Turn 8

Jacob drew a card from his deck, silently.

"I activate Bringer of Good Fortunes' ability! By discarding the card I just drew, I can play a spell from my deck, and that card is One Day of Peace!" Jacob exclaimed. "We both draw one card, and neither of us take damage until the end of your next turn!"

"Stalling now are we?" Mary laughed. "The longer you take, the more life points I'm able to accumulate!"

Jacob just let out a small growl, before setting a card, and ending his turn.

Turn 9

"I draw!" Mary says, pulling a card from the deck dramatically.

"I activate the spell Soul Escape! By removing one overlay unit from an xyz monster I control, I can special summon that monster, return to me, LifeForce Gardna in defense position!"

LifeForce Gardna: 100atk/2000def/lvl4

"I end my turn by setting one card."

Turn 10

"I draw."

"I activate Bringer of Good Fortunes' ability! By discarding one card, I can activate a spell from my deck! I choose Wonder Wand!" He declared. "By equipping it to a spellcaster type monster, it gains 500 atk! I equip it to Bringer of Good Fortunes, boosting his attack to 3100!"

"Now go, Bringer of Good Fortunes! Attack LifeForce Parasite! Death Destiny!"

"I activate LifeForce Gardna's ability! When a LifeForce monster I control would be destroyed, he can take the hit, however, he's banished during the end phase." Mary retaliated.

"Then, in that case, I end my turn."

"LifeForce Parasite's Ability activates! Will you take damage? Or will you give me life points?"

"I'll give you the life points..."

4550 - 6100 (Mary)

"Because you ended your turn, LifeForce Gardna is banished."

Turn 11

"I draw!"

"Now I activate my face-down card! The continuous trap: LifeForce Burst! By discarding one card in my hand, I can deal damage equal to half the difference in our life points!"

2950 - 1375 (Jacob)

"Now to finish you off, I activate LifeForce Sage's ability from my GY! By banishing him, I can activate a 'LifeForce' card's effect twice, and while my hand is empty, I can discard cards in my GY! So I activate LifeForce Burst by banishing a card in my GY!"

1375 - 0 (Jacob)

Winner: Mary

"I won, and a deals a deal. Your couch is now my bed while I temporarily stay at your home."

Jacob sighed, rubbing his face, "Fine, fine."

They both left the stadium, and arrived at Jacob's abode and walked in.

"Alright, rules," Jacob started. "You cannot enter my room, and you must cook your own meals, feel free to use whatever ingredients..."

The lecture continued for quite some time, and Mary had fallen asleep, missing only half of the explanation and rules she had to follow in the house.

By the time Mary woke up, it was early morning, the next day. She looked around her surroundings before remembering that she had won a duel to earn the right to stay in the house. After a quick scan of the nearby area, she found her backpack, picked it up, and headed out into the cool morning air. Now that she had a place to stay, she decided on her next task: Getting revenge on her family. Before that, however, she too needed to hone her skills, and she set out to do just that.

Only a few hours later did Jacob wake up, leaving his room to find Mary and her backpack were no longer there. He didn't worry too much though, what she did was her business after all. He made himself a quick breakfast, and headed out, on a similar objective: Get better, and prove to the top duelist of his school that he wasn't inept, and that he could win.

During this very same morning, a robed figure walked down the street. He and his companion were after two targets that would align with achieving their final goal. These two people were the very same people Jacob and Mary were looking at overcoming, and they knew that. If they could succeed in this, then they would no longer have to lift a finger, and let those two win in their stead.

He looked up, and at that very moment, bumped shoulders with someone walking the opposite way, knocking their hood off.

"Hey! Watch where you're going!" The pedestrian called out at them.

He turned around to see who had decided to call him out for his rather trivial accident. As soon as he saw the face of them, he grinned.

"You are Daniel Forg, yes? You graduated at the top of your dueling class, yes?"

The boy looked back at him puzzled.

"How do you know that?" He asked.

"I challenge you to a duel, if you win, I will tell you," He replied stoically.

Daniel rolled his eyes in response, "Fine, but I won't go down easy, and when I win, you better answer my questions!"

They moved to a less crowded area, and stood opposite each other, and said in unison, "Duel!"

Meanwhile, another hooded figure was arriving at Mary's home. He walked up to the door, and knocked twice, awaiting a response, and a few seconds later, the doors swung open, and on the other end was Mary's Father, Gary Shelleton.

"Who the hell are you?" He said, looking down at the stranger.

"I'm an employer," He said, looking up at him. "I have a job I want you to do."

"Well I'm not interested in it."

He slammed the door in the strangers face. Despite this, they knocked again.

"Leave." Gary said from the other side of the door.

"Your daughter Mary won't be back anytime soon, but when she comes back, make sure you're ready for a battle, Mr. Shelleton."

After a small pause, the stranger turned around to leave, only to hear the sound of opening doors behind him.

"How do you know I have a daughter, how do you know she's out?" Gary said, dragging the stranger towards him.

"Beat me in a duel, and I'll tell you, but if you lose, you'll fulfill my job, are we clear?" The stranger asked.

"Grrr. Fine, you have a deal."

The hooded man was taken into their spacious entrance hall, where they stood, opposite each other.

"Let's duel!"