ANGEL SALVADORE

BIOGRAPHY

Angel Salvadore was a fourteen year-old living in a trailer park with her mother, her sister and the man she presumed was her father. Her dad was physically, verbally and sexually abusive to Angel. When Angel’s mutant powers began to manifest, the abuse escalated. Her mother tried in vain to stop him, even revealing that he was not actually Angel’s father. Rather than face further abuse, Angel ran away. Feverish and confused, Angel slept in the woods nearby. That night, her mutation manifested in full. She awoke in the remains of a cocoon and found that she now had insect-like wings.

She had little time to process these changes. When she awoke, she found herself surrounded by the U-Men, sinister agents of John Sublime sent to harvest mutant organs. The U-Men sought to ascend their humanity by having mutant organs grafted onto their bodies and Angel's wings were exactly what they were seeking. Angel discovered that she could vomit acid and that her wings created hypersonic noise. She used her new powers to escape but her inexperience and panic worked against her and she was soon captured. The U-Men were just about to amputate Angel’s new wings when Wolverine discovered them. Logan made short work of Angel’s captors, to the young girl’s horror. She wanted nothing to do with Wolverine but given her circumstances, she had little choice but to join him. He promised to get her safely to Xavier's school. [New X-Men (1st series) #118-119]

Angel arrived at a time of great turmoil at the Xavier Institute, a far cry for the palatial boarding school with full amenities that Wolverine had pitched her on their journey there. The school had just repelled an attack from the U-Men when they were beset by the Shi’ar Imperial Guard on a mission to destroy mutantkind while under the thrall of Cassandra Nova. Angel was thrown into the heart of the conflict and teamed with the Stepford Cuckoos to fight back against the Shi’ar. Angel tried to act tough but the Cuckoos saw right through her attempts to seem more street-wise than she truly was. While retrieving a DNA sample of Cassandra Nova, Angel discovered Barnell Bohusk AKA Beak, naked and disoriented from Nova’s recent possession of his mind and body. Angel freed Beak and with the Cuckoos, they proved instrumental in turning the tables on Cassandra Nova and her Shi’ar minions. [New X-Men (1st series) #124-126]

The Xavier Institute was not all that Angel had hoped it would be and she adopted an attitude of aloof disdain for the school and her fellow classmates. The truth was that she believed herself to be all the things her stepfather had said she was – “a dirty mutie freak”. She flatly admitted that she would gladly give up her wings in order to be normal again. Angel seemed to be sabotaging her chances to fit in at the Institute. She went so far as to be disrespectful to her teachers and drink beer in the middle of flight class. It was there that she began to bond with Beak, who was even more of a freak than she was. When Beak crashed and burned in his first attempt at flying, Angel tried to bolster his spirits with a drunken kiss. Beak was elated at his first kiss, completely unaware that some of the other students had offered Angel money on a bet to kiss him. [New X-Men (1st series) #131]

Angel and Beak were both assigned to the “Special Class” taught by the mysterious Xorn. During a class camping trip, Angel and Beak sneaked into the woods with some beer. Barnell was surprised that Angel actually wanted to have sex with him and was put off by how aggressive she was being. He was relieved when they were interrupted. But it wasn’t their classmates who had discovered them but a team of U-Men on the hunt for fresh mutant specimens. Beak and Angel warned their classmates and working together under Beak’s leadership, they managed to defeat the U-Men. During this altercation, Angel witnessed Mr. Xorn unleashing his power on the U-Men and slaughtering them. He told her this would be their secret. [New X-Men (1st series) #136]

Despite this interruption, Angel was persistent and she and Barnell became lovers. On the night of the school’s prize-giving banquet at which Angel and Barnell were to be given special commendation for their heroism in helping defeat Cassandra Nova, Angel told Barnell that she was pregnant. Angel had confided in Emma Frost during a shopping excursion to New York but was now afraid that she and Barnell would be expelled if anyone found out. Five days later, Angel’s pregnancy came to full term thanks to her insect-like mutant physiology and she laid a large clutch of eggs in a shack in the woods outside the Institute. These larval sacks contained embryos, each possessing both insect and avian characteristics.

Angel’s secret was uncovered following the murder of Emma Frost. The investigation by Bishop and Sage led them to the cabin in the woods where Sage discovered the unhatched larvae and was attacked by an unseen assailant. At the same time, Barnell confessed to the murder claiming to have killed Emma in order to protect their secret. The clues did not entirely add up and Bishop, Sage, Xorn and Professor X went to the cabin to try and discover the true murderer. They found a jubilant Angel there, surrounded by her six newly hatched offspring. Bishop and Sage learned that while it had been Angel who shot Emma, her mind had been controlled by one of Emma’s Cuckoos, Esme. [New X-Men (1st series) #141]

As it turned out, Esme had been working for Xorn who believed himself to be Magneto reincarnated. Xorn used his influence over the Special Class to convince them to join his new Brotherhood and his quest to eradicate humankind once and for all. Esme co-opted Martha Johansson’s and used her psionically influence the others into supporting “Magneto’s” cause. Angel, Beak and their kids followed Xorn as he waged war on humanity and devastated New York City. When he asked Beak to corral their human captives into a crematorium, Barnell refused. He rebelled against “Magneto”, who retaliated by physically striking him. Angel tried in vain to defend Beak but it was too late. Xorneto had sent him to his death. Beak, however, proved more resilient than any of them expected. He returned with the X-Men and Angel and the kids joined them in stopping “Magneto.”  [New X-Men (1st series) #149-150]

In the wake of Xorn’s betrayal and subsequent defeat, the X-Men once again had to rebuild the Xavier Institute. Angel, Beak and their kids moved into the cabin in the woods rather than the new dormitories with the other students. Their relatively happy domestic life was abruptly shattered when Beak became “unhinged from time” and drafted into the reality-hopping team called the Exiles. He didn’t even have a chance to explain what was happening to Angel before he disappeared. Angel was angry that Barnell had deserted her, assuming that he had betrayed her like all the other men she had ever relied on. Beak tried to communicate with her but was unable to return to her for months as he served his time with the Exiles. He finally managed to return to his own reality in the midst of the reality-warp initiated by the insane Scarlet Witch. When Wanda restored reality and declared “No more mutants” Angel, Beak and five of their six children were instantly depowered. Only their son Tito retained his distinctive avian/insect features. [Exiles (1st series) #46, 48, 71]

In the months that followed M-Day, Angel and Barnell settled into a happy domestic life. They married and had another baby the traditional way. But when the mysterious new Night Thrasher offered them the opportunity to return to a life of heroics, Barnell (now calling himself Barry) couldn’t pass up the chance to be the hero he always dreamed of being. The world had changed a lot since M-Day and Tony Stark now controlled the fate of superhumans thanks to the Superhuman Registration Act. Barnell was concerned about how this governmental control of superhumans might affect his children and decided to fight back as part of Thrasher’s new team of New Warriors. Angel was reluctant at first but decided that she’d feel better fighting by Barry’s side and helping to ensure that he made it home safely to their family. It didn't hurt that Night Thrasher offered them a home and resources that the teen parents could scarcely imagine. Night Thrasher outfitted Angel and Barry with refurbished technology that imbued them with new abilities. Angel’s tech included fire, ice and wind powers, so she adopted the codename Tempest while Beak now had actual wings as Blackwing. [New Warriors (3rd series) #2-9]

Within weeks of their debut, Tempest and the other New Warriors apprehended numerous big name villains while making very public slams against the new power policy enacted by Tony Stark. Unfortunately, all was not smooth sailing with Angel’s new team. They had yet to master their new tech-based powers and this cost them dearly when they faced off against a new incarnation of the Zodiac. The battle did not go well and Longstrike (previously known as Tattoo) was killed and Angel and the New Warriors barely escaped with their lives. In the wake of this tragedy, the team was deeply conflicted and nearly disbanded. [New Warriors (4th series) #4-6]

Angel and Beak became the core of the team’s growing connection as more than just comrades-in-arms but as a family – something many of them needed at this difficult time in their lives. Despite this, Angel and the others began to question whether they had made the right choice operating outside the law and defying the government so brazenly.  Paranoia and distrust among the team led to conflict, particularly since Night Thrasher had yet to reveal his true identity to them. The mistrust deepened as a result of a disastrous mission against the Machinesmith, who was easily co-opted the team’s technological enhancements. Tempest and half the team were separated from the others and cornered by Machinesmith. Night Thrasher subdued Blackwing and forced the rest of the team to retreat. Angel and the others proved to be resourceful even with their powers seriously diminished and held the Machinesmith at bay until Barnell and the others returned with reinforcements. Though they were relieved to be reunited, this situation brought the team’s tension with their unknown leader to a boiling point. [New Warriors (4th series) #11-13]

Night Thrasher finally came clean regarding his identity and his mysterious agenda but Angel, Barnell and their teammates barely had time to digest these revelations before they were discovered by Stark’s forces. Outgunned, the team took heavy losses and both Ripcord (formerly Stacy X) and Skybolt (formerly Redneck) were killed. The Warriors retreated and after an unsuccessful attempt to bring back their lost teammates via time travel, the team disbanded. In gratitude for their support, Night Thrasher let them keep their tech-based power suits. One positive thing did come from their time as New Warriors. Angel, Barnell and the others realized that they did not need powers to have self-worth or make a difference in the world. [New Warriors (4th series) #15-20]

ALTERNATE VERSIONS

Like most mutants, Angel benefited from the sweeping changes wrought by the mentally unstable Scarlet Witch when she created the House of M. In this reality, Angel was a successful super-model whose obvious mutant characteristics were an asset in the mutant-dominated society. She was famous, popular and free. She was out clubbing one night, when Beak and his cohorts in the Exiles arrived on Earth-616. After months of trying to return home to Angel and his family, Beak was shocked to see Angel on a billboard in Times Square and out partying instead of home with their kids. Angel did not recognize him due to the reality warp and blew him off as another obsessed fan. Later that evening, Angel was possessed by Proteus, who attacked Beak and the Exiles. Proteus quickly drained Angel's life energies while battling the Exiles. He abandoned her body on the brink of death and took possession of the Exiles' Mimic. Angel lay dying in Beak's arms as the Exiles prepared to teleport away. At the last possible moment, Blink injected Angel with a healing serum. The Exiles disappeared just as Wanda's reality warp faded and she uttered the fateful words "No more mutants." In the aftermath of House of M, Angel recovered fully and retained her slimmer figure and stunning looks.