Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!

Chapter 38: Into the Castle

Large and foreboding. Dark and as sterile as the rock that made it. Reflecting the glaring sunlight of the setting golden orb at them through it's windows. All of these things described the castle that Namia, Ryuko, and Shisei stepped up to. They had great reason to be at this castle. For one thing, only a few hours before, Shisei learned of Kouichi Nandao, a pretty skilled warrior duelist's and his best friend's, death. Then the brown haired boy, Ryuko, found out he was being used, though he was a little skeptical at first, losing his soul made him believe his new comrades when they told him Osmos was evil. Namia had a… "complicated" relationship with the blue haired boy named Kou as well.

Shisei looked at his newest cards and sighed. 'It's not a game with Osmos, I can't screw up in the final match."' he thought. He walked forward and looked at a large device with finger shaped holes (that sounds SO wrong).

'I don't know why I feel this way, but I do feel like I lost more than a best friend when Kou died…"' Namia walked up next to Shisei and looked at the slots, taking off their necklace of fingers. More than enough valiant thoughts went through her mind. 'Kou…"' she began to place the fingers in as a young boy came up next to her.

'….."' Ryuko felt an odd emptiness inside of him. "Think they have hot dogs in there?" he asked. Shisei and Namia face fell.

Shisei jumped back up and looked at Ryuko in disbelief. "Don't you feel a little out of place, at all saying that, I mean we just walked up to the castle of our arch enemy and you ask about hot dogs!" Sei yelled. Ryuko rolled his eyes.

"Fine." he cleared his throat. "Do you think they have any hamburgers!" he growled. Shisei only sighed as Namia finished placing the fingers in the correct slots. The large doors absorbed them and slowly began to rumble.

"Looks like we did it." Namia flashed her male friends a thumbs up. The sliding and rumbling began to lessen, and soon the doors were open all the way.

Three people stood in the doorway. One of them was a tall man in a white trench coat holding a briefcase with a KC tattooed on it. He had an annoyed look on his face and brown hair. The second tallest was a blue jean jacketed boy yawning. He stopped abruptly when they came in, scratching his blond head nervously. Finally, a slightly short man with dark eyes, an upside down pyramid necklace around his neck, and multicolored hair. Though he looked evil, he had a kind smile on his face. "Welcome to the Special Session." he said. The man with brown hair groaned and walked away.

"YUGI MOTO!" Shisei yelled suddenly . The two men that remained jumped, startled by such a reaction. Suddenly, the stairs rumbled and two more people came down. A boy and a girl with brown hair. The boy was well built and had a huge spike for an odd haircut.

"What was that? You guys okay, Kaiba just came striding by!" Tristan, the brown haired boy with the spike in his hair, asked.

The tricolor haired man, Yami, nodded. "We are fine. Is there a reason you have for shouting my name?" Yami asked.

"I-You-your real-I see-This-You!" Shisei began to sputter without any clear meaning to his words. Namia held out a hand for them to shake. Shisei smacked it out of the way and rushed over to Yami, forcing their hands together, he brought them up and down over and over again. "It's a pleasure to see you, really, I mean, I'm a big fan… Can I have your autograph!" Sei said quickly.

"HEY!" Ryuko yelled, watching Kaiba, who had been trudging up the large amount of steps all this time, retreat around the corner. "COME BACK HERE AND GIVE ME THE BLUE-EYES WHITE DRAGONS!" Ryuko bounded up the stairs after him. Tristan and Anzu wore blank stares as he hopped up two at a time, quite a feat for such a young boy.

"Anybody notice I'm here!" Joey Wheeler, the blond that was previously mentioned, asked. Namia held out her hand to him and he took it. "Nice to meet you… Considering I'm so famous, you must know who I am, so who are you?" Joey asked smirking in confidence.

Namia looked him up and down. "My name is Namia Sashimi…But I can't say I remember hearing about you…" she started.

"WHAT!" Joey exploded suddenly "HOW COULD YOU NOT KNOW ABOUT ME! I ALMOST BEAT YUGI!" he yelled in shock. Namia laughed hardily as Joey grumbled to himself.

"I was just kidding, I know your Joey Wheeler, the luckiest-" she cut off seeing the look on his face. "Er-I mean bravest duelist around!" she smiled and Joey nodded in approval of her description.

"As I said before." Yami, with a little help from Tristan and Anzu, pried Shisei off of himself. "Welcome to the Special Session. Osmos has asked us to help promote his company further by allowing you three the opportunity to duel and perhaps defeat us. And the only way to win the prize will be to successfully either tie with all of us, win against all of us, and then defeat Osmos." Yami finished, looking as though he'd read part of the dialogue off his hand.

"Your really going to duel me!" Shisei hopped up and down with excitement as Ryuko came down the stairs… being held by the scruff of his neck in Kaiba's hand.

"Keep the kid down here!" Kaiba tossed Ryuko over the heads of Namia and Shisei and stomped back up the stairs, annoyed.

Ryuko growled and stood up. "HEY!" he began. "Come back and give me the Blue eyes like a man!" he charged toward the stairway again, but Joey tripped him. "Oof, what did you do that for!" Ryuko glared at the blond. Joey raised a hand in the air his palm horizontal and slightly above his hand.

"Let's face facts kid," he began. "Kaiba is a multi billionaire that stands about this tall," he pointed with his free hand to the one that was raised. "and you are a scruffy midget about," he slid his hand down, though it was in the same position. "this tall. You can't get his Blue-Eyes by force, and probably not in a duel either." Joey finished.

Ryuko glared at him and stood up. "You want to fight then, huh!" he rushed at Joey, who sidestepped the initial hit and tripped the poor boy again. "Ow…" Ryuko said, lying flat on his face as everybody else looked at Joey with a 'that was really mean' expression on their faces.

"What, the kid tried to attack me!" Joey said. Ryuko got up, glared at Joey, and walked calmly back over to Namia and Shisei's side. "Crazy kids." Joey muttered. The stairs suddenly emitted a loud creak. Shisei, Namia, Ryuko, Tristan, Anzu, Joey, and Yami turned to see a silver haired man approach.

Higentaka Osmos stepped down from the stair well and they cleared the way to let him walk. "For the newest duelists, I wish for you to follow me." he stated, walking into another room. Shisei had half a mind to stab him from behind, but decided against it. Osmos motioned for the duelists to follow him. "Come, I'll show you your rooms. " he stated. The duelists nodded and walked after him. Yami, Joey, and the others waved goodbye as they disappeared behind the door Osmos motioned.

Osmos had led the trio into a dark room with little light, so they couldn't see around themselves. "As you all know, you've been invited to this very prestigious tournament, and tomorrow morning, you will perform as a team," he began. Suddenly, light flooded the area to reveal a beautifully decorated arena. "to face the top three duel-" he was cut off.

"Get to the point Osmos, this obviously isn't our sleeping quarter." Shisei growled. Osmos smirked at him. The arena didn't in the least resemble a hotel room. It had large pictures of Duel Monsters painted around the room and places that would be perfect for duels, holo projectors were already set up.

"To right you are, this is the tournament room. I have a certain wager, however." Osmos was going to enjoy this.

"What?" Namia asked cautiously. Being in this room with only two other people and whatever Osmos was scared her more than anyone could know.

"If you manage to overcome duelists as great as the three which I have volunteered for this.." he smiled, placing the tips of his fingers together patiently. "Then I will reward you with Kouichi Nandao's soul!" he smirked.

"WHAT!" Namia, Ryuko, and Shisei looked at him shocked. They knew he could easily cast a Shadow Game and even banish one. But he also had the power to restore souls?

"Ah, but alas, if you lose… well I'll leave that to your imagination. Your rooms are on the third floor, they each have your names on them." he stated, suddenly business like. "If even one of you chooses to duel tomorrow, then you all agree to accept my challenge. And if Yugi, Kaiba, or Joey hear of this, I will ensure none of you escape this island. Farewell!" Osmos left the room without another word.


Shisei sat on the bed that he had been given by Osmos. He took out his deck and looked at the cards. Directly after Osmos had left, the three duelists had devised a strategy for beating the friendlier duelists than Osmos. 'Okay, so Namia goes against Joey, that should be a pretty easy match, Kaiba will have to go against Ryuko, there is just no way he could take on Yugi, even though Kaiba will be tough. And I face the king of games himself."' Shisei went over the plan. He then laid down in his bed. 'Time to take out my Yugi defeater!"' he thought. He removed a deck from his pack and looked at the cards with a smirk.


Namia looked at the last of Joey Wheeler's duels on her laptop with a frown. 'Damn, that opponent wasn't a challenge to him at all, I need to see when he was challenged!"' she thought. 'Let's try his duel against Kaiba at Battle City…"' she flipped through internet pages, and selected the one she wanted, pressing a download button with a smile. "Joey, you just ran out of luck!" she began to record some of his better combos, and adjusted her deck with a smirk that matched Sei's.


Ryuko looked at his strongest dragon with determination. "This is it buddy, don't forget, were doing this for grandpa." he said. The card seemed to glow brighter as he said this. Ryuko then looked through his other cards, a memory of his time with his grandfather coming to him with each one he looked at. "Time to teach Osmos a lesson!" Ryuko said aloud with determination in his young voice.


Osmos smiled as the storm which had previously raged, blew itself out. "Kamishiro, wish to place any bets on the outcome of the tournament?" he asked. Kamishiro stood like a statue in the shadows of the doorway. He looked at Osmos with bewilderment.

"Well, um, I believe Mr. Aragashi will win his duel sir, he was very skilled in our duel!" Kamishiro said with a bit of question as to why he was asked this.

"Yes, he may win his duel, but in the end, you can trust me when I say this, he will lose everything!" Osmos laughed hysterically as he finished his sentence, then the darkness which he felt so at home in, surrounded him as the sun fell below the forests.

To be Continued


Next time: The session begins, and Namia and Joey square off. More than a few powerful and lucky combos come out of both duelists hat, but can Joey really stand up to Namia when she summons the powerful Phoenix of Gold Fire? Find out next time on Duel Monsters: Maximum!


To Rex: Sorry, didn't mean to confuse you. I meant I didn't use the monsters effect in the anime, which was to return whenever it got killed. And I don't like the name "Graceful Dice", so I did use its Japanese name, and in the next chapter when Joey uses his familiar Graceful Dice/Skull Dice combo, it will be Angel Dice/Demon Dice.

To john: I admire people like you John, for knowing how to be humorous in any situation. Either that or I admire you for being a completely crazy guy that comes out funny…whichever works better for you.

A/N: The final bit of this story, it will probably be about 10 or 11 more chapters. Anyway, anyone care to guess who will win in the Special Session match ups?