BIOGRAPHY - Page 5
Eventually, Storm’s team became the X-Treme Sanctions Executive (X.S.E.), an international government-approved strike-force and relocated back to Xavier’s mansion in the wake of “Magneto’s” attack on New York, to help rebuild the city and the damaged mansion. During a 
restructuring of the X-Men, Sam has remained a member of Storm’s group, though gained some new teammates. Also, with his younger siblings, Joshua “Jay” and Melody, having developed mutant powers and having enrolled at Xavier’s as well, Sam felt the need to play the overprotecting, responsible older brother to them, though he actually annoyed them somewhat with his strict rules. [X-Treme X-Men (1st series) #46, Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #444]
During the X.S.E.’s first mission, they confronted the fearsome Fury, and Sam, though badly injured by the capable robot, unexpectedly held his own, until his teammates showed up to defeat the creature. [Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #445-447] After the incident, Sam bought himself a farm in Kentucky, similar to the one of his family, where wanted to recuperate from the injuries inflicted by the Fury.
However, this respite was short-lived, as he was soon visited by a traveler from the future. This time-traveler came back to recruit Cannonball’s help in defeating Cable, as Cable’s actions in the future only made things worse for both humans and mutants. Cannonball agreed to help, as at this point in his life, he endured enough of Cable’s deception. This alliance eventually pitted Sam against both Cable and his former X-Force teammates, but the two warring factions eventually joined sides to defeat the mutant-eating menace known as the Skornn. The ensuing battle reinvigorated Sam’s desire to fight alongside his friends and protect the weak. Most profound, however, was the inspiration he felt after witnessing Cable’s apparent sacrifice of his own life in order to defeat the Skornn. [X-Force (2nd series) #2-6] Sam decided to return to the X-Men.
After M-Day, the presence of O*N*E Sentinels at the Xavier Institute unsettled Cannonball somewhat, especially when he learned that O*N*E soldiers had invaded the privacy of his sister Paige. While they spent a lot of their time providing relief supplies to the disenfranchised mutants on campus, Sam and Paige secretly rebelled against the O*N*E. At one point, they even helped Rachel Grey sneak off-campus so she could exact revenge against the Shi’ar Death Commandoes. [Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #469, 472] Around the same time, Xavier’s school and its students came under attack by Reverend William Stryker and his Purifiers. The Purifiers killed dozens of students, including Sam’s brother, Jay Guthrie. [New X-Men (2nd series) #26]
Shortly after this, Cyclops appointed Rogue leader of a new rapid-response strike force. He gave her complete control of her team, and she immediately chose Cannonball and Iceman as members of her squad. [X-Men (2nd series) #188] Soon afterward, the Institute was attacked by two brainwashed former allies of the X-Men, Northstar and Aurora, as well as a member of the Children of the Vault known as Serafina. The cloaked Serafina entered the mansion without being noticed in order to assassinate Sabretooth, but found herself uncontrollably attracted to 
Cannonball. She decided to take advantage of this chance to experience a sexual relationship. After tapping into the unconscious Lady Mastermind’s nervous system, she used her hallucinogenic powers to create a fantasy world for her and Sam. While only a few minutes passed in the real world, Cannonball experienced almost twenty years in this virtual relationship with Serafina’s alter-ego, Sara. However, he began to notice inconsistencies in these induced memories, and was eventually freed by Wolverine. Serafina escaped, but later returned with the Children of the Vault in order to annihilate the X-Men. Rogue’s squad defended the mansion against the attack, and Cannonball had the opportunity to confront Serafina about the fantasy life they lived together. After Serafina confirmed that all of Sam’s feelings of love were implanted, he felt a strong enough sense of detachment and liberation that he had no reservations about killing her. [X-Men (2nd series) #189-193]
After defeating the Children of the Vault, Rogue’s team decided to operate away from the campus. When Cyclops asked Sam if he was alright with this, Sam responded that living at the mansion felt like walking on his brother’s grave. [X-Men (2nd series) #194]
The exhausted remnants of Rogue’s strike force were later betrayed by some of their own to Mr. Sinister and the Marauders. Even though most of the X-Men were defeated, Cannonball and Iceman managed to escape, prevent the Marauders from acquiring their coveted Destiny Diaries and defeat the entire 
villain team except for Sinister himself. Enraged, Mr. Sinister decided to completely destroy Cannonball’s mind in order to send a warning to the rest of the X-Men. After Sinister began the mind-wipe, Iceman provided enough of a distraction for Cannonball to blast his way out of the building. Due to Mr. Sinister’s meddling, however, Cannonball’s invulnerable blast-shield was not functioning properly during his escape, and he returned to the Xavier’s mansion with several critical injuries. Additionally, Dr. Hank McCoy discovered a lot of peculiar and alarming activity in Sam’s brain because of Sinister’s tampering. Sam verified this fear when he woke from his coma. He confided in Bobby that, in addition to the brain damage caused by Sinister, he also had a gaping hole in himself left by the false memories implanted by Serafina. [X-Men (2nd series) #200-204]
This time, it took Sam much longer to recover. By the time he was back to full health, Professor Xavier had supposedly died, the X-Men had been disbanded by Cyclops, and several of his old teammates were missing. The mansion in Westchester in ruins, Sam decided to return to the only 
home he had left - Kentucky. However, immediately after arriving home, he started a fight with members of the rival Cabot family to vent his frustration. When Paige tried to ask her brother what was bothering him, Sam told her he needed to stay in fighting shape because mutants would always be in danger. Then he flew away, leaving his sister confused and disturbed. [X-Men: Divided We Stand #1]
Sometime later, possibly after learning of his recent involvement in the Hellfire Club, Cannonball met up with his old friend Sunspot and tried to convince him to leave the club before he attracted unwanted attention. Unfortunately, Sam was too late, as the recently resurfaced Donald Pierce 
had already set his sights on Sunspot, among others. Pierce, taking advantage of the X-Men’s recent disbanding, tricked a group of young, impressionable mutants into assaulting Sam and Bobby at the Hellfire Club. Sam and Bobby managed to clear up the confusion and later joined forces with the young mutants to detain Pierce, but not before learning one of their own, Ink, was a traitor. After the former New Mutants and the Young X-Men defeated Pierce, the group wanted to punish the treacherous Ink, but Sam, having been similarly manipulated by Pierce in his youth, had compassion and encouraged them to give the misguided kid another chance. [Young X-Men #3-6]
Afterward, both groups moved to San Francisco where they joined the re-organized X-Men in their new base of operations. Sam operated with the X-Men in an informal manner alongside his old New Mutants teammates, Sunspot, Magma, Karma and Moonstar. [Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #500, 503]