She leans back on the bench she's parked herself at, sipping her cocoa and leafing through some notes from the previous day. None of her friends have shown up yet, but she's not worried and pretty sure she knows where they are. Jeremy is probably working on something for Lyoko in his room, with Aelita hovering in the doorway and reminding him that they don't have much longer to go get breakfast so he should hurry up. Odd is most likely in the cafeteria, trying to charm his way into another muffin – because they have blueberry muffins today and Odd Della Robbia was all about that – from Rosa. He will most likely be successful. William is probably still hitting the snooze button on his alarm clock. Nothing screams bad-boy like bed-head and waltzing in just as the final bell rings like it's no big thing. And as for Ulrich, she remembers him mentioning something about practicing his soccer moves for a game at the end of the week.
Despite being alone, however, she still finds amusement in listening to the chatter of her peers around her. In specific, two students from her early morning physics class going on about how neither of them studied the night before; too hung up on other things and having forgotten all about it, from what she can glean. Yumi finds a small smile worming its way on to her lips, having been in the same position many times in the past. 'Nothing ruins the morning cocoa quite like remembering you have a test first thing in the morning,' She muses to herself, taking another sip from her own cup.
Her phone buzzes in her pocket suddenly. She fishes it out and reads one text from Jeremy, warning her that XANA is awake and angry. "I stand corrected," She grumbles to herself before chugging what's left of her morning drink, crushing the cup, and tossing it in a nearby trash can. She heads off for the woods after taking a quick second to stuff her things back in her bag.
She rushes to the manhole hidden away, smiling slightly when she sees three familiar figures waiting for her. "Hey. What's the attack this time?" She asks, breathing only slightly uneven from her trek. Jeremy is on his phone, seeming slightly miffed, and Aelita looks concerned.
Odd swallows a mouthful of muffin – Yumi takes a small note of pride that her intuition was correct – and brushes some crumbs from his face. "Dunno yet. The tower activated right as these two were heading out. Good thing Einstein's selective hearing is perfectly tuned to the super scan alert," He explains with a cheeky grin.
"Darn it!" Jeremy groans out lowly while pulling his phone from his ear.
"What's the problem now, Jeremy?" William asks from behind Yumi, causing her to jump slightly in surprise. She manages a small smirk as she turns to face him, taking in how groggy he seems despite being dressed and upright.
"Oh, how nice of you to join us. Decided not to sleep through this one?" She teases lightly. Jeremy tries his phone again while they chit-chat.
He smirks back at her, shrugging his shoulders. "Well, I figured it was only fair I grace you all with my presence this time,"
Jeremy ends the call again and turns back to them. "Ulrich's not answering his mobile," An uneasy feeling brews up in Yumi's stomach, her smirk slipping and turning into a concerned scowl.
Odd quirks an eyebrow, seeming unfazed by the statement. "Calm down, Jer; he's just out practicing on the soccer field. He never keeps his phone on him when he practices, and assuming we haven't already sent XANA slinking back to the deep corners of Lyoko by the time he sees it, I'm sure he'll come to the factory," He says evenly, popping the remainder of his muffin into his mouth.
"True," Aelita says, voice patient but fringed at the edges with concern, "but we don't know what the attack even is. If Ulrich isn't answering, that could be more than simply being preoccupied."
The uneasiness Yumi felt before grows, seeming to harden and form a dead weight in her gut. "I'll go find him," She says, pulling her phone from her pocket. She switches the volume up to full blast before shoving it back in her pocket. "I'll keep the volume up in case you need to get to me before I find him. And I'll be sure to call when I do."
Jeremy nods, forehead creased with his concern. "Okay. I'd rather take bigger numbers to Lyoko but not at the potential expense of Ulrich's safety. Keep us posted," He says before heading down into the sewer passage. Yumi flashes quick glances to her three other friends before turning and running back toward the campus.
She veers away from her fellow students as they hustle to classes, signaling that the bell for first hour has rung. The last thing she needs is to be caught by Jim and a visit with the principal with XANA up to no good. Her mad dash drops to a defeated trot as she approaches the soccer field to see it completely vacant, save for an all-too familiar duffel bag on a bench. She looks around again to be sure, fear and worry making her more aware of her surroundings, before sprinting across the field to the bag.
It's been left open, meaning Ulrich had probably been looking through it shortly before something – or someone – forced him to abandon it. His phone lies partially hidden underneath a small white towel. She pulls it out and checks to see if he'd received the message from Jeremy. She utters a swear under her breath at the half-finished reply that stares back at her – cut off mid-word and making her so angry she could just punch something. She drops the phone again, disrupting the towel slightly, then tilts her head. She picks the towel up, having thought she saw something off about it.
Her stomach lurches when she sees the blood splatter staining the other side of the towel.
A small part of her wants to argue that she could be mistaken, that there could be a less terrifying explanation for the blood. She wants to tell herself that he could have simply gotten a nose bleed – which he's done before when heading the ball and using his face instead – but she clenches the towel tighter instead. The blood couldn't have been a simple bloody nose. It would all be in a solid area instead of looking like decorative red speckles.
Judging by that and how the towel had been readjusted to try and hide the bloody polka-dots, she reasons that XANA must have possessed someone and dished a serious blow to keep Ulrich out of the fray.
She turns her back to the bench and looks around at the empty field from any clues. "Okay, it's a possession. That much is obvious. But who does XANA have this time?" She grumbles to herself, stuffing the towel partway into her back pocket as she tries to put the pieces together. Better to have it and not need it, then to need it and not have it she figures. She rummages through Ulrich's bag again, looking for any more clues, but finds nothing useful inside. She does, however, notice some of the grass is upturned in the direction of the bleachers. She walks around the bench and heads that way, leaning over one of the metal rafters and peering in underneath.
She's greeted to the image of an abandoned gardening hoe, with bits of dirt and grass and blood on the curved edge.
"No," She whispers, voice breathy and shaky with horror and fear. She reaches down, barely managing to curl her fingers around the tool, and pulls it back out. She feels her fear being replaced with anger and determination, armed with the weapon used on Ulrich and the knowledge of where he must be, and fishes out her phone. She rings up Jeremy, cutting off his attempt at greeting with a curt "XANA possessed the campus gardener."
"Wait, you mean Julius? What could he possible want use him for?" Jeremy asks dubiously.
Yumi glares down at the tool in her hand and turns, running in the direction of the tool shed. "Probably access to all those tools. You can do a lot of damage to someone when you can bash them in the face with a shovel. Or, in this case, a hoe," She quips, forcing her mind not to wander to all the other dangerous pieces of equipment residing in the shed. Thinking about the possessed adult with an axe –or, even worse yet, a chainsaw – going at an already-handicapped Ulrich makes her feel nauseous. She can't be sure if the nauseous is caused by disgust, however, or unadulterated wrath.
"Wait, what do you mean by that Yumi?"
"Let's just say that Ulrich's got a pretty bad injury from all of this, so the sooner you and the others can get things on Lyoko handled," She says while slowing down and lowering her voice, "the better. We'll probably need a return trip to the past too. There'll be a lot of really uncomfortable consequences to this one if we don't."
"Understood. XANA sent out his usual warm welcome, though, so you'll need to get us as much time as you can. Find Ulrich and then, if need be, just find a place to bunker down until it's all over. Let me know if anything changes," He says seriously. She hums in acknowledgement and hangs up, shoving her phone back in her pocket as she approaches the shed. She doesn't hear the whirl of a chainsaw, but that doesn't come as much comfort to her.
She keeps the hoe close by, intent on using it as a weapon of her own if necessary.
She peers in through a window and sucks in a breath; she can't see her brown haired friend in full, but she can see his legs sticking out from behind some boxes, and it seems that he's alone. She rushes to the door and into the shed, making sure to shut the door as quietly as possible behind her. If she has learnt anything from their many previous encounters with XANA, he can be rather inventive when he fears they've caught on to his attacks early on.
She heads over to where she saw Ulrich and gasps at the state he'd been left in. She had known he'd be injured but she hadn't expected the gnarly gash that starts just above his eyebrow and curves upward in a strange C-shape up to his temple. Blood is running in a slow but steady stream down his face, dripping off his chin and jawline to leave a dark wet stain on the collar of his soccer jersey, and he has shut the eye below the cut in response. His other eye is open but only by a fraction and clearly hazy with pain. "Ulrich," She mumbles weakly, darting over beside him. She sets the hoe to one side of her and pulls out the towel, carefully wiping at the blood streaming down his face before pressing the cloth lightly against the injury itself.
He whines and tries to flinch away, but is too dazed and unwell to put up any real struggle. Seeing him so frail and stripped of his usual bravado leaves a strange, angry buzzing sound in her head. She forces herself to focus instead, and ignore the little trembles of fury starting up. "Ulrich, I need you to stay with me, okay? Do not close your eyes," She says as strictly as she can.
"Hurts," He manages to groans out weakly. Yumi perks up when she hears rustling outside. She picks the hoe back up, moving slowly and carefully as she hears the door open. Ulrich perks up a bit more, noticing her gradual movements, and she feels his body twitch as if to halt her. "No." He breaths out, voice barely above a whisper.
She's normally not one to launch an attack head-on with someone under XANA's possession; especially using an actual weapon. However, she knows that she needs to get Ulrich out of the shed and somewhere safe. Maybe to the infirmary, so that at least then someone with actual medical expertise can help him until the authorities arrive. A small part of her is happy to deal out the blow – the part of her that is a master at holding grudges – while her more logical side argues that she shouldn't go overboard. Her conscience gets the better of her as the footsteps draw nearer and she prepares to strike. She twists the hoe in her hand so that she can strike with the blunt end, rather than the jagged one. Right afterwards, with only a quiet growl and anger, she swings and clocks the gardener right in the head with the tool.
She sees the flashing eye of XANA taking over his irises right before the blow lands.
He topples over to his knees but he isn't down for the count. Feeling fear prickle up her spine, she lifts the hoe up again and brings it down once more on the back of his skull. He lets out a loud, angry snarl and she repeats the actions once more before he falls completely still before her. She stares for a moment before looking back at Ulrich. She can't take him and the hoe both with her. She gulps before dropping the weapon and rushing back to his side, pulling his arm around her shoulders and looping one arm around his waist.
"Ulrich, can you walk at all?" She asks, starting to move slowly. He makes an honest attempt, but it's clear he's too far gone between the blood loss and blow to the head to control his body the way he wants to. "It's okay. I've got you. Don't worry." She says softly, picking her pace up slightly and letting his legs drag along. She shifts slightly, keeping the arm around his waist as she heads them toward the infirmary, to fish out her phone and give Jeremy another call.
"You found Ulrich, I take it?" Jeremy asks the minute he answers.
"Yeah, and he's worse for wear," She says, casting a sideways glance at him. She can see him struggling to keep awake and dread crawls along her spine. What if the incident caused a concussion? What if he fell into a coma? "Jeremy, please tell me you guys are getting ready to deactivate the tower and launch the return trip." She pleads, pulling Ulrich a bit closer and taking comfort in the groggy groan he lets out at it.
"We're dealing with two Megatanks right now, Yumi. We'll try to pick up the pace but I'll be sure to launch the trip as soon as we're cleared," He says softly, voice woven with concern.
"Okay, thanks," She mumbles before hanging up and stuffing her phone back in her pocket. She reaches up to tug Ulrich's arm more snuggly over her shoulders. "Ulrich, I need you to stay with me, okay? Jeremy and the others are almost ready to launch the return trip. It shouldn't be too long now so just keep listening to my voice."
He lets out a low groan in response, his eye opening again. Yumi tried to pick up her pace a bit again, getting close to the main courtyard where she'd started.
She was completely blind-sighted when she was struck in the back with a rough blow to the back.
She stumbles forward, nearly toppling over between she and Ulrich's combined weight, but somehow manages to stay mostly upright. She nearly drops Ulrich, but quickly scoops him back up in her arms and looks over her shoulder. Sadly, it seems she should have gone for another blow or two, because the possessed gardener is already back up on his feet and toting a hammer with him this time. The blow he landed hurt but she can tell he didn't strike her with the iron part of the hammer. Under normal circumstances she could defend herself until the tower was deactivated.
But she doesn't have the time to deal with him; Ulrich needs help if he's going to last until the return trip to the past.
She shifts quickly, instead carrying Ulrich in her arms like a child, and starts to dash. She hears laughter behind her before the blur of motion that is a possessed individual. He skids to a stop in front of her and bashes her in the side of the face with the wooden butt of the hammer's handle. This time she hits the ground, stumbling over her own two feet as she tries to right herself despite the brief dizziness that comes, and hits the ground with one arm thrown over Ulrich.
She tastes blood, can feel a tooth teetering on her tongue, and can feel warm liquid running down over her mouth. The pain follows a second later and has to blink a few times to keep tears from falling, spitting the dislodged tooth and some blood top the ground to her side. She can tell her nose is most likely broken on top of the dislodged tooth, the violent monster. She catches him walking toward them over the corner of her eye and she can feel panic starting to creep in. Once he's in range, she sweeps one leg out and trips him up, knocking him on ass. When he's down, she scrambles back to her feet and kicks him as roughly as she can in the stomach, knocking the air from his lungs. She turns and kneels down to grab at Ulrich again. She pauses, however, when she realizes that both his eyes are shut. She takes in a shaky breath and presses one hand lightly to the side of his face. "Ulrich, open your eyes," She whispers, her panic and fear becoming larger.
Unlike the previous times, he doesn't respond in any way to her voice. He's far too pale. Well, aside from the places where she had wiped away his blood. Those spots reminding her of when little kids play with their parents' make-up.
"No… No, no! Ulrich, open your eyes right now! Please!" She presses out, despite how her throat tightens. XANA's up again, and this time he kicks her and knocks her off to the side. She hits the ground with a grunt but rights herself a second later. Her eyes snap open as she watches Julius lift his arms, one foot on Ulrich's chest, and smirk at her in glee.
She can feel the beginnings of a scream bubbling up in her throat just as they're all encompassed in by a blinding white light.
As she snaps back to her spot on the bench with a mouthful of hot cocoa, she can still taste the copper of her own blood in her mouth rather than the beverage. She forces herself to swallow – not fond of getting odd looks for spitting out her drink in the middle of the commons – then looks back around her. She can still hear the same conversations from before, comforted to know she is right about the return trip succeeding.
But then she remembers what had happened right before. She's up and running for the soccer field, school bag smacking roughly against her shoulder, without a second thought.
She only skids to a stop once she is a few feet away from him, heaving from her quick pace, watching as he presses his towel to his face. There's no blood on the spot of it she can see. "Ulrich," She croaks out, voice quiet enough that for a moment she thinks he won't hear her.
He drops the towel back on his duffel bag and looks at her in surprise. "Yumi, ar-?" His question is cut off when she suddenly embraces him. One of her hands rests between his shoulder blades and the other the back of his head. He can feel a blush creeping up along his cheeks but carefully returns the hug, his own arms wrapping around her waist and his forehead lightly resting against her shoulder.
She wants to say something, but she can feels tears of relief and fear pricking at the backs of her eyes. He nearly died. He could have died right there in a horrific manner despite all her best efforts. 'But he isn't. He's okay, and he's here, and he's safe,' She tells herself, closing her eyes and gently resting her cheek against the side of his head.
They stay like that for a moment before Julius arrives, most likely getting ready to start whatever task he had on his list prior to the possession, and flashes them a bright grin. "Morning, kids," He calls.
They both jolt up and look over, Yumi's eyes narrowing to a suspicious glare and her grip on Ulrich tightening instinctively. She knows that he isn't a threat now, that the possession is over, but she's still a little jumpy. Ulrich calls back a meek greeting before the gardener heads back on his way, seeming a touch irritated by Yumi's dark look. Ulrich looks back up at her, cheeks still a touch pink, but one of his shy little grin coming over his face. The look is so familiar and warm and genuinely Ulrich that she feels herself relax at the sight. "A-Anyway, we should probably get going. Class will start soon and I should probably get changed," He says with a small laugh. He doesn't make any move to pull away from her, though.
She smiles and nods, carefully disentangling herself from him. The moment he has his duffel bag all put together and on his shoulder, however, she takes his other hand in hers. She laces their fingers and squeezes lightly, enjoying the warmth. Another wave of calm washes over her when he squeezes her hand back, reassuring her that he's here and safe. He nearly died at the hands of XANA, but she managed to buy them just enough time to get by on.
She holds his hand for the rest of the day when they're together, not caring about the questioning looks they receive.