Undercurrent

Ulrich was surrounded. He hated being surrounded. Especially since there were three of him. He scowled.

"A little help over here?" Ulrich queried as the ring of Blocks started closing in.

"All in good time, buddy," Odd quipped as he arrowed an errant Kankrelot.

""Kinda busy here..." Yumi trailed off as the Kankrelot she just missed with her fan nailed her in the leg.

"You're down to 20 life points, Yumi," Jeremie's voice intoned. "And will someone help Ulrich out?"

"You don't have to be pushy about it," Odd grumbled. He took a parting shot at the trio of monsters left around him before scampering off towards the tower. He flashed a grin at Aelita hiding behind a rock as he passed. Leaping towards the encircled swordsman, Odd aimed and readied to fire. The Blocks, showing some foresight, turned as one and shot the newcomer. Odd never made it to the ground before he was devirtualized.

"I guess it's the effort that counts," Ulrich mumbled before posturing his multiple selves in defensive crouches. The ring of Blocks kept coming, and outside of Odd, they had not fired a shot. He risked a glance at Yumi, now having to clean up Odd's group of Kankrelots after finishing with hers. His heart beat faster. She would never be able to reach him until it was too late. Turning back to the monsters, he grinned and said, "Who wants to be the first to die?"

Strangely enough, one Block stepped forward from his brethren.

Ulrich tried not to let his surprise show. "I always knew you guys were dumb, but this takes the cake." Ulrich raised his katana and plunged it into the heart of the Block, his grin growing as the blade hit its mark. The grin faded, however, when he tried to pull the katana back.

"It's stuck," was all Ulrich had the time to say before the Block exploded. Due to their close proximity, the rest of the Blocks followed suit, one by one engulfing Ulrich in a circular wall of explosive debris.

Yumi's fan sliced through the last Kankrelot just as she caught the flashes of light out of the corner of her eye. Rounding quickly, she sprinted over to the smoking rubble. Ulrich was not there. "Jeremie?" she cautiously asked.

"He's been devirtualized. No worries," he responded.

Aelita clambered out from behind her hiding spot and beelined it to the tower. She phased in, and Yumi sighed. The white light took her.

XXXX

"Ulrich, are you OK?" was the first thing out of Yumi's mouth.

"Fine. Just sore, is all," was Ulrich's reply.

"So, which is worse," Odd started playfully. "A ring of blocks exploding, or getting crushed by a falling pillar in sector 5?"

Ulrich winced. "They both..." he trailed off, rubbing at his eyes. Jeremie looked at his watch.

"I guess we should be getting back. Can you make it, Ulrich?" the blonde said.

Ulrich fought off a yawn, the adrenaline surge of a finished battle doing nothing for his overwhelming sense of weariness. "The day Odd has to carry me back is the day I..." his head lolled to the side, and Ulrich was out for the night.

"Dead weight is so much worse to carry," Odd grumbled half-heartedly as he picked Ulrich up. Yumi got Ulrich's other side, and they slowly made their way out of the factory. Jeremie and Aelita disappeared ahead of them, unencumbered by the weight of a teammate.

Ulrich stirred slightly as he made contact with the fresh air again, but soon grew still again. Yumi spared a glance down. Ulrich's face was weary even in a state of rest, but the eyelids were darting to and fro, a sure sign of a dream. She encircled Ulrich's limp wrist in her free hand checking his pulse. Her eyes widened.

"Odd, check Ulrich's pulse," Yumi ordered. "I think something's wrong." Odd did as he was told.

"It's normal, Yumi," he responded. "So, what's up?"

"Nothing, I suppose." She checked again, just to be sure, but Odd has quelled her momentary bout of uncertainty. "I thought Ulrich's pulse was racing. It could be he's dreaming..."

Odd sighed but made no other verbal response. 'Sure, his pulse will race - when you're around, Yumi.' Odd thought. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes and readjusted Ulrich's weight as the campus got closer.

"So, we can't just sneak in," Odd broke the silence as the gate loomed. "What do we do?"

"Just go to the guard station, tell the guard we found Ulrich passed out, and we'll take him to the infirmary," Yumi said matter-of-factly.

"Been thinking this through, have we?" Odd gently chided. He rasped his knuckles on the gate, and the guard soon came. A quick explanation by Yumi and the guard let them in with orders to go straight to the infirmary.

"That excuse never gets old," Odd said while walking down the hall.

"Shh!" Yumi hissed. "It's past curfew." Then she reluctantly cracked a grin. "Yeah, it works every time."

Yolanda clucked her tongue when she saw Ulrich. "Did another errant soccer ball knock him silly again?" she said, knowing Ulrich's visits to her office usually were the result of something along those lines.

"We don't know," Yumi said. "We found him like this just before curfew." Yolanda retrieved some smelling salts from a cabinet and held them under Ulrich's nose. Sputtering, he sat up, looking around and realizing he was in the infirmary. He also got a look from Yumi that plainly said, "Stay mum." So Ulrich docilely followed Yolanda's instructions as she checked him over.

"He seems to be OK, but he should go to bed right away. It's probably just a case of over-exertion." Smiling, she sent the trio on their way, with a reminder to Yumi that she should be heading home when she was done helping Ulrich.

Yumi and Odd managed to get Ulrich up the stairs and safely into bed, out like a light once again as soon as he hit the pillows.

"Hey, thanks for your help, Yumi," Odd offered.

"Anytime. I better get going before Jim catches me here. We can fill Jeremie in on everything in the morning." With that, Yumi waved and left.

XXXX

Ulrich awoke early the next morning. The sun beat fiercely on his closed eyelids, staining his vision crimson. He thought about yelling at Odd to pull shut the drapes, but decided a sleep-deprived Odd was not something he felt like dealing with at the moment. Cracking open tired eyes, he sat up in bed and looked at the room's lone window. The drapes were securely in place over the panes of glass. So why, Ulrich mused as he lay down and closed his eyes again, would the red not go away?