Four Winds (Cartel)

The Four Winds are a crime cartel with over 20,000 members, originating from Japan but globally based. Each crime family of the Four Winds maintains a rivalry with the other three, but all four families will join forces against a common enemy. During a summit of the four families in Kobe, Japan, one of the Winds hired the mercenary Deadpool (Wade Wilson) to assassinate another Wind. However, as Deadpool fell through a skylight into the conference, the master assassin Black Swan killed all four Winds; the Four Wind's followers mistakenly believed Deadpool was their killer and held him responsible. In each family a new Wind rose to the rank of leadership, including Higashi, who faced considerable interference from his ambitious lieutenant Ryoko Saguri. When Higashi sought to obtain the site where the Alpine Amusement Park lay, he found the owner Agent X (Alex Hayden) unwilling to sell. Impressed by Hayden's secretary Sandi Brandenberg, Higashi began to romance her. Taskmaster falsely informed Higashi and Saguri that Agent X was actually Deadpool, and Saguri hired multiple assassins to kill him and his allies, including Sandi. The hired killers included the likes of the Constrictor (Frank Payne), Rhino (Aleksei Sytsevich) and Crossfire (William Cross). Agent X held them at bay and left Sandi with Higashi for her safety. To end the hostilities, Agent X threatened the lives of the Four Winds' families until they agreed to protect him and his friends. Higashi then secretly hired Agent X to murder Saguri, protecting Higashi's leadership. Higashi later hired Agent X and Taskmaster as his bodyguards for a Four Winds summit with Sandi as his date. Two assassins hired by Kita attacked them while en route, but Agent X and Taskmaster defeated them. In gratitude, Higashi later loaned his forces to Agent X, Taskmaster, Sandi and Deadpool to help them against the Black Swan.