Chapter 9

Jeremy said something about losing contact with Yumi; Ulrich didn't hear exactly what was said, since he was focused on keeping the Wraith busy. William had been destroyed already, and Odd and Aelita were making short work of the remaining Megatanks.

"I've got this," Ulrich shouted at Aelita, "Get to the tower, now!"

Aelita took off at a run and made it into the tower just as the Wraith tore through Ulrich.

Ulrich knew he was in trouble the instant he rematerialized on Earth: the pull of the moon hit him all at once with the force of a Megatank's elliptical laser, and he was half-morphed by the time the scanner opened. What was worse, he could smell William's fear from across the room.

"Jeremy, please tell me that Aelita's deactivated that tower by now," William pleaded.

"It's done. I'm launching the Return to the Past."

Ulrich struggled as hard as he could against the rising lupine instincts - which were unfortunately, at that moment, telling him to rip William's throat out. He's not after my girl, he's not trying to invade my space, he's not my enemy, he's not prey…

"Easy, boy," William whispered, edging as far away from Ulrich as he could get.

Ulrich's only answer was a snarl as he crouched, ready to lunge.

"Return to the Past, Now!" Jeremy suddenly announced.

Oh, thank you Jeremy, Ulrich thought in relief even as he surged forwards to be stopped by the expanding white light.


The return trip landed them at about the same place as it had the last time it was launched: with everyone gathered in Jeremy's dorm waiting for Yumi. Instead of sitting next to Ulrich like last time, however, William was pacing around the room.

"Edgy about me, too, now?" Ulrich asked dryly as he rolled over.

"Shut up."

"Ulrich and Yumi have both been on our side for a long time," Aelita said calmly. "This changes nothing to my mind."

"Next time we go to Lyoko, I want to see if I can shift," Ulrich said, addressing the ceiling. "Maybe my Lyoko wolf form has different powers."

Jeremy looked at his watch. "Not to change the subject, but…wasn't Yumi here by now the last time around?"

Aelita leaned over and looked at Jeremy's watch. "You're right: she's late."

William cocked his head. "Shouldn't the return trip have landed her in exactly the same place that she was on her way here?"

Odd wrinkled his nose. "Jeremy, before the tower was deactivated, you mentioned losing contact with Yumi."

Jeremy nodded. "She'd gotten in a fight with the fourth werewolf, based on what I could hear." Suddenly he paled. "You don't think she was…"

Ulrich vaulted off the bed and out the door, sniffing the air. Ignoring the others as they came after him, he bounded down the hall in search of Yumi's scent.

"Ulrich, you're, uh…going wolf," William called.

"Yeah," Ulrich growled back through half-morphed jaws, "I can't seem to track and stay completely human at the same time." Picking up a trace, he stopped and turned his head back and forth. "Got her!" He took off again - only to slam on the brakes as he rounded the next corner. "No!"

Yumi was sprawled motionless on the ground between the science building and the dorms. One hand was extended towards the dorm, as if she was in the process of crawling there - and there was a wide-open gash across the back of that hand. It looked fresh, but it wasn't bleeding.

Ulrich was by her side in a bound, knocking her onto her back with his half-lupine head. Jeremy was right behind Ulrich, and took Yumi's pulse.

"I can't…I can't make it out," he choked.

"She's…" Aelita began. She couldn't seem to finish - and also seemed unable to look away from Yumi's open jaws and extended fangs.

Ulrich whimpered and rested his head on Yumi's chest. Then he bobbed back up as a faint breath reached his ears. Yumi was alive, but just barely.

"She lost too much blood to regenerate, fighting that werewolf," he growled, "But not enough to kill her."

"Limbo," Aelita breathed. "She's stuck in limbo. She can't die, but she can't recover."

"Not without…" William began.

Ulrich bit his own mostly-human wrist until he tasted what he was waiting for, and then he returned to human form and finished William's sentence. "…Blood."

Bright red drops fell from Ulrich's fang marks into Yumi's mouth. One, two, three…and Yumi was still motionless.

"Come on, hurry up," Ulrich muttered. "Get a taste for this while I'm still bleeding."

Four more drops fell.

Yumi's hand slowly lifted and caught his arm, drawing it weakly down until his punctured wrist was pressed to her lips. Ulrich felt her tongue flick across his wrist, lapping at the blood. He knew the instant his wrist healed completely, because Yumi growled into it and opened her eyes.

"Yumi?" he asked uncertainly, drawing his wrist back.

Her eyes quickly focused on his face - no, on his neck…

Before Ulrich could make up his mind what his reaction should be, Yumi grabbed his shoulders with both hands and pulled herself towards him, driving her fangs into his neck.

"Ulrich," Odd asked worriedly, "Should she be doing that?"

"I did offer my blood," Ulrich said indifferently as he leaned back on his hands. As long as Yumi was still too weak to hold herself up, she might as well lean on him while she regained her strength.

"Doesn't it make a difference that you're a werewolf?"

"Uh…" Ulrich decided that that was a good question; unfortunately, he didn't know the answer to it. "It's a little bit late to worry, don't you think?" He pushed at Yumi slightly, and she didn't budge.

"Well, yeah."

Minutes passed; Yumi still drank Ulrich's blood. Her hard bite had stopped hurting a while back, and was little more than a dull ache; Ulrich thought dizzily that it was almost pleasant.

If this is really it, at least I'm close to Yumi. The thought made him smile slightly.

His head suddenly smacked the ground, jolting him out of his fog. He hadn't even realized that his arms were losing strength until he was on his back with Yumi on top of him.

Yumi's fangs unhooked from his neck and she jumped off him with a horrified gasp. "Ulrich…I…Ulrich, say something!"

A grin spread over Ulrich's face as he replied, "Something." He could barely hear his own voice, but he knew Yumi would hear it.

"Ulrich," Yumi sounded angry, and like she was going to cry. "I could have killed you."

"I'd have let you," Ulrich replied faintly. He tried to sit up and found that he didn't have the energy.

Yumi shook her head with a sigh and heaved him off the ground. "What are you, brave or stupid?"

Ulrich was still trying to decide the answer to that when he lost consciousness.