The Fastest Men Alive

The Fastest Men Alive

Mankind has always been obsessed with speed. Men and women always asked how they could move faster, and even when they could, it still wasn’t enough. Speed was always a scientific concept, and very few people actually found it interesting. That all changed in 1940, when speed finally captured the minds of everyone from children to their grandparents. DC Comics introduced a new character who went on to revolutionize comics and the concept of speed forever. His name was the Flash, and he was the fastest man alive.

Jay Garrick was the first Flash. He was first created by Gardner Fox and Henry Lampert. Jay was a young scientist in Keystone City, a fictional city that was created for the purpose of building a world that was not limited to the existing elements of the real world. Jay was working at a college in a laboratory sometime between the years 1938 and 1940. He took a smoke break, but in the middle of it he accidentally knocked over a glass container filled with modified hard water. After inhaling the fumes of the liquid, Jay could suddenly run faster than regular humans.

After using his speed to save his girlfriend, Joan Williams, from a bullet that was accidentally shot at her, Jay decided to use his powers for good, so he named himself the Flash. He wore a red shirt with a yellow lightning bolt on it and a metal helmet with wings on the sides. His father had worn the helmet when he had fought in World War I, so it was a prized family heirloom. Over the years Jay learned to weaponize the helmet. Eventually it went on to become his signature item.

The Flash was a popular character throughout the 1940s. He was a founding member of the Justice Society of America, the first incarnation of the Justice League. He led other superheroes as they attempted to gain their footing in their own comic books, yet he also had his own compelling stories. Eventually that all began to fade away. After World War II ended, superheroes were no longer popular. The Flash’s comic book series ended with issue 104, but it was so abrupt that very few loose ends were tied up.

In 1956 superheroes and comic books were revived with the arrival of Barry Allen, the second Flash. Barry was given his powers after he was struck by a lightning bolt and drenched in chemicals. Just like Jay Garrick, Barry discovered that his accident had given him super speed. Barry was much faster than Jay, and his costume was different as well. Barry’s costume was a skin tight red outfit with a yellow lightning bolt positioned directly over his chest. Unlike Jay, Barry wore a mask so that his identity would remain a secret from the public. Barry was often driven to do the right thing by his memory of his mother, who had been murdered when Barry was only eleven years old.

In 1961 comic books were changed forever when DC Comics introduced the Multiverse concept. It was an idea that actually existed in real life. The Multiverse concept described the idea that there were hundreds, thousands, maybe even millions of alternate universes that were similar to ours with only slight, or major, changes. This idea was introduced to comic books when Barry Allen used his super speed to vibrate his body so fast that he slipped through the cracks of reality and into an alternate universe. This universe, however, was the home of Jay Garrick.

Barry met Jay, and the two teamed up to stop several of Jay’s enemies. Barry returned to his universe, but that was not the last time he would encounter another universe. Over the years more people began to travel to his universe from their own. Some of these people were friends, and some of them were enemies. Some of these people were even evil versions of Barry who had come to kill their heroic doppelganger.

In 1959 Barry’s close friend, Iris West, introduced him to her nephew, Wally West. After an accident identical to Barry’s occurred, Wally was also given superhuman speed. With his new speed he became Kid Flash, a younger version of the Flash. He wore a costume similar to Barry’s, but over the years he changed it so that he had his own signature look. Wally eventually on to form the Teen Titans, a group of superhero teenagers. He was always a close friend of Barry’s.

In 1961 Barry and Wally used the cosmic treadmill, a treadmill that could match the Flash’s speed so that he could run on it endlessly, to travel forwards and backwards in time. Wally traveled to prehistoric ages so that he could stop an event from occurring that would allow aliens to invade Earth centuries later. Barry traveled to the year 2287 so that he could turn the aliens away and ensure that they would never invade Earth, even if Wally would have failed. Both heroes succeeded, and they returned to 1961. They used the cosmic treadmill several times to alter time.

In 1963 Barry traveled forward in time to the 25th century. This was where he met his greatest adversary, Eobard Thawne. Thawne went by several names such as the Reverse-Flash or Professor Zoom. Although Thawne’s origin has always remained a mystery to Barry, it is known that he was a huge fan of the Flash’s in the 25th century. Thawne caused an event to happen similar to Barry’s which gave Thawne his super speed. It is often noted that Thawne is much faster than even Barry himself.

The Speed Force has always been an important component of the Flash’s history. The Speed Force was created by Barry the first time he ran using his super speed. The Speed Force was a dimension that contained all of the speed in every single universe. It could only be accessed by people like Barry who had inhuman speed. As long as the Speed Force exists and remains intact, meaning it still exists as one whole dimension, speedsters, as super fast beings are called, will be able to run at their above average speeds.

Eventually Barry married Iris West. She learned that he was the Flash on the same day, but she never revealed his secret to anyone. Throughout their marriage the couple faced many challenges that directly involved the Flash. The couple overcame each challenge, but finally they could not fight it any longer. Eventually Thawne, in an extreme act of terrorism and evil, came to destroy Barry’s life. To do this he would not have to kill Barry, but in turn he would have to kill his wife.

Thawne disguised himself at a costume party that Barry and Iris were attending. He lured the couple away, and he knocked Barry out. Iris ran for help, but she became lost in the mansion that the party was being held in. Thawne found her and vibrated his hand so quickly that he could put his hand in Iris’s head. He solidified it just enough that Iris’s brain was destroyed, killing her instantly.

Barry was emotionally crippled after his wife’s death. Throughout his remaining years as

the Flash he traveled through time so that he could find Thawne and get revenge for the death of his wife. Finally the two met again when Thawne came to kill Barry’s new fiance, Fiona Webb. Deciding that he would no longer allow Thawne to terrorize him, Barry broke his enemy's neck, killing him. Barry was put on trial for Thawne’s murder, but he was not found guilty. Along his journey to find Thawne, Barry discovered that Iris was actually from the 30th century. She had been sent to the 20th century so that she could live safely from the Flash’s enemies in the 30th century. Barry abandoned Fiona, and he traveled to the 30th century to live with his wife.

In 1985 DC Comics realized that they had created too many alternate universes to manage. They eventually decided to destroy all of them except for one. In a conflict known as the Crisis on Infinite Earths, a being known as the Anti-Monitor began to destroy the different universes. He merged many of them together so that he could destroy them all at once, but his destructive machine that did this for him was destroyed by Barry. Barry had left the 30th century to fight in the crisis, but he had been captured by the Anti-Monitor.

Barry escaped the Anti-Monitor, and he went to the machine that the Anti-Monitor had been using to destroy the alternate universes. He ran around it at an extreme speed, but in doing so he began to physically collapse. His speed was thrown into the Speed Force where it remained for over 20 years. Barry’s death left a lasting impact on the DC universe, especially its readers. His death was a complete surprise, and it took a long time for the DC universe to recover from it.

In his absence Barry was replaced by his nephew Wally West. Wally chose to become the new Flash as soon as he learned of Barry’s death. Wally struggled as the Flash from the start. Although he brought the character into a darker and more mature age, he also opened up many personal storylines. Wally struggled with money for a very long time. He eventually won millions of dollars in a lottery, but he somehow blew it all away. After this he struggled with his mental state, something that eventually caused him to lose access to his powers. For a while the world was without a Flash, but with the arrival of a new threat similar to Thawne, Wally overcame his problems and regained his powers.

This new threat was named Zoom, although his true identity was Hunter Zolomon, a close friend of Wally’s. Zolomon was paralyzed in an accident, but after he tried to use the cosmic treadmill to go back in time and prevent the accident, he caused an explosion that gave him use of his legs again and freedom from the flow of time. Taking up the name Zoom, he could move through time as fast as he wanted, making him even faster than even Barry ever was. Zoom attacked Wally first because he blamed him for the accident. Wally managed to fight off Zoom once, but he didn’t stay away for long.

During Zoom’s absence, Wally married Linda Park. She became pregnant with twins, and the two happily awaited her due date. Unfortunately, it was during her pregnancy that Zoom chose to return. This time Zoom’s goal was to make Wally become a better hero, so he started to target everyone that Wally was close to. Wally managed to protect most of his friends and family, but Zoom eventually came for Wally’s wife. Instead of attacking her himself, Zoom sent a shockwave at her. It struck her, killing her unborn twins.

Years later during the Rogue War, a gang war between the Flash’s enemies, Zoom returned to kill Wally while he was preoccupied with the war. When Zoom returned, Wally borrowed the speed of Jay Garrick so that he could fight Zoom. Zoom led Wally back in time to the same day that Wally’s unborn babies had been killed. Enraged by Zoom’s plan, Wally traveled farther back in time to find Barry and ask him for help in his battle against Zoom. Zoom used the same idea, and he sought out help from Reverse-Flash.

When all four speedsters time-traveled to the day when Wally and Linda’s babies were killed, a large battle broke out. Neither side was gaining an upper hand over the other, but eventually Zoom formed a plan to defeat Wally. Zoom brought Linda to the battle where he planned to kill her babies once again so that Wally could watch it happen. However, this time Wally saved the babies, and he and Barry managed to trap Zoom and Reverse-Flash in the timestream. Barry returned to his timeline, and Wally returned to his where Linda had suddenly become nine months pregnant with the very same babies that had been killed years before. Linda gave birth to the twins, and they grew up healthy and safe. Wally never encountered Zoom again during his career as the Flash.

In 2008, during the Final Crisis, an event similar to the Crisis on Infinite Earths, Barry Allen returned. After breaking free from the time stream and the speed force he joined forces with Jay Garrick and Wally. They helped the rest of the DC universe in stopping the Final Crisis. Barry returned to Iris, who had left the 30th century years before. The two were reunited briefly before Barry’s worst enemy returned.

In the “Rebirth” storyline Barry was attempting to adjust to the world around him. It had changed greatly in the years since his death, but the Flash was seen as a hero. Wally and Barry were both loved by the world, but Wally chose to let Barry become the true Flash once again. Wally still worked as the Flash as well, but he fought less often than Barry. Wally spent more and more time with his family, and eventually it was only Barry who fought crime as the Flash.

Around the same time of Barry’s return, Thawne also returned. He attacked Barry and his family, but Thawne decided to go back into the past and kill Iris before she had even begun to date Barry. In the past, Thawne threw a lightning bolt shaped spear at Iris, but Barry stopped it in time. Iris kept the spear, and Thawne was captured by Barry and Jay. They stripped Thawne of his powers, and he disappeared for three years. Barry discovered that it was Thawne who had murdered Barry’s mother when he was a child, and Barry was finally able to close the police case.

Three years later Barry made the mistake of running backward in time and preventing his mother from ever being killed. This changed the timeline drastically, mainly because Thawne returned with his speed and took this opportunity to change the timeline as well. Barry lost his speed after he saved his mother, and he never married Iris in the new timeline either. Thawne changed many events that shook the DC universe. He changed the timeline so that Bruce Wayne’s father became Batman instead of his son, and Superman became a captive of the government instead of a hero.

Barry found Thomas Wayne in the new timeline, and together they got Barry his speed back. They traveled to Europe where a nuclear war was being fought. They joined forces with other superheroes, and they fought against Thawne’s legion of villains. At the end of the battle, Thawne appeared to Barry and told him what had happened. Barry was stunned to learn that he had caused all of this because he had lost his memory when the timeline changed. Thawne beat Barry to a point where he was near death, but Thomas Wayne killed Thawne instead. Barry ran into the timestream, and he stopped himself from changing the timeline.

Barry’s mistakes in the timeline ended up changing the timeline once again. Everything almost returned to normal, except many events were set back. Barry and Iris had never even met, but his mother was still dead. Bruce Wayne was Batman again, but he had only just begun his career as the crimefighter. It took Barry a couple of years, but he eventually learned that the timeline had been changed. The only other person who knew about this was Thawne, who had returned from the dead once again. Thawne could only do this because he had time traveled so much that his body was no longer vulnerable to the change of time. No matter how many times Thawne was killed, he could always return over a period of time.

Jay Garrick, Barry Allen, and Wally West were three of the first speedsters to ever exist. Jay was the only one who could not access the speed force, and he could also not travel through time. However, he has always been a mentor to Barry and Wally, helping them each in his own way. Although Jay was much slower than both Barry and Wally, the three fought together as partners as often as they could. Together they were the fastest men alive, and by using their powers for good, they were able to create one, whole, true Flash.

The House That Built Me

On June 13, 2007, we bought the house that I would grow up in until my eighth grade year. In that house, many memories would be made, many tears would be shed, many laughs would have been had, and all of them would go to waste due to one decision my dad made.

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I remember my first day of school, my house was two blocks away from school, so my mom would walk me there every day. I would see my friends, and we would all talk about every little thing we could. At the end of the day, my brother would walk me back to our house. My brother and I weren’t very close, so we fought a lot. When we did, we had to do something the other wanted to do. We were mainly in my room and he’d play dolls or school with me I even had my own Thanksgiving in my room one time and he joined me, along with all of my other dolls. We’d play wii together and compete in Mario Kart or in golf. All of those memories will be left behind due to one decision my dad made.

As I was growing up, I was sick a lot. I remember coming home from the doctors, and there would be flowers and stuffed animals from my grandpa. Sometimes I got to go to my grandma’s to see my friends, and catch up on homework with Baylee. When I got better, we had a big party at my house. It was so much fun. All of those memories will be left behind because of one decision my dad made.

In third grade, my mom met Jake’s dad, and they moved in with us. I shared a room with Abby, and I remember building tents in my room, playing school or house in my room, and even playing games on our DS against each other. I remember the late night conversations we had with each other, especially the night I cracked my iPod. That was a long night. In the basement, we had a game room, that we’d play pool, basketball, and even air hockey in. We’d watch movies together and one night we even made some really good pretzel things. Nick, his sister,  and I would always come over to my house and play games. He got a really bad bloody nose, we still talk about that story today. All of these memories will be left behind because of one decision my dad made.

In sixth grade, I moved my room to the basement. I remember when there was a bat and I was so scared that I went into the bathroom with my dog Duchess crying and called my mom. I remember how I moved all of my things from my basement back up to my room because I got to re-do it. I remodeled my room last year, buying new carpet, painting it, and buying all new decorations for it. All of the memories (and money spent) will be left behind because of one decision my dad made.

In seventh grade, my brother left for college at Central in Pella. I was so upset and when he comes back we spent a lot of time together, except in the summer because he’s gone a lot working on his racecar. I remember my birthday and how he brought me home flowers and more, thinking about how much closer him and I have gotten. He started coming home every weekend to work on his racecar, and he is currently on his fourth year in the dirt Late Model division. All of the memories my brother and I had will be left behind because of one decision my dad made.

In eighth grade, things definitely started getting worse. Fighting with my mom, drama, and many more things. My parents got divorced last year and it wasn’t good. My mom got the house and full custody of me, but it turned out, my dad didn’t give up there. He went and somehow sold our house without my mom knowing until she got a letter in the mail. How could he do this to Daulton and I? I thought. I screamed and screamed asking why as if I would get an answer. I asked what I did to deserve this, to lose my childhood home, where most of the important events in my life happened. I became furious, having to move and leave my house where I was close to all of my friends, where I created so many memories. I wanted nothing else but to tell him how I felt and to ask him why he was doing this.

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As I pack up my things, I begin to remember everything. Every single holiday, what my room 

used to look like and all the memories in it. How we used to campout in my backyard and how Nick, 

Liz, and I would have an “Olympics” in my backyard too. I remember all my “cooking shows” I 

would have in my kitchen, how many things my mom and I would bake together, Sunday morning

breakfasts Jake, Abby, and I would make, Daulton almost killing me with a wii remote, and most of

all, when I first stepped foot into that house, asking my brother if he liked it and he said yes. I 

remember unpacking my stuff into my new room, not knowing that I would have to pack it all up 

again, just because of one decision my dad made.

The Civil War

What side are you on? The epic battle hits theaters on May 6, as the Marvel Cinematic Universe will undergo its third phase. The movie will take the title Captain America: Civil War, but don’t let that title confuse you. This movie will not at all be a Captain America movie. This movie will be a brawl between government and rogues. The law versus the right thing. The dedicated versus the loyal. I’m here to tell which side is the right side.

Before we begin, you must have a little background information. The movie will be based off of the comic storyline. In the story line, things hit the fan. Your favorite heroes all take a side, whether it’s with Cap and what he believes in, or Iron Man and what he believes in. Iron man wants every hero to have their own personal information put into a database. With doing this, he would have access to their identities, their abilities, how they got them, and more. The reason he wants this is because this way people will be held accountable for their actions. The reason this interferes with Cap’s ideas is because he knows if this happens, his friend, Bucky Barnes, will go to prison. Bucky was brainwashed by Hydra, an evil organization, and turned into a weapon. Cap believes it’s not fair because he was brainwashed, and now that he is beginning to regain himself, he will have to go to prison for a crime that he didn’t even commit. This leads into a gigantic conversary among all of the heroes.

Now that you know what you need to know going to into the film, I will tell you what said I believe is the right side. Now for many of you, your mind set may be, “Well Ant-Man is my favorite hero and he is on Cap’s side, so that’s my side!” or something along those lines. Which is fair, but that might not actually mean you’re apart of that side. In order to tell what side you’re on you have to get personal with your self.

I will put a scenario on the table. The president of the United States tells you that you can be his right hand man. You can have rich, fame, and anything you like. All you have to do is put a bullet through you’re best friends head. This best friend invited you to be his best man at his wedding. This man was there everyday when your wife died from cancer. This man calls and checks in on you everyday. This man would give you every dollar he had to make sure you were secure. This man was your brother and never lied, stole, or got upset with you. His loyalty was better than anyone you’ve ever met. If you put a bullet through his head, you can have anything you ever wanted. If you don't, you are now Washington D.C.’s worst enemy and most wanted.

Now you may say that is a bit of a stretch for the true storyline, but really, it’s not. This is the type of decisions Cap has to make. He now has to decide if he wants to betray his friend or start a war.

You have now seen the storyline, and now it’s time for me to tell you what side you should be on. In my opinion, #TeamCap is the right side. Putting myself in his shoes, I would not let fear overtake me and I would stay loyal because relationships are more important than anything. I think that if you’re on Cap’s side, you’re on the right side. In the comic, Captain America dies at the end after a huge brawl. I’m not sure whether or not this is going to happen, but if it does, do you really want to be on the killing side? Cap’s death is what ends the war during the comic because everyone feels horrible. Also, you guys might be wanting to be on Iron Man's side because that's the side that Spiderman will be on. Yes, I understand your obsession with our favorite predatory arachnid, but I promise you that he won’t stay there. Actually, I can’t  promise you that, but in the comic, after Spidey reveals himself as Peter Parker, he soon realizes the mistake he’s made and switches to...you guessed it, #TeamCap.

Captain America vs Iron man will be the battle of a lifetime, and hopefully better than the one with that alien vs the bat dude. Before I close this paper up, I want to go over the teams. Stark’s team includes Black Widow, Black Panther, Vision (Jarvis), War Machine, and Spiderman (to start with). Cap’s team will include Bucky Barnes (The Winter Soldier), Scarlett Witch, Ant-Man, Hawkeye, and Falcon. If one of these is your favorite hero and you’re still being stubborn and just want to pick a team that way, fine.  

The best of the best will be going up against each other in this one, and I am so excited to see how the Marvel Cinematic Universe will bring this amazing storyline to life. They have proved to us over and over again that they have the ability to do it. I hope they don’t blow such a big opportunity to create a great movie.

Now I’ve ranted on how bad I want this movie to be good, who’s going to be on what team, and what team you should be on. I strongly believe that May 6, 2016 will be an insane day in the name of comic book movies.

Awesome! Now you know why #TeamCap is the right team. I hope I’ve influenced you enough to give you a reason to be on my side. If you join this side for the movie on May 6th, you won’t be disappointed. I guess it will come to that day. #TeamCap will be my team, what about you?

The Natural Born Killer

“The Natural Born Killer”

Carlos Condit was born April 26, 1984 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He was training to become a mixed martial artist since he was a young child. He also enjoyed Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, kickboxing, and boxing. Carlos Condit is the “Natural Born Killer.” He is an american UFC fighter in the welterweight division. Before he was a UFC fighter he was in a now UFC owned company known as the World Extreme Cagefighting(WEC). He was the last reigning, defending, welterweight champion of the world before the UFC bought it and took it over. While in the WEC he fought people like Frank Trigg, Dan Hardy, Jake Ellenberger, Brock Larson, Rory MacDonald, and Dong Hyun Kim. Multiple UFC websites named him the sixth best welterweight in the world. In his beginning years of the WEC Carlos Condit had a 5:0 record/undefeated streak. Because Carlos Condit was such a good fighter he was set to face George St. Pierre in the UFC for the welterweight championship. Not to long before the set date for the fight Pierre had suffered an injury forcing the match to not take place. Carlos was offered other fights but refused them all in order to wait for Pierre and have his title shot.

Carlos Condit has an arsenal of moves as does every sport fighter. These are Carlos Condit’s signature move set. First, his rear naked choke. This is his best and most feared submission. First off a rear naked choke is performed by wrapping your legs around the opponent so they cannot escape, and by placing either your forearm or inner elbow across the throat or jugular artery causing the opposer to either “Tap out or pass out”. Another move that he throws is the flying knee. To perform the flying knee all you do is simply run, jump, and hit them in the face with your knee; but what makes it so special for him is that he doesn’t always jump so high and that midway through he will grab your head and bring it towards his knee so it could extremely damage your body or getcha’ right in the jaw instead of the face or forehead. The way he would almost always land the knee is that he would throw some *fear punches* and some front kicks so they would step back or get their back up against the cage. Then Carlos would throw the flying knee.

Another signature move is actually more of a style/technique. He uses a Muay Thai fighting style while also being extremely aggressive towards the opponent. Muay Thai moves include the Muay Thai clinch, a vast majority of kicks to his use, increased body control, and well-timed and extremely powerful strikes. Carlos is not to crazy though, he likes to also keep space and not get *rocked*. Condit usually goes for the body but also likes to mix it up and go for the legs and combos to the head. He also conserves a lot of his energy throughout the fight so when he sees that his opponent is tiring he will swarm you with 110% of kicks, knees, and punches not stopping until the referee stops him, or until he runs out of that energy, but it usually goes to him getting pulled off by the ref and his hand raised by knockout.

The way he uses leg kicks is that when he notices that his opponent is starting to feel comfortable or  is getting in the rhythm of when said opponent is to strike Carlos. He stops that rhythm dead in it’s tracks by throwing a light leg kick to knock them off balance or a strong as a kick he can throw to almost immobilize his opponent. The way Condit outsmarts his opponents is the best in my opinion because he will start the combo with a front kick and if the opponent steps back Condit will come forward at him with a flurry of light punches or a couple full-force punches to rock them and throw the flying knee. If the opponent steps forward for a counter hit Carlos will counter that counter, step back, and return back to his original stance and keep fighting.  Another thing about his knees is that he loves to get in the Muay Thai clinch and throwing his knees into his opponents face.

Carlos Condit has almost a perfect clinch and stand-up game. His only flaw is that he cannot be on his back. Offensively he will almost never think of “shooting the gap” or going for the takedown. The only thing he will try and look for is a trip in the clinch if he feels confident enough to end the fight there. The reason that he can’t be on his back is that he can’t get out. If someone gets him in half guard he is done. Even though Condit doesn’t usually go for takedowns, he will usually try to reverse the takedown. Such as if the opponent shoots for a single leg takedown he will almost always use the kimura arm lock and flip on top of you for a vicious ground and pound.

Some fun facts are that he is a black belt in Gaidojutsu and knows how to apply submissions. One thing about that is he has yet to finish a fight via submission in his career. The only thing Carlos can do on his back is that he will keep the tightest guard he can and then when he sees an opening or some type of tiring he will hit you with all the elbows he can throw at you. A lot of fighters who know about Condit’s guard is that they will usually get off of the ground with him. One move that Carlos Condit rarely does on his back is that he will go to a butterfly guard. He barely uses it ever bet is very good at this position. The most ways he wins and is most successful with is that he the “Natural Born Killer” should just always be on the offensive and and throw as much flurries as he can while maintaining that energy. Not many people will be able to withstand the cardio and combos that Condit throws for five-five minute rounds. Carlos Condit has been on a “break” still waiting for George St. Pierre(a.k.a GSP) to be ready and cleared to fight and when that time comes he will be back in the UFC. Carlos Condit is the Natural Born Killer.

Broken Vases Lead to Broken Dreams Part 2

Ten years later, Harrison and I are applying to the Special Agent Academy to work for the FBI. Although we may never know what happened to our real parents, we can still follow in their footsteps to help the country.

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When Harrison and I found out about the adoption, it took us a while to cope, but then we started to wonder if anyone else knew about our adoption. We went to the lawyers that helped our adoptive mom with the adoption. It took a month for us to get an appointment with the lawyers. In that month, though we were able to figure out what questions we wanted to ask and what we really wanted to find out.The lawyers didn't give us much information other than the names James Markham and Mary Guyer. James Markham was our parents’ other partner at the academy. He had had ideas of adopting us when our parents disappeared, at least that is what the lawyers told us. Mary Guyer was a name that I thought I had heard before, but didn’t quite remember. She turned down the option to adopt us quickly, the lawyer emphasised quickly when he said that. The lawyers also told us that there was a will and a next of kin agreement that stated if anything happened to our parents no funeral would be given, they would be cremated. We would be put up for adoption if something happened to them and we would find out that we were adopted when we graduated high school. Since we already knew we were adopted, they let us hear the rest. Included in the will was that if we we ever wanted to go to the Special Agents Academy, we would be accepted, and be enrolled free of charge.

We visited Mr. Markham a few weeks later. He didn’t recognize us, or understand why we were there. He took us to a very nice place for dinner, and he said some nice things about our parents. Everytime we tried to ask a question or get a straight answer from him he would dodge the question. Clearly he was hiding something, but I wasn’t about to upset a retired agent about my parents

The next person on our list was Mary Guyer. I thought that I had heard the name before a  quick Google search later I realized I was right. She was a teacher's aid at our school. She always seemed to move up the grade groups with Harrison and I, but I never thought anything of it. Recently I hadn’t seen her around school, but I am sure that she still worked there. Harrison and I went down to the school the day after we meet with James Markham. The secretary at the school was surprised to see us there during the summer, but thankfully let us into see Mary Guyer. She was on her lunch break, so we got twenty minutes to talk to her. She did the same thing that Mr. Markham did; dodged questions every time we asked one. However unlike Mr. Markham, she was clearly nervous about the confrontation of us and eventually broke down into tears. Reluctantly, she told us that she was paid to watch us at school, and did all throughout elementary. Our parents paid her “many zeros” to make sure no one but our “mother” got us to and from school. She also explained that she was occasionally given a face or a phone number to look out for. It was nice to know that our parents cared about us, but Mary Guyer wasn’t much help to us, or our little investigation. Eventually we gave up knowing that we would have to focus on schools.

After we found out about this, we began to think about what we really wanted to do with our futures. We could go to the academy and be like our parents, or we could find normal jobs and raise normal families. Harrison was reluctant to the idea of going, but after awhile he came around. I graduated two years before Harrison, so I got my college degree, and then he did. Then together we applied to the academy.

Within a day we got accepted  to the academy and were flown to Maine. The first day, we realized that we weren't the only brother sister pair, or the only daughter and son of a past agent. I quickly became friends with a girl Abby. She is apart of a long line of agents, kind of like me.  Harrison didn’t make friends as quickly as I did. Training wasn’t easy at the academy for Harison either. In fact, he spent a lot of time at the library. I wasn’t sure what he was doing, until one day, he left a note saying that I needed to see him in the library. Reluctantly, I went, and as I turned around the corner I saw him smiling like a kid on Christmas. He was surrounded by mounds of papers and files, all of which smelled like moth balls.

“What is all this?” I asked.

“This is all the old files I could find on Mom and Dad, our real parents! There is so many amazing things that they did. You have no idea! Spying on royal families, becoming pretending waiters for rich politicians, pretending to be a clueless tourist couple anywhere.”

He handed me some of the files.

“They were always in a different part of the world doing some amazing things,” he finished with a huge smile.

“Wow, how long have you been working on this? It's amazing, but how do you manage to focus on your studies?” I was shocked, but also confused

“I just get here early and stay late when I can. I have found out so much about Mom and Dad. In fact, that’s why you're here I found out something about them.”

“Okay. What is it?” I was still a little bit confused.

“I think I know why we never saw Mom and Dad again. There last mission was to capture a man named  Jeffrey Dahmer. The newer file on him says that he was never found. He was being questioned for capturing famous celebrities. I think he captured Mom and Dad,”  Harrison finished.  

For the second time in my life, my parents gave me the biggest shock of my life.