The crowd pressed against the barricades, hot and sweaty, some of them screaming, some of them merely standing there watching. Behind the barricade stood a raised platform with policemen surrounding it, many of them looking nervous and antsy.

"...the mutant threat! They've destroyed our homes, destroyed our lives, destroyed the very fabric of our being!" The speaker, standing on the platform with a megaphone to his mouth, was motioning in quick, angry gestures. He paced back and forth, shouting out at the crowd. "First, the assasination of Graydon Creed, a true man of the people! Then, the attack by Onslaught and the subsequent demise of America's greatest champions! Why do we allow the mutants free reign in our nation? Why do we allow them to terrorize us so?"

(back in X-Factor #130 - Eric)

(as seen in the Onslaught: Marvel Universe one-shot - Eric)

"Because you can't possibly stop us," came guttural voice from behind the speaker. Whirling around, the man came face to face with Wildside, who's eyes were wide and gleaming. "We are Homo Sapien SUPERIOR! The day of humanity is over, friend," Wildside said, wrenching the megaphone from the speaker's hand. "The age of the mutant is upon us."

Lashing out, Wildside tore open the man's stomach, watching with pleasure as the man fell to the ground, his innards spilling out onto the hot platform. Looking back, Wildside nodded towards the rest of his team, who had been waiting patiently. They jumped into action, charging the other people who were on the platform.

The police surrounding the area whipped their pistols out and opened fire, but were soon knocked out of the fight by the members of the M.L.F., as Wildside began to speak on the platform.

"These so-called 'Friends' of Humanity are the true abomination!" Wildside said, watching as Feral tore into a small group of fleeing people. To her left, Avalanche ripped up a section of pavement and wrapped another group of panicked men and women in it. "They preach hate, well by God they're going to be hated! They walk around, claiming that humans are the end all and be all of evolution! Well, they're wrong! Mutants have surpassed humanity, and mutants will reign on Earth forever!"

Glancing around, Wildside saw his team had almost driven away or killed many of the members of the Friends of Humanity. The crowd had turned and fled when the M.L.F. attacked, but many of them had been tripped up and trampled by their own. Wildside smiled hungrily, watching the carnage unfold before him.

Suddenly, movement to his right caught the feral mutant's attention. He turned and saw one single man striding through the crowd, easily pushing fleeing men and women out of his way. Wildside watched as Strobe stepped in front of the man and hit him with a blast of pure heat. The man stopped, glanced toward Strobe, and wrapped his hand around her throat. Without much effort, the man picked Strobe up off of the ground and tossed her to the ground.

"Well, well," Wildside muttered as the man continued on his way to the platform. The man's form shimmered for a moment before Wildside's eyes. When the shimmering stopped, the leader of the M.L.F. saw that the man was dressed in a black costume with a small pink triangle near his collar bone. Jumping up to the platform, the man looked at Wildside with glowing red eyes.

"Oh no..." Wildside said, stepping back, when he realized that the man was in fact, a Prime Sentinel.

Her long blonde hair brushed back by the lakefront wind, Elizabeth Guthrie walked along the sidewalk. A map was folded up in her hand, a backpack slung over one shoulder. When her mother had recommended a weekend trip away from the farm, Elizabeth didn't think that she had meant a trip to Cleveland. Elizabeth marvelled at the tall buildings before her, but was soon distracted by the sounds of screaming.

A mass of people rushed by Elizabeth, almost knocking her to the ground. She grew a few inches to keep from being run down, hoping that nobody would notice her instant height change. Luckily, the people all seemed too panicked to even regard her.

Wading through the crowd, Elizabeth came to the site of a major battle. She saw a man with white hair jumping and leaping, trying to avoid another man's energy blasts. Elizabeth's pulse began to quicken when she saw another half dozen men and women converging on the two men. Who were they? Did her brother know any of them?

(Samuel Guthrie, a.k.a. Cannonball - Adam)

Watching intently, Elizabeth noticed one woman who was covered in orange fur. Thinking back, Elizbeth remembered one of Sam's letters where he mentioned a teammate with orange fur... Feral, her name was? She couldn't quite remember... Sam's letters were more interesting to their mother than they were to Elizabeth.

A police car screeched to a halt a few feet away from Elizabeth, and two cops leaped out. They regarded the situation for a few brief moments, then drew their pistols and began walking towards the battle. Elizabeth faced a choice: help one of Sam's former teammates, or allow the police to take them in? Glancing at the battle, Elizabeth saw Feral slapped away by the man in black. In that instant, she made her decision.

Growing to a massive fifteen feet, Elizabeth reached down and gathered the policemen in her hand. Stuffing them back into their squad car, Elizabeth bent the doors inward so the policemen couldn't get out. They slammed their fists against the windshield in frustration, watching as Elizabeth loped toward the battle.

Avalanche pressed his hands to the ground, feeling the flow of the earth beneath him. He reached out with his powers, concentrating intently, his eyes squeezed shut. The Prime Sentinel was distracted, firing bolts of energy at Wildside and Feral, so Avalanche had some time.

The earth heaved under the Sentinel. Swaying, the Sentinel turned its attention toward Avalanche, but fell to the ground before it could bring its weapons to bear.

Suddenly, a massive fist slammed down on the Sentinel, smashing it into the ground. Avalanche looked up to see a young blond girl, at least ten feet tall, her eyes turned down at the Sentinel. She withdrew her fist and sent it crashing down on the Sentinel again and again, until the cyborg was pulped to bits.

Stepping back, the girl returned to her normal size. Avalanche stared at her, wondering why she had decided to help them fight the Sentinel. Did she know someone in the group?

"Hello," the girl said, looking at Avalanche. He nodded, staring into her blue eyes. How old was she? She looked like a high-schooler. "Ah saw y'all fighting the robot here, and thought Ah'd lend a hand. Mah name's Elizabeth Guthrie."

Avalanche turned his attention to Feral, who had gasped when the girl introduced herself. As he thought about it, the name did sound familiar. Thinking hard, Avalanche realized that she must be related to Cannonball.

"Guthrie?" Feral growled, taking a few steps towards Elizabeth.

Wildside stuck a hand out, holding Feral back. The young orange-furred mutant glared at the M.L.F.'s leader, but stepped back when he gave her an angry glance. "Thanks for the help, little lady," Wildside said, a grin plastered on his face. "I like your style, Elizabeth. I think we could use someone like you!"

"What do you mean?" Elizabeth asked.

Still grinning, Wildside walked over to the young woman and slapped her across the back. Elizabeth stumbled forwards at the force of the blow, but soon recovered. "We're a team here, a team of... freedom fighters, I guess you could say. By the way, you live in Kentucky, right?"

"Right."

"Have you ever been outside of Kentucky?" Wildside inquired.

"Nope," Elizabeth replied, giving the white-haired man a funny look. "This is mah first time, really. Ah have to take care of mah momma, and..."

"That's great," Wildside interrupted, his grin widening. "We're kind of like the X-Men, if you've ever heard of them. Well, more like X-Force, but that's okay," continued Wildside, not allowing Elizabeth to speak. "We could definitely use someone of your unique talents in our battle to... um... free the world of intolerance and prejudice against mutants."

Avalanche shook his head and sighed. What was Wildside doing?

"Ah don't know," Elizabeth said, looking a bit overwhelmed. She glanced over Wildside's shoulder at Feral, who simply stood there glowering. "Ah mean, my momma..."

"Forget about your mother for a minute!" Wildside snapped, his grin disappearing. Composing himself after a strange look from Elizabeth, Wildside began to smile again. "This is a battle for the rights of mutants everywhere! I know your little slice of Kentucky is important to you, but..."

Elizabeth frowned. She looked conflicted, and was silent for a good five minutes. Finally, she brought her head up and stared right into Wildside's eyes. "Just like the X-Men, right?"

"Right-o," Wildside replied, grinning, his eyes hungry.

"Okay," said Elizabeth, smiling, "Ah'll join. Ah have to call my..."

"Momma, I know, I know," interrupted Wildside again, nodding his head. Looking around, the feral leader of the MLF caught the Vanisher's attention. "Tell ya what, Vanisher, why don't you 'port our newest recruit here to our safehouse... I mean, headquarters... and she can call her mother."

Vanisher rolled his eyes, then stepped foward and wrapped a hand around Elizabeth's arm. "Hold on to your hat, girl," Vanisher said, before he and the young woman disappeared in a flash of light.

"What are you doing?" Avalanche burst out, flailing his arms about wildly. Wildside merely grinned at his teammate, not saying a word. Avalanche waited for a moment for Wildside's response, then continued. "We're not the X-Men! We're not even close! Man, I can't believe this!" said Avalanche, pacing on the stage. He looked over at Strobe, who merely shrugged her shoulders.

"I know what I'm doing," Wildside said quietly, still smiling. He clapped Avalanche on the back, then went over to regard the Sentinel. The myriad pieces of the cyborg were scattered over the platform, thanks to the blows from Elizabeth. "What do you think we should call her?" Wildside said to nobody, kicking the Sentinel's head across the platform.

"Call her???" Avalanche exploded, his eyes wide. "How about 'Liability'? What happens when she finds out that we're a bunch of mutant terrorists?"

Wildside gave Avalanche a sideways glance, not noticing that Spoor was snickering behind his back. "Don't worry about it, Avalanche. Just... relax."

A trio of birds flew by overhead, diverting Wildside's attention. Avalanche shook his head, then turned his back on the leader of the M.L.F. "I think Amazon is a good name," Wildside said, watching as the birds disappeared behind a nearby building.

Smiling thinly, Spoor glared at the back of Wildside's head. How easy it would be to lash out and rip his throat open, Spoor thought to himself, clenching and unclenching his fist. So easy...

A flash of light signalled the return of the Vanisher. Elizabeth wasn't with him, but nobody asked any questions as they all prepared to evacuate the premises. The M.L.F. disappeared, just as a duo of police cars and a fire engine pulled up, their sirens blaring.

On the platform, the Sentinel head that Wildside had kicked lay on the wood, it's eyes dark. With a quiet humming sound, the eyes blazed to life, even as the smashed bits of the Sentinel were sliding towards each other in an effort to rebuild.

In M.L.F. #6: The Friends Of Humanity call in their secret weapon to deal with the M.L.F.: Gryphon! Wildside and Spoor throw down over the leadership of the team, leading Amazon to wonder why the so-called 'heroes' are beating up on each other!