Radius growled as he fought the muscle contractions of Talyn’s stomach, fighting to breathe, fighting to survive. Jared Corbo could see nothing but darkness, but he felt and heard the rumbling outside his prison as the X-Men and X-Force attempted to fell this Son of Set.

Jared tried to expand his force field, but it was countered by Talyn’s own internal telekinetic frequency. With someone on Phoenix’s level of power, there was little the former member of Alpha Flight could do.

“WILL SOMEBODY HELP?!”

Radius could barely hear himself, except in his inner ear. It was like someone cupped his ears with his own hands. There was no use shouting. He’d only use up what little oxygen he had left. It was pretty much only methane and carbon dioxide inside the gullet of the vile creature, anyway.

He felt a buzzing in his skull, no doubt Marcus Raven was using his psionics to try to establish a connection. It was also no use, as Talyn’s own psionics probably created an impenetrable shield.

The sound of fluids washed over his ears again, and his thoughts drifted to a more peaceful time.

He and his brother, Adrian, would go outside after eating dinner at the orphanage and run towards the mountains. There was a cave just past a small stream which flowed into a larger lake. They used to spend hours in there, just talking. On the weekends, they’d gather a few friends and build a campfire while roasting marshmallows. One day, Adrian heard a growl coming from the shadows. Jared asked his brother if he ate beans, but Adrian didn’t laugh.

Then, the monster emerged. He was at least ten feet tall and had fur as white as the top of the Rockies. There were legends of the Wendigo monster all throughout Canada. His claws took a swipe at Adrian, and Jared leapt to his younger brother’s defense, just as he always did.

He didn’t realize it, but that was the first time Jared’s force field manifested. It’s been on ever since. He told Adrian to run, but there was another growl, coming from another monster…a sasquatch. A man in a red and white suit crashed through the cave and held out his hand. A beam of light shot out from it and struck the white-furred behemoth. A man of short-stature in a yellow costume lit a cigar and scoffed, muttering something about ever getting an assignment with actual action.

“You’ll get your chance, Logan,” Jared remembered the man in the Canadian flag-suit said.

The short man just glared at him and smiled, “Better be soon, cuz I’m about to quit.” He looked over at Jared and seemed to sniff at him, “You alright, kid?”

“Y-yeah…,” Jared nodded, “Where’s my brother?”

A large, golden-furred Sasquatch walked in with a limp body in his massive grasp, “I think he fainted when he saw me…he should be alright.”

The first to hold the moniker of Vindicator looked at Jared, “You did some good work back there.”

Jared brushed his hair back, “Oh my God! You guys’re Alpha Flight!”

“Don’t get too excited, kid.”

“Quiet, Logan!”

Years later, the Corbo brothers would join their childhood heroes as Radius and Flex. Of course, a government restructure left Jared “held back” with Beta Flight. Then, he was in early retirement…that was, until he got a call from Cyclops. Flex had been missing for awhile, and Cyclops agreed to pool his resources into finding him…in exchange for Radius to join the X-Men.

Now he was in the gullet of an inter-dimensional son of a god. Funny how things work out. Despite escaping Wendigo alive all those years ago, one thing Radius always feared was that his force field would either turn off or get overpowered.

Jinxing himself, the stomach acids began to wash over his X-Men uniform, stinging his eyes, clogging his nose, filling his ears, overflowing his mouth. His pupils dilated as he focused his force field internally, trying to protect his organs from dissolving.

“AGGGGGG!!!!” he gargled, thrashing and kicking. His force field formed into every conceivable shape as Jared’s anxiety reached an all time high.

Coming face to face with Wendigo as a child?

Nothing.

But this…

This was the scariest moment of his life. For a moment, he accepted the fact he was going to die. He always put on a brave face in part to keep his younger brother from getting scared when they were kids.

This was the moment he lost it.

That’s what terrorized him the most.

And a heavy gasp echoed throughout the small hotel room as Jared shot upright from his place on the couch. He inhaled and exhaled sharply, putting a hand to his head and rubbing the sweat off of his brow.

The dream... he had it again.

But he wasn't the only one who was troubled that evening, as he would soon find out. From across the room he could hear a faint squeaking sound, springs coiling in and out from the mattress they lay under, and the room seemed faintly lit. He looked towards the light and tried to focus his eyes on it, and he feared that he knew what it was.

"Amara?" Jared asked cautiously. He squinted his eyes as he looked across the room onto the glowing figure on the bed. "Is that you...?"

"No," a young woman's British voice replied assuringly, though Jared noticed right away that her voice was trembling. As he got off of the couch and slowly made his way towards her, she explained, "It's still me... I mean I'm still... it's still me, Jared."

Allison Crestmere continued to rock back and forth, anxiety overcoming her even moreso then before now that Jared was awake. He would know, she thought, and the bed underneath her was squeeking louder and louder as he approached.

"I was getting ready for bed earlier, brushing my teeth, when my hand..." Allison recalled and through the darkness Jared could see her glowing form was fidgeting. She continued, "I noticed my left hand just started twitching and out of nowhere a ball of fire formed in it. I didn't notice at first, but I had been holding my pills, and... God damnit..."

Somberly, Jared reached down to Allison and she looked up to him before he could touch her. Her eyes were a rich skyblue, beautiful and yet swelling with tears. Allison broke down into broken utterances. "I knew it was her again... trying to take over..."

"Shit," Jared in a sigh as he sat down on the edge of the bed beside Allison. He shook his head and then looked her in the eye, frowning. "As much as I hate to say it, I guess we gotta go back to the X-Men's mansion, or to Muir Island again, or maybe --"

"Don't be such a pompous ass, Jared!" Allison snapped sharply and she abruptly turned to Jared, still rocking back and forth with her knees to her chest. Jared had unconsciously flinched and when he looked at her, noticed that her eyes had grew deeper and more fiery. "You know we're not going anywhere until we find out what happened to your brother. I'll be fine..."

"Hey-ey, don't yell at me like that, babe," Jared said as he sat up off of the bed and took a step back away from Allison. He pointed out matter-of-factly, "Last time you lost control and Amara took over, you blew the mansion sky high. Just imagine something like that here in the middle of Bumblefuck, Cuba."

"Don't you think I know that?!" Allison clenched her fists and screamed. "Don't you think that I know that I have such a little grasp on... on..."

"Man... This was a mistake..." Jared sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I should have never let you come with me, not when you're like this. You need some serious help and those little pills aren't gonna keep doing it for ya, especially now that they're gone."

"Oh, now you're one to talk about needing help," Allison shot back, heaving wildly as something was overcoming her. Jared looked to her, confused, and she nodded her head insistantly. "I see you at night, watching you shake and cry and startle awake from those bloody nightmares you have. The same ones you've had since the fight in Greenwhich... You haven't said one word to me about them, and I think I know exactly what they're about!"

Jared narrowed his eyes on the young woman and she froze suddenly, having realized what she said and having realized what it had done to him. Jared took a step back towards her and calmly stated, "I know you're upset, but you don't want to go there."

"God, Jared... You're right, I'm so sorry," Allison suddenly said, her voice toning down and her body language shifting. She had stopped rocking back and forth when she had snapped at him, but slowly began starting up again. "I... I just don't know what came over me... I just... Jared?"

"What is it?" Jared asked quietly.

"Please?" was all Allison asked of him.

Jared closed his eyes and nodded reluctantly. She moved over on the side of the bed and Jared sat back down next to her, wrapping his arms around her. While he felt a little irresolute after the outburst she just had, he knew that these situations weren't common and that what was happening to her wasn't her fault.

Allison was usually a very independant and very strong young woman, Jared thought, but just like everyone else she did need friends and comfort in her darker hours. She was a lot like him in that respect, and she was there for him the same way.

However, while Allison may think the next day that she remembers what had happened between them, she wouldn't. Because that night someone else had overcome her, and unknowingly Jared wasn't holding Allison at all. He was holding someone else.

And that night, Amara Aquila had Jared Corbo all to herself...

The next afternoon...

A Hispanic man in a pristine white business suit strolled through the lounge of “La clínica quirúrgica de Valenzuela para las mutaciones físicas.” The area was the magnum opus of interior architecture. The furniture was white. Clean. Perhaps it was a psychological way of easing clients into being “cleansed?”

He was Dr. Heraldo Valenzuela. The head honcho of the whole enchilada.

The man standing in the lounge was his one o’ clock appointment, Senator John Stocker from America. His daughter, Allison, stood next to him. The girl was stunningly beautiful. She had to be in her early twenties. But it was never too late.

“Senator!” Dr. Valenzuela greeted with the offer of a hearty handshake. Stocker took the man’s hand and shook it accordingly. Dr. Valenzuela continued, “It’s always a pleasure to meet an American legislator. I think after that whole incident in Washington, people look upon you with more sympathy.”

“Um…thank you,” Stocker said as he straightened his tie, trying not to lose his hardass-ness.

Dr. Valenzuela smiled, “Oh, lo siento…I was referring to your daughter. She’s a mutant, no? I meant the Washington thing made a scapegoat of all mutants…when it was just the one, really.”

Stocker raised an eyebrow as he exchanged a glance with Allison, “…you really think so?”

Dr. Valenzuela shrugged, “Well. I happen to know that Germans aren’t evil. I’m sure Iraqis are nice. Americans are not that bad, either. Just one individual from each nation spells doom for their races’ reputation…shame, really.”

Stocker cleared his throat, “Um…yeah; brilliant history lesson. So, anyway, about my daughter here…can you help her? And…off the record, who, exactly, is the baddie American you’re referring to?”

“Doesn’t matter,” Dr. Valenzuela rubbed his slightly-stubbled chin as he observed Allison’s faint yellowish glow to her skin. Allison herself appeared vulnerable as she frowned and looked at the floor. She threaded her hair back behind her ear which the doctor thought was kind of “cute.”

He rested his index finger over his lips and nodded, “Yes. Appears we have some sort of energy manipulator. Perhaps a sort of elemental. Penetrating blue eyes usually give that away. Supple breasts in females are a defining trait of elemental mutants as well…Mother Nature and all of that, no?”

“You’re…well-versed in the mutant genome, I see,” Stocker observed.

Allison crossed her arms over her chest as she rolled her eyes.

The doctor smirked, “I’m not that much of an expert. Come on, I’m no Henry McCoy or Moira MacTaggart here.”

“Never a truer statement…,” Allison muttered under her breath.

“I’m sorry?” Dr. Valenzuela asked.

Allison cleared her throat and put on an American accent, “I said blue statement…isn’t Dr. McCoy that big, blue ape-guy?”

Dr. Valenzuela stared up into the ceiling, finally recalling a moment later, “Yes, as a matter of fact. Same muchacho.” He shook his head and widened his eyes, “But anyway, why don’t we step into my office first, so we can discuss matters?”

Allison and Stocker walked into the man’s office, where they took a seat directly in front of the desk. Valenzuela sat on the edge of his desk, in a way as if to make chit-chat. He held out his hands and asked real serious-like, “Did you just touch my ass?”

Both Allison and her “father” exchanged a non-verbal jaw-drop of profound lameness.

“HAHA! I’m only joking, Senator--!!” Valenzuela said as he reached to pat Stocker on the shoulder to reassure his guest he was indeed only joking…but it appeared the joke was on the doctor…as his hand passed through the man’s chest. Stocker seemed to fizzle in and out, signified by a light buzzing sound.

“Dios!” Valenzuela exclaimed as he became pale with horror. “S-secu—!!”

“SHAZAM!” ‘Stocker’ mused as his form seemed to reassemble into that of an asexual humanoid holographic form, that of Cerebro. Electricity shot out of the sentient hologram and stopped the doctor dead in his tracks.

The good doctor never stood a chance, Jared Corbo thought. That's why he was laying stripped of his clothes in a dingy janitor's closet, unconscious and with a pair of broken glasses. And that's why Radius, a former Alpha Flighter and current X-Man, was wearing said doctor's clothes and standing tall outside of a dingy janitor's closet.

"Bond," Jared mocked underneath his breath as he shut the closet door. With a grin, he adjusted his imaginary bow-tie and dusted off his hands. "James Bond."

{{ You're Canadian, bitch, not British! }} Cerebro's obnoxious voice chimed into Jared's earpiece loudly. Radius flinched in both surprise and irritation, immediately covering his ear with a hand and adjusting the volume of the radio at his waist with the other.

"Gah! What do you want?" Jared remarked in an annoyed whisper as he scanned the hallway, afraid that someone may have heard Cerebro. "I'm kind of busy here."

{{ Chill out, foo', }} Cerebro insisted, albeit in a tone much more pompous and arrogant than Radius would have liked. {{ I'm just giving you a heads up that Valenzuela tried to slap my ass and I had to fry him. }}

"Oh for the love of..." Radius sighed and smacked his forehead with a tired groan. "You're a sentient computer! How can you be so homophobic?"

{{ His hand phased right through me in the process! }} Cerebro explained in all its sentient defense. {{ We laid him out, but any minute now someone is going to come looking for him, }} the program continued to say. {{ We're going to try to speed things up, but who knows how that's going to go. }}

"Alright, don't sweat it," Jared said as he stood up from the corner he was crouching at. He slowly turned the wall and began walking casually down the next hallway, playing it cool. "You guys find what you can your way and I'll do the same my way. It can't be too hard to keep these guys fooled long enough, after all --"

A loud clang sounded throughout the hallway and cut off Radius. Jared's eyes shot towards an entrance way, apparently to a cafeteria, where two doctors were standing. One had dropped his lunch tray and was eying the X-Man with his jaw wide open.

¡"qué...!" the other of the two doctor's barked and he pointed an accusing finger straight at Radius. "Usted no es doctor! ¡Seguridad!"

Jared's eyes went wide in fear and he clenched his fists, his eyes darting side to side for the quickest escape. However, there was easily no time. Three security guards decked out in full gear came out of the cafeteria past the two doctors and headed straight for him.

"Err... crap...!!" was the only thing that Radius muttered in response. He put up his fists in a boxer's fighting stance in his defense as the three security guards came upon him and brutally dogpiled themselves on him without hesitation.

{{ Hahaha, douche bag! }} Cerebro remarked before ending the transmission.

Magma stood behind the door to the director’s office, praying that Jared would do what he had to survive. Her hair was ablaze as she was prepared for the worst as she stood guard. She looked down at the circular device on her belt, making sure it still had enough battery power. Without it, she wouldn’t have been able to remote-access Cerebro’s program. She sighed, “Shazam? Honestly…didn’t Apollyon at least upgrade you with some better one-liners? I mean…that doesn’t even make sense? Why would someone say that before electrocuting someone?”

While Cerebro’s holographic form interfaced with Valenzuela’s computer, he seemed to become annoyed, {{Ugh. The dude screwed his mom…in more ways than one…can we not associate someone like that with me right now? I’m trying to work here. Valenzuela’s stuff is encrypted and I’m behind on my daily hacker data updates because I had to help you two. And you know, the plan was just to download the files from a distance…but then Dr. Douchebag had to be an over-obnoxious a-hole and blow our cover. My little jolt damaged my remote interface.}}

Magma smirked, “Work around it. Monet put some new tweaks in your programming while de-vilifying you, so use them.”

{{Alright…I’m gonna link up with some other comps in the building. I hope they have a wireless connection,}} Cerebro replied.

“Can you do that?” Magma asked. “How long is it going to take?”

{{It’s so I can find an algorithm hexagonal—well…no use telling you all the technical stuff…to answer your questions: yes and as long as my server doesn’t crash.}}

“Bloody perfect,” Magma growled.

{{Hey, come on! I’m no Prosh or that Fantastic Four nano-nanny. HERBIE? Is that its name? I mean, with better funding, maybe I can get some more hardware…}}

“You’re based on futuristic 40th century, Celestial, and Shi’ar technology…not to mention the present state-of-the art software…so, quit your complaining!” Magma pleaded.

{{Then quit yours! I was made to track down mutants, not do this clandestine black ops shi--!}} Cerebro stopped as he idled, {{*ttk* Wait, I found something...I broke the encryption codes. This is some far out stuff. I think you better see this…}}

“What of Jared’s brother?” Magma asked as she paced in front of the door. She thought she heard voices of security nearby. “Cerebro?” she whispered more quietly.

{{…um…}}

Magma’s heart sank as she took the device from her belt and walked away from the door into a corner to give it her full attention. Through the monitor, Cerebro uploaded the files into Magma’s device.

“Shit…we have to tell Jared,” Allison said.

Suddenly, the office door was kicked open. Dozens of armed guards poured in and surrounded the two, shouting commands in Spanish.

Magma’s body seemed to ignite as Cerebro’s form crackled with electricity, {{You assholes are one enchilada away from an ass-kicking…}}

“That was better,” Magma said with a nod of approval.

{{Thought so,}} Cerebro sneered as the two engaged in the obligatory beat-the-shit-out-of-the-lackeys mode.

His long lost brother, Adrian Corbo, was dead. There was nothing he could do about that and there was nothing he could do to change the fact. These were the only sort of thoughts that were cycling through Jared's consciousness. Thoughts like how he would never be able to say goodbye to his beloved brother...

There were heavy footsteps echoing throughout the hall at his back. But as Radius reached down to the pale and lifeless body of his brother, he thinned his forcefield as much as possible and felt the razor sharp skin cut into his exposed finger... and Jared found that he didn't really care a whole lot who was coming for him.

"Jared?" Allison called out as she ran into the room. She saw him sitting on a stool at the far end of the room, hunched over in front of the examination table. As she jogged further into the room, she declared, "This mission's gone to hell and back. We had to have been fooling ourselves thinking we can do this on our own!"

"He's dead," Jared panned, stopping Allison cold in her tracks. She winced a bit and swallowed back the lump in her throat, somewhere inside having wished he wouldn't have found out before she was able to tell him.

"I'm sorry," Allison whispered and slowly began to approach her friend. Jared nodded in somber appreciation of the woman's words and then he lifted up the thin, manila file that he had found in one of the nearby file cabinets. Allison took it, though from what she and Cerebro found in the director's office she already knew what to expect from it.

"Adrian's powers had grown out of control, as happens with mutants from time to time, and he no longer was able to keep his skin from turning razor sharp at will," Jared began as he stared down at the pale and bluish vessel that laid so gruesomely mutilated before him. "It was seemingly permanent. No one was able to help him, and so at the advisement of... someone, I don't know, he turned to this place for help.

  "Adrian was to undergo some sort of experimental therapy that would change the way his skin was reproduced, or something like that, which was supposed to allow his body to produce normal skin instead of the razor sharp variety," he continued and took a deep breath. Jared was about to break down again like he had before, but he held back just long enough to explain, "Something went wrong though and the therapy ended up killing him in the end. As a way to cover their hides, the clinic stashes all corpses of failed 'experiments' away here..."

"I know..." Allison stated. "That's why I came to find you," she said and she reached out to Jared, but it was then he had broken down again. His dry and blood-shot eyes filled with tears and he gripped the edge of the examination table tightly as he let out dry heaves and squeels, biting down on his lip all the while.

"Listen, Jared," she started, trying her best to make a point. "If we make it out of here alive -- I mean, when we make it out of here -- what are we going to do with this?" Allison asked and Jared released the examination table, taking deep breaths as the only way to honor his brother's death came to mind.

  "We're gonna burn this sucker down."

Later...

Heraldo Valenzuela stood with a slight hunch in his posture and disdain in his countenance along with his staff and security. Before them were the literal ruins of the once pristine (and very expensive) lobby. He rubbed his hand through his hair, “How the hell did this happen?! How did those mutantes get past you idiots?!”

“They were level A-1…highest ranking alpha mutants, señor,” the head security officer explained as he held his gun at his side. “They had technology I’ve never seen at their disposal. I fear there was little we could do.”

“Did they damage any of the equipment?!” Dr. Valenzuela screamed. “The files?! Are the files missing?!”

“Somehow, they broke the encryption code,” the head technician chimed in, behind the plethora of armed, stoic security officers. “The real kicker is we found out Senator John Stocker was killed in Washington during those riots.”

“Punta madre…,” Valenzuela swore. He rested his hands on his hips and sighed profoundly, “What purpose did those animals have to disrupting my agenda?!”

On cue, the skylight windows shattered into tiny pieces as dozens of men and women dressed in dark navy blue bodysuits slid down ropes from a helicopter; some even had personal rocket-propelled jet packs. As the SHIELD agents landed, they immediately drew their weapons.

The security team drew their weapons and clicked off the safeties, ready to fire. However, dozens more of the navy blue bodies crashed through the windows on all sides, effectively surrounding them.

{{“We are SHIELD. Drop your weapons.”}} said an amplified voice.

“ARH!” Valenzuela squealed as he threw his hands up in the air.

“Listen to him,” a dark-haired female said as she held her own handgun in front of her. She wore a modified SHIELD uniform under a black leather coat. She was accompanied by a tall man with brown hair and a strange gold mask in a similar uniform, who simply held out his hand, which glowed with an ethereal orange energy.

“Agent Del Ruiz wasn’t asking,” Maverick warned in his thick German-accented, deep, penetrating voice.

The security team dropped their guns before their superior had even considered giving the order. The SHIELD agents surrounded them and promptly tackled them to the ground, binding them with cuffing-restraints. A little harsh, but then again, they supported the twisted operation Valenzuela was conducting.

The two members of X-Force slowly approached Valenzuela as Maverick reached into his coat and pulled out a thin sheet of transparent card stock. A warrant. Without batting an eye, the battle-hardened Maverick said, “Dr. Heraldo Valenzuela, you and your cohorts are hereby placed under arrest under the authority of SHIELD, X-Force, and XSE for 89 counts of murder and conspiracy to cover up said murders—”

“How DARE you accuse me of such…ridiculous allegations!” Valenzuela shouted. “We were the victims of an unbridled mutant attack! Arrest them!”

“We received an…anonymous tip,” Lydia explained. She became serious, “With some VERY detailed evidence, Doctor.”

“I’ve been set up!” Valenzuela exclaimed. “This is a government conspiracy!”

“Our ESP agents don’t take kindly to lying,” Maverick warned. “I suggest you put your hands up.”

“I want my lawyer!” Valenzuela shouted as he was cuffed by two agents.

“You’re still going away for awhile, buddy,” Del Ruiz said with a smirk as Valenzuela was led out of the damaged lounge. She and Maverick were the last to leave. The other prisoners had been cleared out and were being detained by SHIELD for the time being.

The man known by many names, most commonly David North…or Nord… brooded in the middle of the rubble. Lydia touched his shoulder, “Mav?”

“Nothing,” Maverick responded. “Just thought I saw the end of this kind of Scheiße…experimenting on mutants.”

“Oh. Weapon X?” Lydia wondered. “You wanna talk about it?”

Maverick walked off and coldly muttered, “No.”

A loud horn sounded out across the harbor of Elian, Cuba, signalling the departure of an empty cargo freighter heading towards the United States. At least thirty-nine of the country's states were in fact dealing with the once black-listed Communist nation. This was something for Radius and Magma to be grateful for, as they had been able to sneak on board thanks to the holographic tools Cerebro provided.

The trip to the mainland would take awhile, and with little monetary resources left after their venture, the two would probably have to take a bus back to New York. Contacting the mansion and asking for support was out of the question due to the nature of the trip. It was personal and with Jared's mentality it would stay that way.

In the cargo hold of the ship, Jared had taken a seat up against the hull, his knees high against his chest, and his duffel bag next to him. Allison stood with her arms crossed and her back to a large stack of crates. She had only had a small backpack, having actually packed light to Jared's surprise.

Since arriving, the two had remained mostly silent. It was an agreement they had made earlier, pretending it was best because they would attract less attention. Really, the two of them just weren't sure what to say to each other after every thing the day had brought to them. Of course, that would change with an observation.

"I've never seen you like this before..." Allison pointed out, her voice soft and yet reserved at the same time. She didn't want to hit any nerves in saying such a thing. By Jared's response, she didn't think that she had either.

"Hope it doesn't disappoint," he said and looked up at her with a weak smile. He was hoping for a laugh from the young British woman, but it never came.

"We did the right thing with what we found, Jared," Allison stated matter-of-factly, her head tilted forward and to the side slightly as if to express her belief in so. "It's not going to change what happened to your brother any, but hopefully you'll be able to find some comfort in it?" she suggested, looking into Jared for any semblence of his agreement.

"In being able to give all of those families who have been wondering what happened to their loved ones peace of mind..." she continued. "It should help that you've done all that you could, and that SHIELD says Valenzuela's arrest should stick."

"Yeah, and I guess it does a little," Jared said, confirming what Allison was questioning in her words. He explained however, "I loved him so much, and What hurts is how a part of me wants to be so pissed off at Adrian so much for doing something so stupid, so dangerous, and without telling anyone to boot. Especially since he's gone -- especially since it's the reason why he's gone."

Jared hung his head low and clasped his hands together on the back of his head, letting out a deep sigh. His tears were spent for the moment, but Allison could tell that didn't mean that his grief was.

"God, how I'm gonna have to live with that..."

With the advent of X-Men Forever, I knew that paired with Cory Wiegel, he and I were unstoppable. Our critically-acclaimed, and very controversial, first arc on X-Men Prime will undoubtedly go down in some kind of history, I hope. Cory had his practice run as the X-Men Alpha scribe, and I was chomping away at X-Corp (formerly the Dino Pollardian X-Men Omega). Put us together, and we told one hell of an X-Men story. Whether you liked it or hated it, the kettle was boiling with activity.

Or, it was supposed to be.

The unthinkable happened with the Crash of 2005. No, not the stock market. Digitallymystic. M2K was in a vegetative state. Logan Polk and I were the pinch-hitters for then EiCs Mike Shirley and Chris Munn. The two former EiCs admirably and understandably bailed.

So, Logan and I took the reigns of the site and attempted to revive it. Ryan Krupienski was kind enough to lend out some of his server space, so that was one problem solved. I was, to the best of my design expertise, trying to redesign the site and upload everything…but ultimately, my efforts—while valiant—caused a near nervous breakdown as my real life took on a new importance. I quit the EiC position and Logan was soon to follow, but not before getting M2K back on its feet. Namely, with the help of Cory and David Wheatley (and some others…forget their names). Mr. Wheatley, the new comeback king, even took on the EiC position once more and M2K seems to be running strong.

Even though I didn’t turn out to be the “big hero” I wanted, M2K was still able to turn out alright, even with my short month as EiC.

So, what’s all this pretentious self-appreciation about? Well, it’s my final issue of X-Men Prime…or “X-Men” …or whatever we’re calling it now. Cory’s going to be handling it solo from now on…or, at least…when my real world situation stops being such an asshole, gobbling up all my free time. I’m still on X-Corp, at least for a little while. I’ve still got some other fanfic things happening at some other sites. I’ve been writing here at M2K for almost 4 years straight.

I need a firkin’ break! (But I’ll be back.)

-Brad Horton
April 2, 2005