BIOGRAPHY - Page 2
One adventure during this period led to Lila being abducted by an alien slavemaster named Spyder. Of course, the New Mutants followed hot on their heels, led to Spyder by his catspaw, the seductive Gosamyr, who obeyed Spyder since he kept her family hostage. During the journey into space, Gosamyr slowly manipulated the New Mutants against each other. She made Mirage use her power to grant someone’s greatest desire on Wolfsbane, resulting in a duplicate of Sam in love with her. After all this time, Rahne still had a crush on him.
Ultimately, the entire team ended up captive of Spyder, who then forced Gosamyr’s family members into their next stage of development, a state of being where they were irrational and capable of destroying worlds. In order to stop these virtually indestructible beasts, Lila teleported them into the heart of a sun, travelling with them as her power required. Cannonball was heartbroken at her apparent death and took only small comfort in the fact that Lila could only 
teleport to places she had been before. Therefore, there was a slim chance that she had a way to survive the trip as she couldn’t really have been to such a place. [New Mutants (1st series) #67-70] Lila indeed showed up months later, hale and hearty, but both she and Sam had moved on with their lives by then and the fire wasn't what it once was between them.
After the demonic crisis known as Inferno that cost them their teammate Magik, the New Mutants moved out of the mansion, which had been destroyed, and out from under Magneto's "rule." They were joined by their allies, the X-Terminators (X-Factor’s young charges), who invited them to stay on X-Factor's Ship. Following a return trip to Asgard, Mirage decided to stay there, leaving Sam the sole leader of the team. [New Mutants (1st series) #87]
Meanwhile, on Earth, a man named Cable had been tracking down a terrorist group known as the Mutant Liberation Front. This quest brought him into the spotlight for the government, who 
succeeded in capturing him while in an attempt to stop the MLF from kidnapping Skids and Rusty - two New Mutants left behind while the others were in Asgard. Cable escaped and was pursued by Freedom Force until running into the New Mutants, who helped him fight off his former captors. Cable needed help in hunting the MLF, so he joined forces with Cannonball and the New Mutants, becoming their new leader. Cannonball and the others agreed, mostly because Skids and Rusty had been brainwashed into serving the MLF by their leader, Stryfe, who had been enemies with Cable for longer than they knew. Alongside Cable, Cannonball and the Mutants began to adopt a more offensive mode of fighting, which, among other things, resulted in Cannonball gaining better control and exploring new avenues with his powers. They moved back into the mansion, or at least the bunkers and sub-complexes beneath the derelict mansion, and underwent a military-style training regimen, thanks to Cable. [New Mutants (1st series) #88-90]
Following the events of the X-Tinction Agenda, during which Wolfsbane was turned into a Genoshan mutate, Rictor departed to search for her, leaving the New Mutants limited to only four members: Cannonball, Cable, Boom-Boom, and Sunspot. The team was very vulnerable, however, when they were attacked by Deadpool, a mercenary in the employ of Cable's enemy, Tolliver. They were saved by another person from Cable's past, the enigmatic woman, Domino. Later, while Cable and Domino were searching for new members for the team, a man called Gideon had Sunspot's father killed, causing him to leave to run his father's business. After a three-way battle between the New Mutants, the Morlocks and Mojoworld Hunters, they were joined by three new members: Warpath, Shatterstar and Feral. [New Mutants (1st series) #98-100]
Deciding that a hit-and-run strategy was best, Cable and Cannonball moved the team to a new base and renamed the New Mutants, X-Force. Their more aggressive methods put them at odds with the rest of the X-teams, however, making them outlaws from their former friends as well as law-enforcement agencies from all over the world. At that time, Boom-Boom and Sam started to get closer to each other and often questioned themselves why they stuck with the group that had so radically changed from it’s original purpose. Still thinking they were able to make a change and help people in need, they decided to stay and also to keep an eye on their mysterious leader. Meanwhile, Cable - who for reasons known only to himself – was very interested in Sam and started something of a father/son relationship with the younger man, confiding in Sam about the loss of his own son, though he was still very secretive about his past. [X-Force (1st series) #1-7]
Tragedy struck when X-Force encountered the latest incarnation of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, however. The woman known as Phantazia scrambled Cannonball's blast field, rendering him vulnerable. The pterodactyl-man Sauron then used his wing talons to slice Cannonball's chest open, killing him. Cable rushed him to the med-lab, waiting for Sam's return from the dead. According to Cable, Cannonball was a so called High Lord, an External, a sub-race of immortal mutants who cannot die outside of certain extreme circumstances. In fact, this was one of the reasons why Cable had come from the future! Indeed, Cannonball arose from the morgue slab, asking, "Uhm... guys...what the heck's goin' on--?" [X-Force (1st series) #7-9]
Cable explained his condition, though it was hard for Sam to accept. Could he still lead a normal life, marry and have children? Did it mean he would never age and stay young while his friends and family ones would grow old and die all around him? For Boom-Boom, it was as hard, as she didn’t know where she stood with Sam and now had this additional monkey wrench thrown into their blossoming relationship. [X-Force (1st series) #10]
After a battle with SHIELD and Weapon P.R.I.M.E., Cable and Domino were separated from X-Force, leaving Cannonball leader of the team. Still unsure what to do and where to turn next, Cannonball was attacked by Crule, another External. Crule was quickly brought under control and, 
when asked for the reasons of his attack, he claimed that he was acting on Gideon’s command, who wanted him neutralized before he could pose a threat to the other Externals. Sam was taken aback by them already knowing of his existence, but he wasn’t interested in them much. Thus, when Gideon contacted him, he quickly promised never to interfere in the Externals’ matters, bargaining for Sunspot’s life. With their old headquarters destroyed by Weapon P.R.I.M.E., the team moved to Camp Verde. [X-Force (1st series) #14-15]
When Stryfe performed an assassination attempt on Professor Xavier, framing Cable for it, Cannonball and the rest of X-Force were captured by an X-Unit comprised of members of the X-Men and X-Factor to be questioned in their involvement and about Cable’s whereabouts. X-Force was kept in a holding cell in the Danger Room but, eventually, Cannonball was allowed to join the squad, who finally defeated Stryfe on the Moon. Cable had returned to join this group, but he and Stryfe both apparently died when Cable committed "chronal-suicide," blowing the two of them into the timestream. [X-Cutioner’s Song]
Still outlaws, X-Force was being held at the mansion but, in a passionate speech, Cannonball convinced Xavier to leave them to their own devices. He emphasized that X-Force would somehow find their own way of incorporating the lessons of all their teachers: Xavier, Magneto and Cable. At that time, a returned Lila Cheney also gave Boomer her “blessings” to start something with Sam, as she considered her relationship with Sam over. Her reasoning was that she was much too busy for a steady relationship and she considered herself too old for Sam. [X-Force (1st series) #19]