Chapter 9: Submission
"Come on, Noah," said Natalie. "Get up and fight me."
Noah looked up at her, pain etched into his face. Natalie looked at him with the same cold expression she always had. Noah remembered all the times he could have used an older sibling to help guide him, and remembered that that was the look she'd always given him. Finally, Noah stood up slowly. Yami and Mokuba watched Noah cautiously make his way over to his sister. Neither of them knew what to do, but they did know that for right now this fight was between them. Noah had hate in his eyes, something Natalie had seen many times. This time it was different though. This time the hate was stronger. Finally, Noah was directly in front of her.
"Being the kind of person I am," started Natalie, "I'll let you hit me first."
Noah kept looking at her with the same cold look in his eyes. After a few minutes, he finally swung at her, hitting her in the jaw. Mokuba and Yami smiled at Noah's action. Natalie stood her ground, surprised at how strong the hit was. Then, Natalie curled her hands into fists, and punched Noah in the chest, sending him flying into a wall. Yami and Mokuba both gasped at this.
"That...that's not...human," said Mokuba.
"She has that power from the Book of Shadows," said Yami. "This fight will be tougher than I thought."
"We can still beat her can't we?" asked Mokuba.
"I'm not so sure. I didn't know she discovered those powers. In the very back of the book, there is an ancient text, but it's hard to make out. If you can recite it, you'll gain extraordinary powers. She apparently discovered them."
"What...was that?" choked out Noah, trying to get back up.
"Surprise," she said.
"I'll...I'll still defeat you."
"I highly doubt that."
"What are we going to do?" Mokuba asked Yami.
"The only thing we can do right now is wait," he answered.
"But we have to help Noah!"
Yami remained silent. He was trying to remember how to defeat a person with the power of the Book of Shadows. He remembered that he'd read it before in Ancient Egypt, but he couldn't remember it very well. He hadn't come across anyone who was able to recite the chant before! He had to remember how to beat it!
"I promise that you won't lay another finger on me," said Natalie.
"I'll be the one to break that promise," Noah snapped back at her.
"I doubt that."
Noah ran towards her ready to take her down. Right when he was about to tackle her she jumped over him, and Noah went tumbling to the floor.
"You'll have to try harder than that," said Natalie.
Noah got right back up. His eyes locked onto hers. Both of them showed an equal amount of hate for each other.
"My turn," she said.
She held her hand out in front of her in Noah's direction and closed it like she had just grabbed something. Noah instantly felt as though something had a hold of him. Natalie smirked at him. Then, she slowly moved her hand up, and Noah began floating up towards the ceiling.
"W-what are you doing?" asked Noah.
Natalie smirked again and made a throwing motion with that hand. Instantly, Noah went flying towards the wall. He smacked into it crying out in pain and fell with a thud to the floor. Mokuba was horrified by now. He needed to do something whether Noah wanted his help or not, but what could he do against Natalie?
Natalie laughed at Noah's pain. This was definitely a way to prove she was more powerful than any human being. Actually, she could probably rule the world with these powers. Why only rule over Kaiba Corp if she could rule the entire world! Why didn't she think of that before now? Well, all her best ideas did come to her while she was torturing others. Then, another idea hit her. She looked to Mokuba and smirked at him.
"Mokuba," she said sweetly.
"Mokuba, don't listen to her!" cried Noah. "Never answer her when she addresses you like that!"
"SHUT IT!" she yelled. Instantly, Noah couldn't speak!
"Mokuba, I have a different use for you. I don't need to kill you if you agree to it," she said.
Mokuba didn't know what to think. She was here to try and kill him and now she said she wasn't. He knew he couldn't trust her. That's all he knew. Yami glared at her. He was prepared to protect Mokuba if he had to.
"You could be my little slave," she said. "If you do everything I say and want, I'll let you live."
"Mokuba would never stoop to that!" said Yami.
"I don't think that was for you to answer!" Natalie snapped at him. Suddenly, Yami found himself motionless and floating in the air!
"Now what's your answer, Mokuba?"
Mokuba looked over to Noah who was mouthing that he shouldn't. Then, he looked up at his friend.
"The more time you waste, the more I will crush them," said Natalie.
Then, Noah and Yami looked like they were getting squeezed by an invisible force! They both cried out in pain. Mokuba couldn't take it anymore. He had to stop this. He didn't want them to get hurt!
"Fine," said Mokuba. "You win."
Natalie smiled, loosening her grip on Noah and Yami. Noah fell onto his back onto the ground as did Yami. Noah quickly stood up and looked horrified at Mokuba. Yami got up and looked at Mokuba also. Natalie smiled, looking at all three of their faces. They all had pain, worry, and sadness etched into them, especially Mokuba's.
"Okay then," said Natalie. "Come here, Mokuba."
"Mokuba, please re-think this!" cried Noah. "Don't throw your life away just for our safety!"
"Noah is right," agreed Yami. "Tonight was about protecting you!"
"I don't want you guys to get hurt because of me," said Mokuba.
"Don't worry," said Natalie. "I'll take good care of him."
"I won't let you take him!" cried Noah.
"You've had a taste of what I can do. I don't think you'll be able to stop me from doing anything!"
Natalie grabbed a hold of Mokuba. She snapped her fingers and her book and knife went back into her bag. Then she snapped her fingers and they were gone. Noah and Yami couldn't believe it. What were they going to do now? They failed. Mokuba may still be alive, but they knew they failed.
"Natalie is more powerful than I thought," Noah said sadly.
"I know there is a way to beat her, but I can't remember it," said Yami.
"What can we do now?"
"We have to get Mokuba back."
"I know that, but what can we do?"
"I think we should go back to the game shop for now. Then, in the morning we'll call Téa, Joey, and Tristan and they can help us figure out a way to get Mokuba back."
"It's not going to matter how many people are there to help us figure a way out! You saw. She has these creepy magical powers! How are we going to stand up to them?"
"If I can remember, we can defeat her," said Yami calmly.
"Right now that seems impossible," said Noah.
"Right now it does, but later it may be looking different."
Noah nodded. Next, they headed out the door back to the game shop.
The next morning when Joey, Téa, and Tristan arrived, Yami had to explain how Noah was there too. After awhile they nodded. Yami wasn't sure they truly understood what he said, but he did know that they understood that Mokuba was in need of their help.
"Where is Natalie?" asked Joey.
"She's probably regaining control of Kaiba Corp right now," answered Noah.
"Or harming Mokuba," said Yami.
"Is this going to be a fight like when we fought Anubis?" asked Tristan. "That really wasn't fun."
"It will be tougher," said Yami.
"Would there be a way of looking up the information we need?" asked Téa.
"Perhaps, but I wouldn't know where to start," said Yami.
"The internet may tell us something," suggested Noah.
"Maybe," said Yami. "But the internet is not always truthful."
"But if I find the right thing wouldn't you know it?"
"I suppose..."
"Then we have nothing to lose by trying this out!" cried Noah.
They all agreed and huddled around Yugi's computer. Noah was busy at work going through search engines about the Book of Shadows. The same thing always came up. It said where it was from, who created it, and what it was for, but it didn't say anything about the powers it can give to a person. This wasn't getting them anywhere! Suddenly, the power went out.
"What's going on?" asked Tristan. "Did we blow a fuse or something?"
"Oh no," said Noah. He got up and raced outside. There wasn't any electricity anywhere! "I think this is my sister's doing."
"I don't doubt that," agreed Yami.
"How can you tell that from a simple little power outage?" asked Joey.
"Yeah, there could have been a crash somewhere," said Téa. "Not that I'm hoping for that, but you can't just say it's your sister's fault."
"Yes I can," said Noah, staring at something.
"Why?" asked Tristan.
Noah pointed in the direction of Kaiba Corp. Everyone looked to the towering company and saw that it was the only place with power!
"How is that possible right now?" asked Joey.
"My sister did this," Noah said. "I have to go there!"
"We can't yet!" cried Yami.
"I have to help Mokuba!"
"I understand that, but we need to find out how to defeat Natalie!"
Noah knew that he was right. They did need a plan of action before they did anything. This time they hopefully wouldn't fail.
"Yugi, is Ishizu still here?" asked Téa.
"I don't know," he answered.
"Wouldn't she know how to defeat her?"
"Probably."
"Let's go check."
Noah instantly started running towards the Domino Museum. Everyone quickly followed him down the darkened streets. It was a bit creepy. It was like running through a ghost town. There was no one out on the streets except for them, not even little kids playing! They all felt a bit out of place, but kept on going. They needed the answer to their question and they needed it badly! Otherwise, everyone in the entire world was going to suffer under Natalie's rule. Especially poor Mokuba. They were determined to get it, and quickly form their plan, and that's exactly what they were going to do.