William V

As the boys passed Cody in the playground of the Potomac, a small all-boys school in Langley Virginia, they laughed. Cody slumped down further into his haunches. He was reflecting; reflecting on the days when his parents were still alive, before the day of the helicopter crash, back when Cody went to a school he liked, Franklin Sherman Elementary School. He’d had friends then. Those were the good old days, Cody thought. Now, he was constantly being picked on for being a ‘loner’. Cody was about as popular as a bug.

Another school day rolled on. Cody could have excelled in class, he could have excelled in academics, but he didn't, he didn't like the attention. Cody was a strong, fast, resilient boy and was extremely smart; a deep thinker and very quick witted. But he had been scarred in the helicopter crash and it wasn’t just a small cut on his face. No, it was much deeper than that. He was haunted by nightmares every night since that horrible accident. He had dug himself into a deep emotional hole, one which he struggled to resurface from at the beginning of every day.

Cody slowly wandered home from school, but as he got closer to his adopted home, he sped up as the smell of warm noodles drifted up his nose. He rushed through the front door, sat down and tucked in. “We have to go and see the boss,” announced Mrs Potts, his beloved caretaker.

Cody didn't argue. He had only seen Mr Frown once, the day he had been orphaned and promptly adopted by the A.I.C., the Adoption Intelligence Centre.

Mr Frown’s office was high tech, people were pouring over modern computers everywhere. The room smelled of lavender and there was a healthy chatter in the air. Well, there was until Mr Frown announced his presence with his cold voice.

“Cody, please come and sit down.”

Mr Frown was a well-to-do, logical and generally grumpy man. When Cody and Mrs Potts sat down, Mr Frown said in his irritating, posh whirlwind voice,

”We regret to inform you, but, well, we are the C.I.A., not the A.I.C. We are the action branch and we require you to go on a mission for us.”

Cody's face was taken over with puzzlement. Was he supposed to believe this? Frown continued.

“There is an evil genius called Vanish and we believe his base is in Ranchi, the Bank of India. Your job is to confirm his whereabouts and promptly call us,” Frown announced.

Cody was too shocked to speak.

“No, you can't do this to me!” he immediately blurted out but a cold-hearted Frown replied, matter of factly:

“I'm sorry Cody, but you have to go. You see, we are your legal adopters. We control your life, we can do anything to you.” Cody's face contorted with fury. Mr Frown continued.

“Mrs Potts, take him to our training base in Chicago, give him training and send him on his way to Ranchi.” Mrs Potts nodded obediently at Frown. Her eyes never contacted Cody’s, as she directed him out of the office. Cody tried to plead with her, but it was as if his words never reached her ears.

Three weeks passed in a daze. On the last night of his training, Cody was triple checking the report he had been given on Vanish. It explained that Vanish wore casual clothing, had scars all over his face and had a nose bruised from uncountable punch ups. It said he was a genius, determined and had a great problem solving brain. Cody’s training had been tough and had consisted of resilience, fitness, firearms and spy training, but now it was nearly over and he was about to be on his way to find Vanish. Cody was scared but also strangely excited. Ever since his parent’s death, his life had lacked a purpose. That was no longer the case. He didn’t know what was going to happen, but he knew it was going to be hard.

U

In the morning, Cody rolled out of bed and was chauffeured to O'Hare airport. The flight was long; thirteen hours all up. But finally, he reached Ranchi. As the plane doors slid open, Cody was confronted with an oppressive wave of heat; sweat trickled down his face. He promptly hailed a taxi and caught a awride. He asked to be transported to two blocks away from his destination. He walked around to the back door of the bank. It was bolted.

Cody was stumped. Suddenly, he remembered the small explosive device in his jacket pocket. He carefully attached it to the back door, triple checked it, making sure it was securely attached and stood well back. The wall exploded with a bang. Inside, past the endless expanse of winding corridors, there was a production line of armed robots. That was enough proof for Cody. He had found Vanish’s headquarters. He dialed the number +0404 983 467 and was promptly connected to the C.I.A.

“Target confirmed,” he reported.

The C.I.A. swooped in and took over the base as smoothly as a well oiled machine. They destroyed the production line and arrested its leader, Chronic. Chronic was hiding out in Vanish’s office. There were high tech machines everywhere, a faint smell of rose and and the quiet humming of machines. A feeling of intense sadness smothered the room. That's when they realised,Vanish wasn't there. He had escaped yet again, living up to his name. Even though they hadn't captured Vanish, they had destroyed one of his hideouts with a potentially lethal production line and there were high fives and smiles all around. With each pat on the back Cody received, the pain of the past started to fade from his mind. He started to wonder if this was what the rest of his life would be like.

After a couple of weeks back at the C.I.A. training center, Cody was called on again. This time he was tasked to retrieve the mystical Sword of Franzia which the C.I.A. wanted for it’s beauty and it’s power. Legend has it, that it was located in Indelasken, Switzerland. After being transported to Indelasken via a private jet and after numerous dead ends, Cody finally found a possible location in the heart of the mountains. There was a cave that matched all the clues and looked strangely inviting. Cody stepped inside. It was difficult to navigate with many twists and turns. Suddenly a bomb fell out of Cody’s pocket and the crash to the floor armed it. Instinct took over. Cody ripped it open. But which wire to cut? He recalled his bomb studies, studies he had undertaken with great care. Cody chose blue. He yanked on it and luckily, the countdown stopped. Cody sighed with relief and continued looking for the Sword of Franzia.

It wasn’t long until he found the main cavern and, lying in the centre with a single sliver of light shining upon it, was the mythical Sword of Franzia. Cody ran in and grabbed it, not wanting it to disappear. That's when Vanish jumped out from behind him.

“Give me the sword,” he hissed menacingly.

“Frown is lying to you,”

“Don't listen to him,” Frown’s cold voice called out from the darkness. Suddenly, Cody was torn. Who should he trust? Cody’s hands got a life of their own. They jumped out at Vanish, thrusting the sword at him. Vanish jumped out of the way, snarled and ran for his life.

“New mission,” Frown smiled.

“Capture Vanish! Oh, and lucky I knew you would be persuaded by me or you would have joined Vanish’s side. Now go!” Cody didn't want to but he knew he had to. He didn't want his life ruined, again. He thought of the celebrations which would follow Vanish’s capture. There would be no more playground sniggers behind his back because he was now well known through the school as a successful spy. Fuelled by this, Cody ran after Vanish. The chase was long and hard with many obstacles but eventually Cody backed Vanish into a corner.

“Frown,” Cody called,

“I've got him,” Frown strode in with a smile on his face. He whipped his phone out of his pocket and within a couple of seconds, it was down again.

“Well done Cody,” he said as he took the sword from his grip. Soon after, a whirring of blades signalled the arrival of the C.I.A. helicopter. They frog marched Vanish to the helicopter and away they went.

Back at base, Cody had been accepted and he was now a successful agent . He was given a uniform, a badge and most importantly, a purpose. One night, he was doing a patrol when he heard Frown’s voice behind him.

“Put your hands up!”. Cody twisted around to see Frown’s body form flicker between species. Cody blinked. He stood in awe as he watched Frown becoming a bear and within seconds, returning to his human form.

“You have given me ultimate power. I now have the Sword of Franzia and I thank you for that but now, I must kill you. You know too much.”

And without another word, Frown raised the Sword of Franzia and brought it down…

Cody twisted out of the way, kicked upwards, connected with Frown’s sword hand and sent it spiralling from his grip. Without another thought, he sprinted down to the cells where he knew Vanish was being held a prisoner. He thought logically; he had trusted Frown but he had turned out to be evil; Vanish must have been telling him the truth. He broke Vanish out, half expecting to feel a punch in the gut but none was forthcoming.

“Well, what are you waiting for?” Vanish screamed, “let’s go!” Together, with Frown a wolf on their tails, they sprinted out of the building.

They sprinted for their lives and, as they ran, they bonded. Suddenly, at a random point in the road, Vanish pulled him over into a gap in the houses. A few seconds later, Frown bounded past. They sat for a couple of minutes catching their breath. They began to talk slowly at first but it eventually became a flood. They soon realised they had a lot in common. Vanish talked about his life and so did Cody. Both lives had been filled with loss and loneliness. After a lull in the conversation, Vanish stood up.

“This isn't over until we defeat Frown. He controls the C.I.A and therefore, the country!” Cody, realising he had no choice, nodded.

They put together a plan stood up and strode confidently to C.I.A base to face, what they knew would be, the last battle. The front door was open. Someone was expecting them. They walked straight in. The place was deserted but they knew where Frown would be, In his protected tower. They marched straight up the creaky old stairwell. Eventually they came to the highest level. They rushed in expecting Frown to pounce on them but instead the doors slid closed behind them.

Frown’s chair slid around and he spoke in a low but threatening voice.

“I have waited a long time for this!” Out of nowhere and without any indication, Cody and Vanish pounced as one. Vanish grabbed the Sword of Franzia and held it above Frown’s neck threateningly.

“Tell us everything or we will kill you!” Frown’s face turned purple with rage and like an apple from a tree the words fell out. Cody smiled, he was finally going to know the truth.

“When I was young my parents were killed by the C.I.A. That's when I made getting revenge my lifetime goal. I worked up the C.I.A ladder and corrupted it from within. I bribed Vanish, which was easy because he had the same objective as me. Look at his scars, it was the C.I.A who gave him those, back when he was a petty thief. But he had to be betrayed;I had to be alone in my domination. I steadily gathered my army. Your parents,” Frown spat viciously pointing his finger at a bewildered Cody,

“Got suspicious so I had to kill them. Unluckily, you survived!” Cody’s body twitched with anger. It had been Frown the whole time!

“The Potomac is a breeding ground for future spies. I was ready to exploit it and that's when you came along. I tried to kill you, send you on doomed missions. You destroyed the droids, you were meant to die not to destroy my plans! I had to help or the C.I.A would have gotten suspicious I tried to rebuild it but you foiled that as well! You ruined it for me and I will have my revenge!”

“Unlikely,” Vanish said, as he dialled 911 into his phone.

Frown struggled and struggled but he just could not escape Vanish’s iron grip. Eventually the police came and asked some questions and after they had answered these questions satisfactorily, they were informed of what Frown had done. He was bundled, while protesting, into the back of the van. He was sentenced to a lifetime in jail for his horrible crimes. Before the trial he was even found out trying to bribe his judge. This, of course, only worsened his case and contributed to his lifetime sentence in jail. The C.I.A was eventually uncorrupted after many months and got back to working to keep the country safe from people like Frown.

Cody was, after some tedious logistics, adopted for a second time, by Vanish. This time, he hoped it would end better than his previous adoption. They were happy together; Vanish got the friend he never had and Cody got a family, an identity and most importantly, felt like he belonged. He was sent to Langley High School where he made some lifelong friends. Every time Cody had an argument, he quickly learnt to solve it, never wanting to be a ‘loner’ or seek revenge again.

One year later...

We are happy now. I am at peace and more importantly, Cody is growing into a young man. As I stand here, looking out from our little kitchen window, I am so proud to be his father. He is out now playing with his two best friends Charles and Herbert. What a change from last year. Along the course of this journey, Cody has learnt the two most important life lessons he could ever learn: to fight through tough times and, most importantly, that he will always belong somewhere. Although I do hope he doesn't have to go through this much hardship again, it is starting to look all the more likely. He is unaware of the job offer which the C.I.A. have offered him. The offer letter is crisp and cold in my hands. I will wait for the right time; a time when he is ready to… never mind he will know when the time comes. Oh, here he comes now. I better get dinner ready; it's a hot pot day which is his, and secretly my, favourite.