RANMA, MASTER OF THE CARDS

Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2, Slayers and Yugi-oh belong to their own creators and I shouldn't be blamed for any of this.

< >: Thoughts

Ranma-Yami: Ranma merged with Yami

LP/DP: Attack/Defense Points

Chapter 4

Part 1

Luna's First Duel

It was well past midnight at a small inn on the side of the road north of Atlona. In one room slept a certain Duelist from another world, Ranma Saotome. Lying on the floor beside his bed was his backpack. On the night table was his belt and card case where he kept his Dueling Deck. Hanging from his neck was the Millennium Puzzle.

As always, when Ranma slept, he tended to sleep extremely soundly. His senses were tuned to anything that might threaten him, but they usually disregarded everything else. As such, he was unaware that someone was outside his room with the intent of stealing something.

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Lina Inverse tiptoed as quietly as she could as she approached Ranma's room. She was currently sharing a room with Amelia, while Gourry and Zelgadis shared another one. Ranma had more than enough gold on him to secure a room of his own, as did Lina's sister. However, it wasn't gold that the red-haired sorceress was after this time.

After Luna had explained to her that Ranma was from another world and that he had access to this world, Lina figured that he wouldn't miss a few of his cards. He could always replace them once he returned to his home dimension, right? Besides, what would he need the Enchantress of Light and that Polymerization Card for? The younger Inverse girl figured that with some experimentation, she could get an increase in power and bra size. And there might be a few other goodies that she could obtain from that deck once she...

"Hello sister. What brings you here at this time of night?"

Just as she was about to turn the doorknob to Ranma's room, Lina stiffened up when she heard her sibling's singsong voice behind her. Whenever Luna spoke in THAT tone, that could only mean that Lina was in BIG trouble. The last time she heard that tone of voice, it was after Luna had found out that her sister had been selling images of her sibling in the shower. She grinned nervously as she turned around, and saw Luna standing in her nightgown with a certain smile on her face, and her arms crossed over her chest.

"Oh... uh, hi... Sis. What are you doing up?"

"THAT was my question Lina, though I believe I can guess why you're skulking about Ranma's door."

"I wasn't skulking!" The redhead denied in a harsh whisper.

"All right, prowling then." Luna amended, as her facial features became a bit sterner. "I know what you were planning to do Lina."

"What are you talking about?"

"The power contained within Ranma's Dueling Deck is far more than you could ever imagine. It's one thing to be able to cast the Giga Slave. It's quite another to be in possession of the powers of the Shadow Realm. And I know you Lina. You picked up some very bad habits, including taking things that do not rightfully belong to you."

"What? Are accusing me, your very own sister, of trying to steal Ranma's cards?" Lina said with some mock indignity, but when Luna's eyes narrowed, then Gourry's traveling companion knew that she wasn't fooling her in the least. She then laughed nervously. "Ah... heh, heh. Uh... well, it's... er, not like he'd miss a few cards, I mean... er, uh, he's got so many... and... something tells me that I'd better get back to bed."

Luna's expression became somewhat less hardened as she nodded. "Good night Lina." Just as the redhead turned to head back to her room, Luna decided to add a few more words. "Oh and Lina?"

Lina turned her head over her left shoulder. "Yeah?"

"Ranma and I agreed to allow you and your friends to join us on our quest, since we could use your help. However, I would be quite... displeased if some his cards... or mine, were to suddenly go missing."

Lina swallowed a bit as she caught her sister's not-too-subtle warning. "Good night Luna."

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The next day...

"You've got a pretty powerful deck." Ranma commented as he flipped through Luna's deck. The group was eating breakfast as they prepared to head toward the next town in search of the Millennium Items and any renegade Duelists. As usual, Lina and Gourry were fighting over who would get the last plate of food, and who pays the bill.

"Yes, though it doesn't have Exodia like yours." Luna remarked.

This immediately got Lina's attention as she remembered back to Filia's story about the legendary being of destruction. She began to listen very closely to their conversation, which incidentally allowed Gourry to wolf down the remaining portions of breakfast, including her own plate.

"It may not have Exodia, " Ranma commented. "Still, these are some of the rarest cards I've ever seen. However, I can see a few weak points in your deck." After flipping through the deck, then handing it back to Luna, Ranma reached into his backpack and pulled out a small package of cards and handed them to her. "Here. Add these to your deck. They'll help you in certain situations."

Luna took the offered cards, removed them from their strange, colorful wrappings, and scanned them. A puzzled look appeared on her face as looked at Ranma. "Are you sure?"

The martial artist and duelist nodded. "Don't worry. I've got enough of those cards in my deck, and they'll respond once you draw them. Their powers have already been activated when I passed through the Shadow Realm."

The sorceress smiled as she shuffled the new additions into her deck. The cards emitted a soft, golden glow as they were assimilated. Once they were fully integrated, she put her deck away.

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A little later...

Ranma and the others were making good time on their way to Vendera, a city northeast of Atlona. According to his other self, who was using the Millennium Ring in the Shadow Realm, another Millennium Item was in that direction. As they walked along down a path through a forest, Lina was constantly pestering Ranma about the Duel Monsters Deck in his possession.

"Aw, c'mon. I'll give you one thousand silver pieces for those cards." Lina pleaded.

"No." He replied, as he was already tired of Lina pestering him.

"Hey, you can always go back to your world and get more cards."

"The answer is no and that's final."

Behind them, Amelia, Gourry and Zelgadis let off tired sighs. They knew when Lina got this way, there was very little that could sway her. Lina was always on the lookout for powerful spells and magical items. Although Amelia did like being the Mystic of Light, while Gourry wouldn't have minded becoming the Flame Champion again.

Ranma sighed as he turned down Lina's offer to buy his cards for the umpteenth time. At that moment, he stopped suddenly as his danger senses went off. He instantly went into a defensive stance. Catching Ranma's expression, Luna also tensed up.

"Hey Sis, what's wrong?" Lina asked.

"We're about to be attacked." Luna said quickly. An instant later, some small objects appeared and floated in the air, surrounding the group.

Lina and her friends became puzzled as they saw that they were...

"Cards?" Amelia said in confusion.

"Not just any cards." Ranma warned. "Those are Duel Monster Cards!"

At that moment, the cards, five in all, suddenly enlarged in size and flipped over to show what was displayed on their faces, which then came to life. They soon found themselves surrounded by very big adversaries. Each attacker was eight feet in height and was wearing technological armor. They were armed with energy Beam Swords that reminded Gourry of the Sword of Light.

"Mecha-Knights." (1500/1750) Ranma gritted as his Millennium Puzzle came to life. In an instant, he became Ranma-Yami and leapt into a reverse spin-kick. His foot slammed into the head of one of the machine monsters, causing a large dent and knocking it back. Cupping his hands together, he pulled them back, collected some of his ki and launched it at the machine's damaged head.

"MOKO TAKABISHA!"

The ki bolt blasted the Mecha-Knight's noggin clear off its shoulders. The body then collapsed and exploded into fragments that faded away. The duelist and martial artist nodded as he saw that his fighting techniques worked enough against these mechanized warriors. However, for his companions, it was different story.

"FLARE ARROW!" Zelgadis, Amelia and Lina cried out, launching streaks of mystic fire. However, the attacks were simply deflected off the armor of their attackers.

"What the...?!" Lina and her friends scrambled out of the way as two Mecha-Knights slashed at them with their Beam Swords. Luckily, Gourry came up from behind and slashed with his sword. He managed to chop off the head of one and caused the damaged foe to stumble into its companion. Both machines went tumbling down.

Ranma-Yami realized what was going on as he drew a card from his belt case. Looking down at it he nodded as he threw it out.

"GO AXE RAIDER!" (1700/1150)

The hulking warrior appeared, and brought his battleaxe down on the Mecha-Knights. Both monsters were cut in half and disintegrated.

Taking a cue from Ranma-Yami, Luna drew a card from her own deck. "GO LA-DJINN!" (1800/1000)

However, before she could order her monster to attack the last Mecha-Knight, she heard a shout.

"NO!"

Ranma-Yami came flying out of nowhere in a sidekick and knocked the machine monster off-balance for a moment, before the Axe Raider came in and cleaved it in twain. The remains disintegrated into nothingness.

"Not that I'm complaining Ranma," Luna said as she recalled her genie. "But I could have handled it."

The pigtailed duelist dusted himself off as he recalled Axe Raider. "Normally, yes. But there's something I forgot to mention about Duel Monsters. Your genie's attack wouldn't have worked against that monster because..."

At that moment, something else appeared in their midst and Ranma-Yami gasped as he saw it. It was an ugly-looking, red metal sphere with four arms and was ticking...

"TAKE COVER!" In that instant, Ranma-Yami pushed Luna out of the way.

KABOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!

The Blast Sphere (2900/1400) went off and Luna just barely managed to erect a protective barrier around her comrades. However, the force of the explosion partially caught its nearest intended victim... Ranma-Yami.

When the smoke cleared, Lina and her group checked for injuries. That was when they heard a moan and saw that Luna was on her knees and cradling a badly injured Ranma-Yami in her arms.

"Ranma! Are you all right?"

Ranma-Yami groaned as he tried to move, but he had suffered some serious bodily damage when he took some of the blast to protect Luna. Thankfully, the Millennium Puzzle had also put up some protective energy, which had allowed him to survive the explosion. He had suffered some bad burns on his arms and he could tell that he had a couple of fractured ribs and a broken right arm. Each breath he took was painful. He realized that he was in no condition to fight... or duel.

It was at that moment that their tormentor decided to show himself. A mocking laughter was heard, causing everyone to look up. Standing on a stone ridge overlooking their position was a tall figure with short blond hair. He was garbed in a kind of leather jacket, tunic, dark pants and boots. His face had an ugly scar running down his left cheek and above it, his left eye had been replaced with a kind of technological monocle. The newcomer gazed down at the group and continued to snicker for a bit.

"Who are you?" Luna demanded.

The stranger snorted as he replied in a tough tone. "The name's Bannick, lady. That was quite a protection spell you cast there. Didn't think anything could stand up to my Blast Sphere." He held up a deck of cards.

"You're a Duelist?"

"That's right." Bannick nodded as his expression took on a bit of a leering look. "And if I'm not mistaken, you're the famous Luna Inverse, the most powerful sorceress in the world."

Lina grumbled a bit. Even though she was the one who had defeated Shabranigdo, Phibrizzo, and Darkstar, her sister was the one that most people knew by reputation. The only thing Lina was remembered by was her reputation as the Bandit Killer and Dragon Spooker, plus the fact that she had small breasts. Yeesh!

"What do you want?" Luna demanded, though she was pretty certain of what he wanted.

Bannick shrugged as he replied. "I would think that you know the answer. I've been hearing some stories about a Duelist traveling around with the famous Luna Inverse. If you know about the Shadow Games, then you also know that we need to absorb the life energies of some powerful magic users. I thought I could get your life force by ambushing your with my Mecha-Knights and using the Blast Sphere, but your Dueling friend there got in the way." He pointed to Ranma-Yami.

"You'll pay for hurting him!" Luna declared, as she was about to stand up and throw a Fireball.

Bannick chuckled a bit while shaking his head. "I wouldn't try anything if I were you. That is, unless you don't WANT the antidote to save your friend."

"What do you mean?" Luna inquired.

The enemy Duelist smiled evilly as he showed two cards from his deck. "You know what these are?"

Luna's eyes narrowed a bit as the cards enlarged themselves to reveal the images imprinted on them. She recognized the Blast Sphere that had injured her friend, but she could not name the second card, which depicted several cube patterns with lines.

"What is that?"

"Oh, it's a little something that we Duelists call Virus Cards." The man let off a short laugh. "You see, I had combined it with my Blast Sphere, hoping to infect you with this special Mech-Virus. Even if you had totally deflected the explosion of my Sphere, the virus would have infected you and eventually would have turned you into a machine slave. You would have been easy pickings for me to absorb your life energies. However, your friend got in the way, and now he has been infected."

Ranma-Yami let off a shout of pain as his body convulsed a bit. To Bannick's delight and everyone else's horror, metal fragments and circuits began appearing on his face and arms. His body then went limp as the first stages of the metamorphosis were completed. However, it would soon get worse.

"He doesn't have much time." The other Duelist warned. "If he does not receive the Anti-Mech Virus, then he will eventually become one of the cards in my deck. In many cases, the victim often doesn't survive the transformation process."

"Give me the Counter-Virus!" Luna demanded as she stood up and was about to release a spell.

"You want it?" Bannick then took out the card and showed it to Luna. "Then you will have to DUEL me for it! But if I win, not only will your friend become one with my deck, but you will join him! As such, you will BOTH surrender your life forces to me! Agreed?"

Luna fought to keep her anger in check. Normally, she was very disciplined, unlike her hot-tempered sister. However, seeing Ranma-Yami in such a state, made her feel rage like she had never felt before. After gently putting him in Amelia's care and telling her to do whatever she could to slow the virus's progress, she turned to her opponent while taking out her own deck.

"It's time to Duel!"

"Be careful Sis!" Lina called out as she, Zelgadis, Amelia and Gourry carefully carried Ranma-Yami out of the Dueling Area as it formed. Both Luna and Bannick were sealed off from the outside world, as a new Shadow Game was about to get underway.

Ranma-Yami moaned as he tried to speak. "Luna... his... deck is a... ARGH!"

He wasn't able to finish with his warning as more pain shot through his body. Additional circuits and mechanisms appeared as the Mech-Virus continued to ravage his insides. It was well into the second stage of transforming him. Luna would have to win this Duel and quickly to save him.

Inside the Dueling Arena, Bannick continued to sneer at his opponent. "I hope your friend has told you about some of the rules of the Shadow Games. You can't attack me with your own magic, unless you want to forfeit all of your Life Points. No outside interference is permitted and..."

"I know all of that!" Luna said as she drew her first hand. The cards instantly enlarged themselves and arranged themselves before her with their backs facing her opponent. Bannick's dueling hand did likewise. "Make your move!"

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Luna: 2000 LP

Bannick: 2000 LP

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"I'll start with Mecha-Knight in Attack Mode!" Bannick gestured to his first card, which became the metal monster.

Luna nodded as she decided on her first monster. "I shall use La-Djinn! Attack!" The green genie appeared and let loose with a mystic blast at the machine monster. However, the attack simply bounced off the armor of the Mecha-Knight, leaving Luna and everyone else stunned.

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"What's going on?" Lina asked, then she gasped as she remembered back to when she, Zelgadis and Amelia had used Flare Arrows against that kind of monster, with similar results.

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"That can't be right!" Luna stated. "La-Djinn has a greater attack power than your monster!"

"Oh? Didn't your friend tell you?" Bannick said with a mocking tone. "All of my machines are protected with magic-resistant armor. It's sort of like that Oriharucon stuff I've heard about. My Machine Deck can't be affected by any kind of magical attack, which gives me an advantage against magic users, doesn't it?"

It was at that moment that Luna realized why Ranma-Yami stopped her from attacking with La-Djinn before. And she also remembered back to his earlier words...

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Flashback...

Ranma-Yami: "However, I can see a few weak points in your deck."

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End of flashback...

Bannick smiled as he noted Luna's expression. "Well now. From what I can tell from your pretty face, your deck is probably made up of monsters that use magic. Well, that doesn't mean squat to my machines! Speaking of which..." He drew a new card from his deck and let it appear on the field. "Meet my new friend. GO CONSTRUCTOR!" (2000/1300)

Another humanoid automaton appeared beside the Mecha-Knight. However, it sported multiple arms with welding and cutting tools attached to them.

"What is that thing?" Luna began to have a sinking feeling.

The machine user smiled. "Constructor is a machine that's able to make two duplicates of any machine monster on the field, per turn! CONSTRUCTOR! DUPLICATE MECHA-KNIGHT!"

In an instant, the Constructor scanned the Mecha-Knight and made some raw materials appear. Its arms worked in a blur, assembling a pair of automatons in nanoseconds. A moment later, Luna found herself facing not one, but three Mecha-Knights and their maker.

"DESTROY THE GENIE! BLOWTORCH ASSAULT!"

The machine monster directed its welding tools at La-Djinn and let loose with a torrent of flames, reducing the genie into cinders. Luna yelped as she felt a burning sensation within her body as Life Points were deducted.

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Luna: 1800 LP

Bannick: 2000 LP

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<Ow! Ranma wasn't kidding when he told me that playing a Shadow Game was painful! But I have to win! Ranma's life depends on it! But I don't have any cards that can stand up to machine monsters! They can't be hurt by magic. What can I do?>

Bannick laughed at his opponent. The greatest sorceress in the world was about to be beaten!

<Can't let him get to me! I have to keep fighting, for Ranma's sake!> Seeing that the cards in her hand would not help, she drew a new card from her deck. <Hmmm, nothing useful, but I can still put up a defense.> "I lay this Monster Card in Defense Mode."

Bannick shrugged. "Whatever. Now I shall play this card." He revealed a new card. "It's called Factory Conversion, which raises the Attack and Defense Points of all the Machine Monsters on the field."

Luna knew that she was in trouble as Constructor (2300/1600), and the three Mecha-Knights (1800/2050), got enhancements in their stats. Bannick then commanded his Constructor to create two more Mecha-Knights, raising their number to five.

"Now attack the Defense Card! BLOWTORCH ASSAULT!"

Luna winced as her Defense Card; Ice Shaman (1100/1200) was obliterated. She drew a new card, then smiled a bit when she saw it. She placed the card face down, along with another Monster Card. "I'll end my turn with this Monster Card face down, plus this card."

Bannick snickered. "No sense in delaying the inevitable, Inverse. I know that you don't have any Monster Cards that can stand up to my machines! And that Magic Card isn't going to do you any good either! You might as well give up!" He then ordered the Constructor to destroy the Defense Card. However, as soon as it blasted it with its Blowtorch Assault, he felt a stabbing pain in his belly as the other hidden card activated.

"AAAAAAARRRRGGGGHHH!"

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Luna: 1800 LP

Bannick: 1700 LP

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"What was that?!"

Now it was Luna's turn to smile. "That was the Defense Monster you had just destroyed. It was one of my Mystical Elves. (800/2000) However, that other card I placed facedown was not a Magic Card. It was a Trap Card!"

"A Trap Card?!"

"That's right. It was called Defense Retribution."

"What?!"

"It's a Trap Card that activates when one of my Defense Monsters is destroyed. The amount of Life Points that is deducted from my opponent depends on how much stronger the attacking monster is compared to my defending monster. (*) My magic monsters may not be able to hurt your machines, but that doesn't mean that I can't hurt you!"

Bannick growled a bit, then smiled. "Not bad. Not bad at all. However, one Trap Card doesn't win the Duel!"

"My turn now." Luna replied with determination as she drew a new card, then smiled again.

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"Way to go, Sis!" Lina cheered.

"Impressive." Zegadis remarked.

Amelia nodded as she continued to work her healing magic on Ranma-Yami. She was unable to reverse the effects of the Mech-Virus, but she could slow its progress.

The Game King nodded as he continued to watch the Duel.

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"I shall place this card face down, then I shall place this Monster Card in Attack Mode!"

"Did you learn nothing?" The Machine Duelist taunted. "Your magical monsters can't hurt me with their attacks!"

"You're right." Luna agreed. "Magical attacks won't work." Her smile then became slyer. "Then again, that doesn't mean that I can't attack your monsters physically! GO BARBARIAN DESTROYER! (1900/1600)

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"Isn't that your card?" Amelia asked Ranma-Yami.

"It's... one of the extra cards that I gave to Luna to strengthen her deck." The weakened Game King replied. "I saw that most of her deck consisted of magic-based monsters, so I thought she'd need some extra muscle."

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"Barbarian Destroyer?!" Bannick was in shock that Luna had a fighter in her deck. He had pegged her as a magic-user only.

Luna nodded. "Normally, I prefer brains over brute force, but..." She gestured to the Destroyer. "DESTROY ONE OF THE MECHA-KNIGHTS! BATTLE-CLUB SLAM!"

The giant brute dashed over and flattened one of the machine monsters into dust. Its master felt as if he had received a concussion.

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Luna: 1800 LP

Bannick: 1600 LP

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"MY TURN!" Bannick called out to his Constructor. "ATTACK THE BARBARIAN BESTROYER!"

"Tsk, Tsk. Not so hasty." Luna said while wagging her right index finger at him. "Have you forgotten about my hidden card? It was another Trap Card."

"What?!"

Luna nodded as the Barbarian Destroyer leapt up to avoid Constructor's flames. The facedown card flipped up and put forth a new weapon in the monster's hand.

"It's called Kunai with Chain. It traps any monster that attacks, and raises my attack power by five hundred." (2400/1600) "DESTROY CONSTRUCTOR!"

As the Destroyer came down, it threw out the length of chain and blade, encircling the Constructor and making it impossible for the machine to move. With one might swing of its metal club, the fighter reduced the Constructor into scrap metal.

Bannick winced as another 100 Life Points were deducted.

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Luna: 1800 LP

Bannick: 1500 LP

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"All right! Keep it up, Luna!" Lina cheered on.

Luna smiled at her sibling then addressed Ranma-Yami. "I would like to thank you for the extra cards."

The Game King nodded as he gave her a thumbs-up.

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Bannick let off a snarl then drew a new card. When he saw what he had drawn, he began laughing. "You think you've beaten me? Well think again!"

"What do you mean?" Luna asked.

"I mean this!" He put down one card from his hand. "MONSTER REBORN! BRING BACK CONSTRUCTOR!"

Luna frowned when the monster she had just destroyed came back to life. (2000/1300) "So what good will that do you? Constructor has been revived at its original strength. My Barbarian Destroyer has the greatest attack power on the field."

"Not when I add this!" Bannick revealed the card he had drawn. "BATTERY BOOSTER, DEFENSE MODE! This gives all my monsters an extra energy charge, raising their attack and defense power by six hundred every three turns, starting now!"

The card appeared as a large machine, which resembled an engine block with several cords hanging from its sides. (200/2500) The machine floated toward Bannick’s other machines. Its cords reached out like tentacles, plugged themselves into the Machine Monsters’ backs and began feeding them to power.

Luna frowned again as she saw her opponents become even stronger. (**)

"You've already used Kunai with Chain's trap effect, so you can't avoid this! CONSTRUCTOR ATTACK!"

This time, Luna's monster was unable to prevent itself from being destroyed and Luna felt more pain.

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Luna: 1600 LP

Bannick: 1500 LP

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Bannick let off another hoot of laughter. "Now let's see how you can deal with my machines now!"

Lina's sister drew a new card and felt her confidence lower. It was another magic monster. She still had the fighter cards that Ranma-Yami had given to her, but she would have to hold out until she could draw them.

"I'll put this monster in Defense Mode."

"Heh. Good. You surprised me with that Fighter-Type, but I'm going to make certain that you don't get another chance at my Life Points!" Bannick drew a new card and started laughing. "And this card will ensure my victory!"

"What do you mean?" Luna demanded.

"I forgot to mention another thing about Constructor. When it has four of the same kind of machine monster on the field with it, then it gets to use its special ability when I have a certain card."

"What card is that?"

"This one." He then showed her a card that he had drawn. "It's called Cyber-Linkup! It allows me to merge the four Machine Monsters with Constructor! The trick is that all of those machines, plus the Constructor, have an Attack Power of over 2000, which they all do! And now..."

The card was activated, as Constructor began slicing and dismantling the four Mecha-Knights, then merging their parts to it, resulting in a much larger Machine Monster. The new creation looked like technological golem with a wicked, double-barreled rifle in its hands.

"MEET... MASTER BLASTER!" (2900/2300)

"Master Blaster?" Luna inquired as she looked up at the hulking behemoth in front of her.

"That's right." Bannick said with a smirk. "Master Blaster happens to have two special abilities. First of all, it’s able to use its hypnotic beams to force any monster into Defense or Attack Position."

"What?!" Luna gasped.

"That's why its first name is ‘Master.’ NOW, FORCE HER DEFENSE CARD INTO ATTACK MODE!"

Master Blaster turned its gaze on Luna's Defense Card, which instantly came out in Attack Mode. It was a card called the Mage of Fire Spirit. (1700/2000)

"And now, here's the reason why it’s also called ‘Blaster!’ DEVASTATOR CANNON!"

The machine then aimed its weapon at the Mage and let loose with a blast with destroyed Luna's Mage, causing a huge explosion and reducing her Life Points even further.

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Luna: 600 LP

Bannick: 1500 LP

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Luna almost fell to her knees after losing 1200 Life Points, but managed to hang on.

Opposite to her Bannick laughed again as things began to look dim for the sorceress.

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"LINA! DON'T!" Zegadis shouted, as the red-haired sorceress was about to charge into the barrier to help her sister. "YOU'LL COST LUNA HALF HER LIFE POINTS!" The Chimera man remembered the last time Lina had interfered.

As Gourry leapt up and put Lina into a Half Nelson, thereby holding her back, Amelia trembled with fear.

Lying on the ground, Ranma-Yami's future looked just as dark as the virus continued to eat away at his body and soul...

To be continued...

Well, I've finally started on Luna's first Duel and it looks like she's in big trouble. She’s down to 600 LP, can’t use any magic attacks and Master Blaster has her in its gun sights. She can’t keep defending against it and one more attack will finish her. Ranma-Yami is in danger and is fading fast. How’s she going to get out of THIS one? Well, we'll just wait and see.

I was inspired after watching Yugi-oh and seeing Joey and Bandit Keith's duel. In any case, many of the cards that I've listed so far are just made up as I go along. If you'd like to suggest some cards to be used later in the series, send me some e-mail. They don't have to be real cards. They can be made up from your fertile imaginations.

* Constructor attacked with 2300. Mystical Elf was defending at 2000. With Defense Retribution, Bannick lost 300 LP.

** Constructor (2600/1300), Mecha-Knights (2200/1300) after Battery Boost.

NEW CARDS INTRODUCED

MECHA-KNIGHT: (1500/1750) Machine monster armed with a Beam Saber.

MECH-VIRUS: Like Kaiba's Crush Card, but turns any opposing monster with over 2000 Attack Points into a machine monster under Bannick’s control. A Machine Monster must host the virus. (You’ll see it in action next episode)

ANTI-MECH-VIRUS: Antidote to the Mech-Virus.

CONSTRUCTOR: (2000/1300) Machine Monster that can make two duplicates of any other machine monster per turn.

MASTER BLASTER: (2700/2300) Fusion of four Machine Monsters plus Constructor. Can reverse an opposing Monster's Attack/Defense status.

CYBER-LINKUP: Like the Polymerization card, but performs like a Ritual Card. Must have Constructor and four other Machine Monsters to initiate. All monsters must have over 2000 Attack points.

ICE SHAMAN: (1100/1200) Ice Magician.

MAGE OF FIRE SPIRIT: (1700/2000) Fire wizard of the Hell Lands.

BATTERY BOOSTER: (200/2500) Able to boost the Attack Power of all Machine Monsters on the field by 600 points every three turns.