Meet Your Match

Chapter One: The New Duelist in Town

"And the winner of this title match is…Penelope Fulton! Give it up for our new champion!"

The crowed cheered wildly, but Penelope stayed quiet, reveling in her victory against Weevil Underwood.

'It was like taking candy from a baby,' she thought smugly to herself. Weevil was sulking as the announcer handed the trophy over to the girl. Needless to say, Weevil was not happy and would later on find some way to get revenge…especially since he lost to a girl. And a creepy one at that.

Penelope Fulton was a gifted duelist, but also a scary one. Her long curly hair was the color of orchids and her eyes were a bright, aqua green. She wore heavy black eyeliner and dark lipstick and dressed in all black, most of it covered with studs, safety pins, buckles or skulls. She would never be caught dead in pink. Ever.

The announcer handed the shiny gold trophy to Penelope, and despite her small smile on the outside, she was beaming on the inside. It was about time she had made something of herself.

"Big brother!" The doors opened and Mokuba entered the office and ran straight towards the desk of his brother, Seto Kaiba.

"What is it Mokuba?"

"Someone just took the title of Domino City Champion! You should check it out!" Mokuba turned on the TV as Kaiba sighed deeply. He didn't have time for this! He had a company to run.

The TV came on, and among all the cheering fans he could see a girl dressed in all black holding a shiny gold trophy.

"Your new regional champion…Penelope Fulton!" Kaiba was surprised that a girl finally won the title. It wasn't that girls weren't good enough to duel. Kaiba had seen several girls duel very well. But most girls were not interested in playing card games. They were more interested in fashion or boys.

"So? Big Deal? I'm practically world champion."

"Yeah…but what if she wins the nationals?

"Like she'll have a chance." Mokuba sighed. There was no use arguing with his older brother. But even if she did win nationals, Kaiba wouldn't acknowledge her. He doesn't even acknowledge Wheeler.

"Seto?"

Kaiba looked up from his laptop computer.

"Yes, Mokuba?"

"I just wanted to tell you that I have to get to school in twenty minutes."

"Of course," he said closing his laptop. He would work on his latest project at lunch. Despite his success being the head of the top gaming company in the world, Seto Kaiba was only seventeen. He still had other obligations…such as school. Once he finished school by the end of next year, he could focus even more of his time towards running his company.

'And they said that you have to go to college to be successful…' Soon Seto and Mokuba were in the limousine and within ten minutes he was standing in front of Domino High School.

It was going to be a long and boring day once again…

"Penelope! Hurry up or we'll be late!"

Penelope grumbled as she finished buttoning up her uniform. She told herself she would never wear pink, and here she was…doing just that.

'This new school better not suck,' she thought as she stomped angrily down the stairs, wishing she could wear her combat boots to school.

"About time! Let's go!" Penelope's twin sister Natalie grabbed her hand and practically dragged her outside to the bus stop two houses down from theirs.

The bus ride wasn't very interesting to Penelope at all. While she went through her deck looking at all her cards, Natalie was busy chatting with girls and trying to suck up to them in hopes she would become popular.

'Sometimes I think I'm adopted,' she thought. Although Natalie and Penelope were twins, they didn't look alike or act alike.

Penelope's hair was curly, Natalie's was pin straight. She liked black, Natalie liked pink. Penelope likes dueling. Natalie likes shopping.

For the both of them, it was like they were living with an annoying room mate instead of a sister.

The bus pulled in front of her new school. Penelope nearly held her breath in anticipation. She hoped they wouldn't make fun of her or harass her like they did at her last school. All because she loved duel monsters and dressed in black.

'Well, at least I look like everyone else today.'

The dress code insisted that everyone wear uniforms. Pink blazers, blue skirts and black flats with socks. On top of that, she couldn't wear a ton of makeup or her favorite bracelets and spiked choker. Today she wore no makeup and wrestled her hair into a French braid earlier this morning. It was the best she could do considering she slept in this morning.

She followed her sister to the new building and up to the office where they would receive their new schedules and a map of the school.

"Isn't this great Penelope? A new school! This is going to be so fun!"

"I feel just like a freshman all over again," She said sighing.

"Argh! You're such a buzz kill Penelope. Can't you try and be positive just this once?"

"Maybe I don't want to be. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a calculus class to get to."

"Have fun with the nerds," she said laughing. "I'll be in art class."

Penelope rolled her eyes at her sister and walked down the hall and up a flight of stairs to her calculus class. Unlike Natalie, Penelope was smart and understood math.

At the start of class she found a seat in the middle of the room and the teacher asked her to stand up so everyone could mentally pick her apart.

Her first class was okay. There just wasn't anyone interesting to talk to.

Next on the list was History, then it was gym, chemistry, computer science, Mandarin Chinese, art, and literature. History was okay, but not her favorite subject.

Like before, she entered a full room of students and unlike the last class who was a complete snooze fest, these guys were little bit livelier. A group of girls were sitting on desks chatting, some boys were punching each other playfully and laughing, and a group of students were over by the window…playing duel monsters?

Penelope stood and watched as a blond-haired boy dueled against a girl with brown hair.

But the match was not what caught her eye. It was the small boy standing next to him.

'Yugi Mouto goes here?' She never imagined ever seeing the King of Games himself here in person. Up until now, all she had heard were stories about him, or she had seen him on TV dueling against evil foes.

He was a legend.

Penelope got a little closer to watch the match and see Yugi cheer on his blond friend who appeared mentally challenged.

"Come on Joey! You can do it. Don't give up now!" Joey placed another card down on the field.

"I play this magic card so my Panther Warrior gets five hundred more attack points."

"Oh no," the girl said. "I actually lost."

"That means I win, and Tristan owes me five bucks."

"Darn it," a tall boy with a pointy haircut said handing over his money to Joey.

Just then a tall boy with brown hair approached them.

"What are you dweebs up to now?"

"Oh, hey Kaiba. Joey just won a match against Tea. Would you like to play?" Yugi said in the nicest tone.

"And duel a third-rate duelist like Wheeler? I don't think so. I have better things to do than hang out with the likes of you."

"Well if you change your mind, we'll be going out for ice cream after school."

Penelope could not believe her eyes.

'Seto Kaiba goes here too?' Indeed, some of the best duelists went to Domino High school.

'Hm, maybe this place won't be so bad after all.'

Penelope began walking to her seat when she bumped into something.

"Why don't you watch where you're going?" She slowly looked up and saw a pair of burning ice blue eyes staring down at her.

"Sorry," she snapped. "I didn't see you."

"Didn't see? Do you even know who I am?"

Was Seto Kaiba…being a jerk to her? He had a lot of nerve!

"Oh I know who you are, but do you know who I am?"

Seto was not expecting her to talk back.

"Whoever you are, you're not that important."

"Not important?" Excuse me, Seto Kaiba, but I'll have you know that I'm the regional champion around here!"

'Penelope Fulton?' He couldn't believe his eyes. He could hardly recognize her without all that endless dark clothing and makeup that surrounded her. But she didn't look half bad. If his ego wasn't as big as it is, he might actually consider her to be pretty.

"Regional champion or not, I'm still a higher ranking duelist than you are," he said smugly.

"Keep telling yourself that." Seto walked away and sat at the back of the classroom as far away from Penelope as possible.

"Whoa. You just stood up to Kaiba?" Joey couldn't believe his ears. It wasn't everyday that someone else besides Kaiba had the last word. "He deserved it."

"Yeah, he did. I try and stand up to him but he just knocks me down every time. By the way, I'm Joey Wheeler. Duelist Kingdom finalist, Battle City Finalist, and--"

"Joey, stop that! The last thing she needs is someone like you talking her ear off." The brunette girl pushed Joey out of the way. "I'm sorry if he gave you any trouble. Joey doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut." Joey stood behind her fuming until she whacked him upside the head. "I'm Tea Gardner. That's Tristan," she said pointing to the boy with the pointy hair cut, "And that's--"

"Yugi Mouto, king of games…" Penelope walked over to Yugi's desk and sat down in the desk that had been turned around to form a makeshift card table. "You're a legend."

"Um, thanks," he said. "Aren't you Penelope Fulton?"

"Yeah.""Congratulations on defeating Weevil in the regionals yesterday."

"Hold on," Joey ran over and practically stared at Penelope. "You mean to tell me that she's the regional champion?" he said pointing to Penelope.

"You got a problem with that?" she asked him.

"Joey, did you fall asleep during the match last night?" Tristan asked.

"Uh…n-no! I didn't! I swear!"

"Don't worry about it. You'll get another chance to watch me in the nationals next month."

"Nationals? I never heard of no nationals."

"It's only one of the top tournaments around. That's where Kaiba competed before he won the world tournament. Don't you pay attention to these things, Joey?" Tea said.

"No…but maybe if she wins the nationals she can win the world championship and de-throne rich boy over there."

"Well, rich boy better watch his back," Penelope said smirking.

It was about time Seto Kaiba met his match.

Thanks for reading, please read and review and I'll post chapter two later. :)