Brick regains his edge and stops acting like a spineless punk. Hmmm... what are we going to play for this blog entry? Oh I know! Stooges! After all, Brick is the world's forgotten boy. They haven't remembered him in a long time.

Shadow, appalled by Brick’s cold and distant demeanor, stood back in the doorway of the MFUJ bathroom. Brick, having quickly recovered from his collapse in the shower and near drowning, was now in the midst of reassessing his life. He stared into the mirror at his long wavy hair which was still dripping water.

“How long was I gone?” he finally asked Shadow.

“About half an hour…”

“That’s all?” Brick replied with casual disbelief. “I haven’t felt alive in two years.”

“Brick…” the concerned drummer began to say before being silenced by the guitarist’s harsh glare in the mirror.

“You must have noticed how pathetic I’ve been. How I let my emotions cripple me, make me an empty husk of a person, until I lost any and all direction in life. I learned my lesson. It took me a long time but I think I’ve finally snapped out of my waking coma. I’ve let go of what I thought was important. I was in love and not only did I lose everything but I let that failure hang on my neck like a damned albatross. I’m not a creature that’s entitled to have love.”

“That’s not true. Just because…”

“Save me the speech. My spirit is ephemeral and not long for the world. I guess I’ve always sort of known that and I guess she knew that too. Love is a luxury that’s too rich for my blood. All I have is my music and if that’s the case then I’m going to give it my all like I did in the old days. No more whimpering, no more longing for someone I can’t have and no more of this long hair…”

Brick took out a pair of scissors and cut away the long flowing locks that had so long defined his image.

“I’m not Samson. In fact, my long hair has enabled my weakness. No more mellow acoustic music for us anymore. It’s better to burn out than to fade away. We’re taking it back to our roots, to the raw edge of punk.  ”

Shadow could hardly recognize the band leader who now stood in front of him. Gone was the meek pushover, replaced by a zealous and ambitious musician determined to make a message with his guitar.

“No, not just punk. We’re going to take it to hardcore levels. We need to reignite the fire in our music before we all die of boredom. It’s time to pull out all the stops. They say MFUJ is just a ragtag group of misfits, well, let’s give them some Misfits!”

Not knowing what had overcome Brick as a result of his head injury, the solemn drummer merely stood there in the doorway nodding. The battle over the direction in which the band would head in was now igniting. Would G Mod and Slate approve of a newly rejuvenated and ferocious Brick taking control of the group once again? Would Brick discover Shadow’s secret loyalty to the amoral band manager? Has Tigerman just been completely ignored in this storyline?

Stay tuned true believers…and agnostics too.