Dark Aura: My Name Is

"Felix!  Hey Felix, wait up!"

The raven-haired girl turned, looking around for whoever had called out her name.  At first, she didn't see anyone.  The she noticed a rather small teenager trying to fight his way against the flow of the crowd rushing after Kaiba.  Almost everyone was considerably taller than him, and he was having a great deal of trouble.  Felix grimaced.  Gods, being short must suck.

The boy finally made it past the majority of the crowd, panting slightly from his excursion, to where Felix stood waiting.  "Yes?" she asked.  "Did you want something?"

"Yeah.  I just wanted to congratulate you.  That was a great duel."

Felix smiled.  "That's sweet.  But my poor Black Cat Mage got his tail handed to him..."

"Oh, don't worry about that," the boy said with a laugh.  "That happens to the best of duelists sometimes."

She grinned.  "I guess you're right.  I'm Ruizu Felix, by the way.  Everyone calls me Felix, though.  And you are?"  She extended her hand to him.

He shook it.  "My name is Yugi, Yugi Mutou."

Felix's eyes went wide.  "The Yugi Mutou?  The Number One Duelist of Duel Monsters and the champion of Duelist Kingdom?"

Yugi blushed and began to stutter.  "Y-yes, that's me."

"Wow!  It's an honor to meet you, Yugi!"

The boy's blush went even darker.  "Eh...Thank you."

"Yugi—do you think you could give me some dueling advice sometime?" Felix asked as the two began to walk down the street.

"Well, sure, Felix.  Although I've gotta say, if your last duel was standard, you probably won't need much advice at all."

Now it was Felix's turn to blush.  "Well, that's...really flattering, coming from you, Yugi.  To be quite honest, though, that was the first real duel I've ever been in."

Yugi stopped short for just a second, looking rather shocked.  "That was your first duel?"

"Well, yeah.  At least, in serious competition.  I used to practice dueling against my cousin Duke Devlin all the time."

"I knew it!"  Felix raised an eyebrow.  Yugi blushed.  "Well, besides your earring being kind of a giveaway, your Dark Magician looked a lot like him."

Felix grinned.  "Yeah, Duke's an awesome duelist!  He's basically my hero.  I'm so lucky to have him as a cousin.  ...He's pretty full of himself, though."  Yugi laughed.

"So Felix.  If you don't duel competitively, how did you come by a one-of-a-kind card like the Effigy to Bast?"

"Oh.  My uncle gave it to me.  He won it years ago from Maximillion Pegasus."

"Your uncle dueled Pegasus?"

Felix nodded.  "They played for prizes, just like here in Battle City.  My uncle's prize was that if he won, Pegasus would make him any card he wanted within reason.  If Pegasus won...actually, my uncle never told me what his prize would be."  She shrugged.  "Oh well.  At any rate, my uncle defeated Pegasus, and had him create the Effigy to Bast!  And, well, now that he doesn't duel anymore, I have it.  ...Or, I did."

"Don't worry about it, Felix.  I'm sure you'll get it back."

"That's not the point, Yugi!  I—"  She paused for a moment.  "My uncle had me come here so I could defeat Kaiba for him.  I couldn't even manage that."

Yugi blinked.  "Nani?  Why would your uncle want to challenge Kaiba?"

"Because of Gozaburo."

"Gozaburo?"

Felix nodded.  "Hai.  Seto's adoptive father.  Uncle Orion challenged him to a duel several years ago.  At the time, my uncle was undefeated."  She grimaced.  "But he lost horribly to Gozaburo.  He wanted to reclaim his title, but he decided since Seto is Gozaburo's heir, and I inherited his deck, I should be the one to make the challenge.  I promised Orion I would avenge him, regain him his honor."  She hung her head.  "But I've failed him.

"Don't say that."

The girl looked up in surprise at the sudden change in Yugi's voice.  Was it Felix's imagination, or was he suddenly taller...?  His eyes were different, too: not only the shape, but also the sudden fire in his stare.  Though Felix could not know it, Yugi had gone Yami, becoming yuugiou, the King of Games.

"Why not?" she asked after she'd gotten over her momentary shock.  "I lost.  What else can I do?"

Yami paused for a moment, looking at her.  Has she noticed the change in him?  Because of the power of his Puzzle, most people could not.  Recently his friends had mostly become an exception, though they did not mention when they noticed.  He mentally shook himself; he must be imagining things.  Perhaps his words had been what shocked her, not his appearance...?

"Do not give up, Felix," he answered the girl's question.  "Yes, you have lost a duel.  But that does not mean you cannot participate in another.  You can defeat Kaiba, if you believe you can.  Challenge him to a rematch, and if you believe in the Heart of the Cards, you will win."

Felix blushed in embarrassment.  "I would if I could, Yugi—but I can't."

"Why not?"

"For one, I'm out my Locator Card.  And for two, my deck only has thirty-nine cards—I didn't bring any extras."

Once again, the boy's shock stopped him in his tracks.  This time, though, he did not resume walking.  "You brought no cards to cover your losses should you not come out the victor in a duel?"

The girl's blush went darker.  "Okay, fine.  Duke's not the only cocky one in the family, I admit it."

Yami smirked at that.  "Felix, I think I can help you out."

She looked up at him.  "How?"

"Simple.  I challenge you to a duel!"