The man known as Agent X arrived hungry, helpless and drooling at Sandi Brandenberg's doorstep begging for help. Sandi agreed to help him start a new life and career, since she had a penchant for taking in strays and saw a resemblance to an old friend in the stranger. Together they founded the mercenary agency: Agency X.
Choosing the name of Alex Hayden, Agent X began training immediately, and Sandi enlisted the help of fellow mercenaries, Taskmaster and Outlaw, to instruct him. Taskmaster immediately disliked Agent X after seeing the same resemblance to Sandi's old friend, whom he also despised and considered a rival. After several training sessions, which included multiple stabbings courtesy of the Taskmaster, Agent X finished his education and accepted his first mission: gathering rogue carnival animals.
The animals were released to threaten and intimidate a carnival owner who refused to sell his property to a mysterious Japanese criminal organization known as the Four Winds. Agent X successfully gathered the animals and sent a message of his own by crashing an elephant into the lobby of the building where one of the heads of the Four Winds, Higashi (East Wind), resided. After successfully completing his mission, Agent X was given the deed to his client's abandoned carnival, which became Agency X's base of operation.
