What Could’ve Been

A CL NOVEL

 
Prologue
“No.”
“Aww… C’mon!”
“No.”
“PLEASE!!!”
“NO, Odd.”
“But I—“
“NOOOOO!!! Get it through you thick skull, NO!!!”
“Fine, I’ll do it myself. But I gotta warn ya Ulrich, your missin’ out on a lot of f—”
“Shut up, get out, and leave me alone. And I gotta warn you. Do it and your dead. Now leave.”
Odd smiled. Regardless of what Ulrich said, Odd was going to try it. He was going to go for a midnight run in Lyoko. He was sure Jeremy wouldn’t mind. He left the room and closed the door.
Ulrich frowned. He was sure Odd would do it anyway.
 
Chapter 1
 

10  years in the future

 

“I think it’s going to work!” cried Jeremy. This was the day. If they had any hope of survival, it was this.

“W-w-what h-happened?” Odd stammered.

“Remember,” replied Ulrich, “when I said if you went to Lyoko in the middle of the night, you were dead?”

“Don’t tell me I—”

“Yup.”

“That was a stupid thing to do, Odd,” said Jeremy. “Your lucky to be alive, after what Xana did to you.”

“Well, Jeremy, what did he do,” asked Odd, “don’t leave me hangin’”

“That, Odd,” said Jeremy, “is exactly what he did.” To be continued…

 
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author.  The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise.  No copyright infringement is intended.

Chapter 2
The story unfolds 
 

“You see, Odd, while you tried to get into Lyoko, Xana bugged the program. I don’t know how, but he could still access Lyoko. Anyway, he—in short—took over your body and, through you, Lyoko. Eventually, 5 days ago, you broke free. But now he has Yumi. While in your body, he pretty much took over the world. Let’s just hope he doesn’t find us here.”

“Where, exactly, is here, Jeremy?” asked Odd.

“A secret tunnel in the sewers. We’ve helped people fight him and resist him, but now he’s on full alert, so for now we must remain hidden.”

“Exactly how old are you guys?”

“Me, Ulrich, and Sissi are 23, and Yumi was, and hopefully still is, 24.”

“Did I age in Xana’s possession? And wait… Sissi?”

“Yup she is. And yes, your 22.”

“Hi, Odd, glad your feeling better,” says Sissi as she enters the room, “have they filled you in yet?”

“I don’t know. Is that all, Jeremy?”

“Well, Odd, I’m sorry, but Xana killed Kiwi.”

“Wha—”

“It’s true Odd,” said Sissi.

“Then I am going to kill HIM!” For the first time, Odd noticed how much older and beautiful Sissi looked.

At that moment, Ulrich rushed in and said, in a whispered voice, right before he collapsed, his eyes turning red with Xana’s insignia, “Xana.”                                  

 

*          *            *

 

Odd lurched to the side just as Xana/Ulrich lunged at him. Taking a nearby stick, Odd thrust it like a javelin at Ulrich. Spinning around with inhuman speed, Xana/Ulrich grabbed the stick in midair, and threw it back.

“OWWW!!” It hit Odd in the shoulder, and he felt something crack. “You little…” At that moment Sissi cried, “Virtuallity!” In a flash, she suddenly had a bow with a quiver. Two purple marks were on either side of her face. “Cleanse!” she called, and her currently notched arrow turned white. She speedily pulled and released the bow, the arrow went straight through Ulrich, his body constricting. Slowly, his eyes returned to normal. “Dammit,” he said, “Good thing Xana can’t fully control two bodies at once.”

“You know what,” said Odd, “Jeremy never told me what he meant when he said that Xana left me hangin’.”

“Well, Odd,” replied Sissi, “we pretty much found you left for dead hanging by live electric wires. It’s a wonder you survived.” At that moment, she said, “Normalize,” and she returned back to her old self.

“How did you do that?” asked Odd.