowler peeks around a corner chortling, clearly up to no good, and starts pulling open lockers in the P.E. locker room.) Crowler: Hmhmhmhmhm. Now, to plant the bait, where Jaden will be sure to find it! Ah, his shoes! (Crowler, still chortling, places the kiss-sealed envelope on top of the pair of red sneakers sitting in the bottom of the locker. He grins down at the trap with mischievous glee.)

(The Academy's gym professor walks out to the center of the basketball court and addresses Jaden's crowd of students, disgustingly perky and cheerful. Her P.E. sweats look just like theirs, except her sleeves and collar are lavender instead of navy blue.) Fontaine: Hi, everyone! My name is Fonda Fontaine and I'll be your gym instructor for this semester! You ready to sweat?

(Syrus sprints into the locker room, still in his Academy blazer) Syrus: Lousy girls' gym!! They should make the sign bigger! (He starts pulling off one of his shoes, hopping on one foot, then opens a locker. He crouches down and sees the shoes, and Crowler's planted note.) Syrus: Hey-- those are *Jaden's* sneakers. Guess he's still borrowing my locker... (He picks up the sneakers and the note falls off of them. He picks it up.) Syrus: Huh? Ahh! But *this* isn't Jaden's! (Syrus furtively looks around, then walks over to a corner between the lockers, still looking around for anyone watching.) Syrus: Someone wrote me a letter? Wonder what it says! 'Since the moment I first saw you, I've been... (he reads on, astonished) in *love* with you'?! <5:00> 'Meet me tonight behind the girls' dorm, endearingly-- Alexis Rhodes'?!?! (Syrus stumbles backward, and falls over.) Syrus: Oh boy, this sure is a lot better than what my *mom* usually writes me!

(Then he starts daydreaming. The air is a dreamy lavender and it's raining pink flowers. Alexis runs forward, arms outstretched.) Vision Alexis: Syrus...! (Syrus is doing the same thing) Vision Syrus: Alexis...! (They meet in the center of a field of flowers and hold hands, laughing happily. Alexis gazes at him, eyes shining with affection.) Vision Alexis: Please, be mine... (End vision)

(Syrus is still sitting on the floor of the locker room.) Syrus: Oh, I'm *yours*!

ACT 2 <5:29>

(Evening, at the Slifer Red Dorm. Jaden, already wearing his P.E. sweats as pajamas, opens the door to his dorm room, toweling his hair.) Jaden: Hey Sy, the outhouse is all yours if ya want it. I'm done-- Chumley: Sy's gone-zo. (Jaden looks blankly up at their other roommate, Chumley, who's lounging on the top bunk of the triple bunk bed.) Chumley: Yeah, he just left. And he was in a *real good mood*, too. (Jaden sits down, still drying his hair.) Jaden: A *good mood*? That really doesn't sound like Syrus.

(Meanwhile, Syrus is rowing one of the Academy's little boats, still in this unusually good mood.) Syrus: Alexis! I'm coming for you, my darling! I'm coming! (He's rowing toward the Obelisk Girls' dorm, which is built on stilts over a lake. The moon is bright and full above it.)

(Meanwhile, at the Obelisk Girls' dorm, another little boat is already sitting in the small rowboat harbor behind the dorm. <6:00> Crowler, wearing a rather unforgettable full-body wetsuit in charcoal grey, cuts the lock on the gate with a pair of bolt-cutters and walks in, then darts into a clump of bushes. Then darts from that one to another, faster than the eye can see. Crowler keeps bush-hopping past a lit building, and we overhear some conversation.) Jasmine: Hey, Alexis. Wanna chill out in the Obelisk wading pool? Alexis: No, thanks-- we'll wade, and the guys'll *rage*. I'm not in the mood for a game of *tackle* Marco Polo. Jasmine: Hel-lo? Girls' dorm? No guys allowed, remember? (Despite this rule, Crowler is now lurking in the bushes outside the girls' dorm.) Crowler: This will be *perfect*! Thanks to that faux love letter I wrote...

(Vision, in which everything plays out as Crowler narrates.) Crowler (VO): Jaden will show up looking for Alexis, but all he'll find is *trouble* instead. (Jaden wanders between the bushes and looks up at the girls' dorm, confused. Crowler, unseen in the bushes behind him, snaps a picture with a camera.) Crowler (VO): Once he arrives, I'll snap a picture of him! Ahaa! Vision Jaden: Ugh! (End vision)

Crowler: And *then*, I will have caught him red-handed breaking campus rules! He will be *ruined*!

(Poor, hapless Syrus docks his little boat and jumps out, running eagerly through the unlocked gate.)

(Meanwhile, inside the building, Alexis and her two friends Jasmine and Mindy are enjoying the Obelisk Girls' beautiful, gilded wading pool.) Jasmine: Can you *believe* what that Jaden kid said to Doctor Crowler in class today? He's got *some nerve* to talk to a teacher like that! < 7:00> *Completely* disrespectful! Don'tcha think, Alexis? (Alexis, eyes peacefully closed, is cradling a soft washcloth against her cheek, daydreaming.) Alexis: Actually, I thought it was kinda cool. (Alexis turns away, oblivious to her friends' surprise.) Jasmine: What?! *Him*, cool?! Mindy: He *could* be, if he had the *talent* to back up that *talk*, maybe! Alexis: I think he just *might*. Still, I won't know until I duel him *myself*...

(Crowler is waiting in the bushes, when he hears footsteps and hides.) Crowler (whispers): Come, Jaden! Right into my trap like the Slifer *sap* you are! (Syrus wanders into view) Syrus (calls): Alexis? Crowler (shrieks): That's not Jaden!! It's that stammering field spell nitwit!!! (A girl from the dorm wanders outside, thinking she heard something.) - Who's there? Crowler: Guaaagh! (Crowler's been spotted, hiding outside the girls' dorm in an absurd form-fitting wetsuit. More girls come pouring out of the dorm in nighties and pajamas, to chase off the intruder or just gawk.) - It's a boy! (Crowler puts his hands over his face, trying to keep from being recognized) Crowler: I am *not* a boy! I'm a *man*, I-- y'know, just forget it! (he turns and starts running) You don't know me, you don't know me.. wa-ha-haugh! (With that last, Crowler walked right off the edge of the water and fell in with a giant splash. He sinks slowly, defeated. Meanwhile, Syrus is standing like a deer caught in headlights and is soon surrounded by a crowd of angry girls in pajamas, two of them holding his arms behind his back.) Syrus: Let go, ple-e-ease? Huh? (He looks up and finds himself facing Jasmine and Mindy, wrapped in towels from the wading pool and looking none too pleased.) Jasmine: Not until you tell us why you're here-- and it better be good!

(Later, Syrus sits on the polished floor of the stately main room of the girls' dorm, near the fountain and the gilded staircase to the second floor. His hands are tied together with rope, and one of the girls is holding the other end of the cord to keep him from running. Mindy and Jasmine have changed into nighties, and Alexis is in her school blazer.) Mindy: A love letter from Alexis? You've *got* to be kidding! Syrus (wink): Yep! Ask her! Hahaha! <8:00> Jasmine: Uh, hello? Like, Alexis is really tall, and you're really short; she's *really* good at dueling, and you're really not. She's really *hot*, and-- Syrus: But it's *true*, just tell them, Alexis! I even have the note right here! (He pulls it out of a pocket with his tied hands, and one of the girls takes it from him) Syrus: Look, see? (Jasmine opens the letter and shows it to Alexis and Mindy. Alexis scowls.) Alexis: Syrus, my name's not even *spelled* right there. Mindy: Sorry, Syrus, but I think someone is yanking your chain here. Syrus: So then you *don't* love me? Jasmine: He-ey, wait a second-- this note is made out to Jaden Yuki! Syrus: What?! *Jaden*? But-- (Jasmine shows him the note.) Syrus: Aw... So I can't even get a *fake* love letter. Alexis (sympathetically): I'm sorry, Syrus. Syrus: Me, too. Jasmine: I don't buy it. Mindy: What? Jasmine: *He* could've written the note to have an excuse to *come* here. Mindy: What're you saying? That we should report him for trespassing, then? Alexis: Hmmm... Syrus (frantic): But I was invited! I swear! (Fonda Fontaine, wearing a cream-pink robe, emerges from a doorway upstairs.) Fontaine: Girls, just what on Earth is going on down there! (The girls look panicked for a moment.) <9:00> Alexis (whispers): Down! Hurry! (Jasmine and Mindy shove Syrus down and all but sit on him, hiding him from view. The three girls laugh nervously, clearly up to something. Fontaine is nonplussed.) Fontaine: All right, what's up? Syrus (aside): You guys're *heavy*! Jasmine (aside): Beg your pardon? Mindy (aside): Maybe *you're* just *brittle*! Alexis: Gee, *sorry*, Ms. Fontaine, we'll be sure to keep a lid on things. Fontaine: Well I should hope so, it's nearly midnight! And I have Pilates in the morning. (Fontaine walks away, and the girls stand; that was close!) Jasmine: So what now? Alexis: *I'll* tell you 'what now', girls. Hmm. (Her light-tan eyes are sparkling; she has a plan.) Alexis: *I* say we use Sy here as a kind of bait, to find out what we were wondering about before. Hm... Just how good Jaden really is-- and I think I know *just* how we can get 'im to show us his best!

(Back in his dorm room, Jaden's playing a handheld video game. The blue-armored character on the left is kicking the red-caped character on the right with blinding speed.) Jaden: Three-hundred-move combo, *yes*!! Hmm? (His Duel Academy PDA is ringing. He puts down his game and picks it up from the desk. The voice on the other end is distorted, and there's no accompanying picture or video.) Message: We have your roommate Syrus. If you want 'im back, come to the girls' dorms *now*. *Alone*. Jaden: Oh, Syrus... <10:00>

(In the cold lake outside the girls' dorm, Crowler surfaces with a gasp, having used a reed of bamboo for a snorkel.) Crowler: You try to expel *one kid*, and the entire world turns against you! Huh? (Then he sees Jaden rowing toward the girls' dorm in yet another little wooden boat.) Crowler: Huh...? *You're* a little late!

(Jaden rows up to the little poured-cement harbor behind the girls' dorm, and Alexis, Jasmine, and Mindy are waiting for him, with Syrus, who's still tied up.) Syrus (wearily): Hi, Jaden. Jaden: Hey. So what exactly's goin' on here? Syrus: Well, uh, to make a long story short... I'm basically a big loser. Jasmine: Your *friend* here trespassed into the girls' campus. Jaden: Is that *true*, Sy? Syrus: Hey, it's not like that! Mindy: And now that you're here, Jaden, *you're* trespassing, too. Alexis: That's right, so if you don't want us to turn you in, you're gonna have to *win* your freedom by beating *me* in a duel, right now! Syrus: But if you turn us in we'll be expelled! Jaden (punches his palm): Don't worry, Sy-- I won't let that happen! Now let's duel, Alexis! (Alexis frowns back at him, serious and menacing; it's on!) Alexis: Mmm...

ACT 3 <11:00>

(Out on the lake, Jaden and Alexis face off, each standing on one of the little wooden boats. Syrus is sitting in Jaden's boat, and Jasmine and Mindy are sitting in Alexis'.) Syrus: I hope you know what you're doing, Jaden. (The two opponents exchange challenging glares, both of them somber and serious.)

(Crowler watches from a distance, floating in the water.) Crowler: Well, well, well! A Slifer versus an Obelisk. Put him in his place, Alexis!

Alexis: Ready? Jaden: Oh, yeah! Both: Duel! (Both duelists start with 4000 lifepoints) Jaden: Get your game on, Alexis! (Jasmine and Mindy look on warily. Syrus looks like he'll just have to wait out what the whimsies of fate have in store for him next.) Syrus: Here we go... Alexis: All right. Let's see-- (She draws, and we catch a look at her hand: Etoile Cyber, Mind on Air, Fusion Gate, Polymerization, and Kishido Spirit. She drew the trap card Doble Passé. She puts it in her hand and grabs Etoile Cyber.) Alexis: Hmm... Etoile Cyber, rise! (pron. EY-twahll) [Etoile Cyber 1200///] (Etoile Cyber is a graceful dancer in a red costume.) Alexis: And I'm also going to play one card facedown. Jaden: Time to throw down! First-- (think) Yes! (He drew E-H Sparkman. We don't see the rest of his hand.) Jaden: I'll summon the Elemental Hero Sparkman! <12:00> [Elemental Hero Sparkman 1600///] Jaden: And now, I'll have 'im attack your Etoile Cyber with, Static Shockwave! (Jaden pronounces Etoile EH-twahll) Alexis: Nngh. Hold it right there! (When her trap activates, Sparkman's lightning veers around Etoile Cyber as though she's in a bubble, and hits Alexis instead.) Alexis: I activate the trap card "Doble Passé"! Uuggggh! Jaden: Huh? (Alexis' lifepoints fall to 2400; she just took all 1600 points of the attack directly.) Alexis: Doble Passé changes your monster's attack to a direct attack *on me*-- and now, *my* monster that *you* were about to attack gets to wage a direct attack *on you*!! (Etoile Cyber gracefully leaps forward.) Jaden: Great. Alexis: Oh, and when Etoile Cyber attacks someone directly? Her attack points *increase* by *six hundred*! (This time Etoile pronounced eh-TWELL) (Etoile's new attack point total is 1800. She spins around, and kicks Jaden in the head.) Jaden: Aggh! (Jaden kneels for a moment, winded and shaking; with that one attack, he's down to 2200 lifepoints.) Syrus: Jaden! (Jaden gets carefully to his feet again.) Jaden (mutters): Ugh, that Alexis is somethin' else. Sacrificing 'er *own lifepoints* just so she could get to *mine*... Alexis (sweetly): So you *impressed*? Jaden (wry): Hmph. Impressed? I think I'm in love! Alexis: You're sweet. Too bad I have to crush you. <13:00> Now then-- where were we? Ooh! (She just drew Blade Skater, a normal monster.) Alexis: I play, Blade Skater! [Blade Skater 1400//L4/] (Another dancer, this one an ice-skater in pale mauve.) Alexis: *And*, I activate the spell card "Polymerization" to fuse Etoile Cyber and Blade Skater together to summon Cyber Blader! [Cyber Blader 2100/800//] (Cyber Blader is an elegant skater with long, dark blue hair and a red and white costume.) Alexis: Now, Cyber Blader, attack Sparkman with Whirlwind Rage! (Blader goes into a blinding pirouette, spinning like a top and stirring up water as she goes. She gracefully kicks Sparkman, and he's done. Jaden and Syrus withstand the explosion. Jaden's down to 1700.) Jaden: Well... so much for *him*.

(We pan back to find that Crowler is still watching from a distance.) Mindy: Way to go, Alexis! Jasmine: Yeah, you got 'im *now*! I *knew* when this kid beat Doctor Crowler it was *just luck*! Crowler: Heheheh...

Jaden: Well, it'll be my *pleasure* to prove ya wrong. My draw. (He drew the field spell Fusion Gate) Jaden (think): All right-- perfect! (aloud) I activate the field spell card "Fusion Gate"! <14:00> (The field spell goes into a retractable slot on the near end of his duel disk.) Jaden: Now I can summon fusion monsters *without* a "Polymerization" card. *And,* I'm gonna summon this one-- (He shows E-H Avian and E-H Burstinatrix from his hand) Jaden: Elemental Hero Flame Wingman! (Flame Wingman lands on the surface of the water, ready for battle.) Alexis: Okay. It looks like it's going to be *one fusion monster against another,* huh, Jaden? That's fine by *me*! Although... Jaden: Huh? Alexis: Since they have the exact same attack points, they're just going to destroy each other. Jaden: Not after I play *this*, they won't. I activate the spell card "Kishido Spirit"! Now Wingman can take down any monster that has the same attack points as him, and not be destroyed. *And*, thanks to his super power, once he destroys your Blader, you take damage equal to *her* attack points. Now go, Flame Wingman! And attack Cyber Blader! Alexis (think): *Someone* hasn't done their homework... <15:00> (Flame Wingman attacks, and Cyber Blader strikes back; the tension holds, then breaks; both monsters fly apart, neither destroyed.) Jaden: What? How did she survive my Wingman's attack? Alexis: *Simple*. Jaden: Huh? Alexis: Cyber Blader's special ability makes it so she can't be destroyed by an opponent with *only one monster*. Jaden: But then, then *that* would mean that-- Alexis: *Neither* of us lose any lifepoints! (Alexis still has 2400, and Jaden still has 1700) Jaden: Well, I guess ya got me. Alexis: Oh, when I *get* you, Jaden, *believe* me, you'll know it! (draw) Hm. Like right now, for example. (She shows her card: Fusion Weapon) Alexis: I equip my spell, "Fusion Weapon", to Cyber Blader! (Cyber Blader's stats leap to 3600/2300, and one of her arms becomes a sinister-looking three-pronged red claw.) Jaden: Huh-oh. I think you might wanna brace yourself for this one, Sy, ol' buddy. Alexis: Go, Blader! Attack the Flame Wingman, with Trident Shock! Jaden: Uaagh! (Big, smoky explosion. <16:00> Jaden's lifepoints fall to a scant 200.)

ACT 4 <16:04>

Alexis (sweetly): Uh-oh. Your lifepoints are looking pretty *low*. Hope you didn't unpack your *bags* here yet. Mindy: Yeah, because if you lose you're both getting expe-elled! Jasmine: Heheh! Syrus (starting to panic): We- are? Jaden: That's not gonna happen, Sy. *Promise*. Alexis (think): Hmm. You shouldn't make promises you can't deliver. Jaden (think): I hope I'm not makin' a promise I can't deliver. The only card I have out is Fusion Gate-- but there's *still* a chance I can win! It just all depends on what I draw right here, right now! (aloud) Ah! Here goes! (His card is Monster Reborn.) Jaden: Perfect. Alexis: Ah... Jaden: I play, the Elemental Hero Clayman! Rise up! [Elemental Hero Clayman 800///] Jaden: And now I activate "Monster Reborn"! So come on back, Elemental Hero Sparkman! <17:00> [Elemental Hero Sparkman 1600///] Alexis: What difference will *he* make? My Cyber Blader has way more attack points than *him*. Your Sparkman won't stand a chance. Jaden: *He* won't, but with Fusion Gate's special effect, I can fuse him *and Clayman* together to summon someone who *will*! Rise! Elemental Hero Thunder Giant! Jasmine and Mindy: Whoa-a! Crowler: Aa-aa-aa-aa-aah! (Thunder Giant takes the field, a broad-shouldered, armored warrior with a globe in the center of his chest that crackles with contained electricity. A lightning bolt cracks the briefly stormy sky above, though the night used to be calm.) [Elemental Hero Thunder Giant 2400///] Alexis: Hate to break it to ya, but my Cyber Blader's attack points are *still higher*, at thirty-six hundred. Jaden: Yeah, I know, I know. But one of Thunder Giant's abilities, is that he can destroy any monster whose *original* attack points are less than his own. Alexis: Wait-- *original* attack points? (She sounds pleasantly surprised, intrigued-- did Jaden really manage to outwit her?) Jaden: That's right. Attack points without *any kind of enhancement.* <18:00> Alexis: But before I played "Fusion Weapon", her attack points were just twenty-one hundred...! Jaden: Exactly! And that's *lower* than my hero Thunder Giant's; so your Blader is automatically destroyed! (Thunder Giant skates across the water, and holds one massive hand over Blader's head, obliterating her from the field.) Jaden: And the coolest part of it is, Alexis-- I still have his attack left to use on *you*! Voltic Thunder! Alexis: Uuaagh!! (Alexis takes the electrical attack, shielding her face. A bolt of it also hits the lake and races across it to zap Crowler right out of the water. Alexis kneels in the boat, a hand to her head; that hurt. Her lifepoints fall to zero.) Jasmine: Alexis! Mindy: Uh, what just happened? (Syrus jumps up and hugs Jaden) Syrus: Yeah! (Jaden salutes Alexis with two fingers and winks.) Jaden: All right, looks like *that* is game!

(Later on, the two little boats sit side-by-side on the lake.) Jaden: Well? A deal's a deal. I won, so we get off free. Alexis (teasing): Okay, guys, I won't back out. We'll keep quiet about what happened tonight. Jasmine: Well, if you ask *me*, *I* think we should turn *both* of them in, *right now*! <19:00> Alexis (sharply): Well, no one asked you. Jasmine: Alexis...! Alexis: Jaden beat me in the duel fair and square, and that's all there is to it. Jaden: Nah, there's more to it than *that*! It was *close*! Alexis: Hmm? (Jaden smiles at her, for once not joking or silly, but serious and sincere.) Jaden: Yeah. You got game. (Alexis is silent, stunned, and somewhat charmed. Jaden and Syrus sit down in the boat, and Jaden picks up the oars. Syrus waves sheepishly.) Jaden: Later. (Alexis watches Jaden row away, smiling.) Alexis (think): Even if I *did* win, I could never have turned those two in. This place is a lot more fun *with* them than without! Jasmine (think): I've never seen Alexis act this way before! I wonder, is she actually *falling* for that Slifer?

(Crowler watches Jaden and Syrus row away, far less happily.) Crowler: Rrrgh. Hmph. Lucky *brat*! He escaped *this* time, but I'll still find a way to expel him! After I... find a way... home... (He sinks into the water, getting ready for a long swim...)

END <19:49>