Yumi: Part 2

Yumi frowned as she returned to school the next day. Nothing was going right. They'd lost Ulrich to Xana and none of the others actually understood that. They wanted to believe that Ulrich was back to his normal self, but she saw it. That small hint of Xana in his eyes while they were at the Factory. With her parents splitting as well, even though it was inevitable, it took a toll on her.

Instead of going into the school building she detoured into the woods and headed for the Factory.

After he'd eaten breakfast with Odd and the others he'd returned to his room. No way was he letting Xana control him again. He should have told Jeremie and Aelita he heard Xana. He didn't know why he didn't.

You didn't, because you know that I can help you.

"Shut up," he said, pulling a pillow over his head to block out the sunlight. He was hoping to get a few extra hours of sleep.

You know that Jeremie is going to try and destroy the world. Ulrich, you're the only one that can stop him.

"Shut up!" he yelled. He put the pillow on his lap and looked around for a portable CD player. Maybe he could drown out the voice.

You won't be able to drown me out, Ulrich. I'm going to be here until you can't stand it anymore and you do help me. Yumi didn't believe you were back to normal when you were. She despises you. Do you want to know why? She sees Jeremie as a brother. She loves him and wants to help him just as she would with her real brother. You were trying to stop that and she still believes that you are. She wants to destroy you….

"SHUT UP!" he yelled as loud as he could, holding his head. "Leave me alone!" He sat curled up on his bed for a few minutes, listening to the quietness of his own thoughts. Xana was gone for now.

He wanted to text Jeremie and Aelita and tell them, but there was something holding him back. He couldn't. He couldn't tell them. The best he could do was hint at what was going on. He needed to get something to stop this, before it got too far. Before he really hurt someone.

Jeremie sat typing in front of his computer later that evening, thinking back on what had happened during the day. Ulrich had been acting strangely, but could that be associated with his only just coming back from being under Xana's control or could Xana have somehow taken control of Ulrich again? He wasn't sure and he didn't want to voice his worries to Aelita, because he didn't want to needlessly worry her over something that might not even be happening. He decided right then and there that he was going to ask Ulrich about it at the closest opportunity.

"Jeremie, do you think that Xana will try to control someone else since we've freed Ulrich?" Aelita whispered, looking at the genius. It was clear to him that this had been deeply bothering her and she'd only just gotten the courage to speak out about it.

"I doubt it. Even if he were to do it we have the programs to free the person anyway, so he shouldn't even bother trying again."

"I know, but it still bothers me…. I feel like something's wrong, like something bad is going to happen soon."

Ulrich sat curled up on his bed, trying to shut out all the images appearing in his mind's eye. He didn't know whether or not to believe Xana or not, but eventually it would come to that. Xana had been talking to him almost non-stop for three hours.

You so readily believed me before, so why is it different now? What's changed between now and a few days ago when you decided to join me? Do you wish for Jeremie to use you to destroy the world? He'll use you and if you don't follow him he'll make you do his bidding. Punishing you by making you kill those closest to you. I would assume he'd start with your parents…. He may even be willing to give up Odd just to teach you a lesson.

"No…" he whispered softly, covering his ears and letting tears fall down his face. He couldn't handle this much longer. He could already feel his resolve slipping from his grasp.

"Hey Ulrich, I brought you the work you missed!" Odd called through the door before opening it and seeing the brunet on the bed. He walked over quickly. "What's wrong? Is it Xana? Did Jeremie mess up his program?"

Ulrich couldn't trust his own voice, he knew it would shake. Something wouldn't allow him to answer Odd. It was like some force keeping the words from coming out of his mouth.

Open your eyes and you'll see a preview of what awaits if you stay allied with Jeremie Belpois too much longer….

He didn't know why he listened to the voice, but he instantly regretted it. Odd was still sitting on the edge of the bed, worry etched onto his face, but he was covered in blood. His skin was pale, like he would die from blood loss at any second. When Odd reached a bloodied hand toward Ulrich he shrunk away and closed his eyes once more, hiding the gruesome image if only for a second before it was splayed across the backs of his eyelids. Odd, basically dead.

This will be your future. You'll be the one to cause him that pain. You'll be the one that causes his death and will have to live with that for the rest of your life. And, if you choose to stay with Jeremie, then you'll look back on this moment and wish you could reverse time so you could agree with me and save him.

He squeezed his eyes shut tighter and wished that it would all end.

Odd looked down at his friend and placed a hand on his shoulder. Something was really bothering him, that much was clear. He'd kept silent and seemed to close up more when he'd mentioned it being Xana. "Ulrich, I'm going to let Jeremie know what's going on, okay? Don't be afraid. We'll fix this."

As he moved to get off the bed Ulrich grabbed onto his arm.

"Ulrich?"

"Don't Odd…. It'll be bad if you do…. Please…" he whispered, his grip getting a little tighter.

"If you're still hearing Xana then Jeremie needs to know so he can fix it, Ulrich. Do you want Xana to turn you against us?" Odd asked as gently as he could. This was one of those times when he was truly afraid for Ulrich.

"What if Xana's right, though, Odd…?" he asked, his voice just above a whisper. "What if we've been wrong the whole time…?"

"I think that's just Xana getting to you. Has it been bugging you all day?" Odd asked, looking toward the door.

Ulrich opened his mouth to answer and then closed it, his body curling more into a ball than before. "Leave me alone! … No! No, no, no!"

"Ulrich, what's-" Odd started, but was stopped when Ulrich pushed him across the room, his back slamming into the wall.

Kiwi started barking loudly and Ulrich turned toward the dog.

"Shut up!" Ulrich yelled, backing away from Odd and covering his ears.

Moments later Ulrich approached Kiwi and kicked the small dog under the desk and then pinned Odd against the wall. "Jeremie wants to kill people. Can you even begin to understand how much pain it would cause you if you'd been listening to things like that for three straight hours? I doubt it. You're not able to think seriously. And when I turn Ulrich into my slave, you'll be the last to die. You'll have to watch as he kills everyone else and then you'll be killed. Slowly, of course. And so will end the Lyoko Warriors. Don't worry, you have a small chance to fight back. Not much though," he said, his voice given the static-y quality of Xana's speaking.

Odd began to struggle. "Fight it, Ulrich! I know you can!"

Xana just laughed.

A/N: Finally getting back to writing this. X3 My step-mom is working on fixing my laptop so that MS Word works on it, but for right now I'll try to update every other day if I can. =3

~MoonlitxAngel