BIOGRPAHY - Page 9
X-Force had disbanded and Psylocke went to visit Brian on Otherworld where the two managed to begin to repair their broken relationship, promising him she would never kill another person again. Afterwards, Wolverine contacted her and the two travelled to a facility that specialized in cloning. There she was not only shocked to discover Fantomex that had been cloned but that, because of the fact he had three brains, he had now been cloned three times. One clone quickly absconded so Psylocke left with the one that seemed most like the Fantomex she knew. [Uncanny X-Force (1st series) #35]
She and Fantomex ended up in Paris where they spent the next few weeks in romantic luxury, thanks to Fantomex’s money. Cluster, Fantomex’s female clone, had also tagged along but Psylocke remained wary of her and treated her with little regard. Fantomex managed to convince Psylocke to join him in his thieving lifestyle and the three of them stole copious amounts of gold, jewels and artwork for the fun of it. During this time, Psylocke grew closer to Cluster and began to see the parts of the original Fantomex that resided in her. The two entered a sexual relationship but things quickly turned sour when Fantomex became jealous. He set Psylocke up during a heist with the intention she would be captured or even killed. Psylocke escaped and found Fantomex and Cluster in bed together. When she confronted them, the two clones stood by one another and Psylocke left them, vowing revenge. [Uncanny X-Force (2nd series) #7-9]
Psylocke next made her way back to the school Wolverine had set up in Westchester and reluctantly joined the teaching staff there. Unlike most of the other X-Men, she did not take to teaching very well and was reprimanded numerous times for lashing out at students. Wolverine was concerned about her as her behavior was erratic and so he fired her from the teaching staff and suggested she followed up on some unfinished business that had come up. Joining up with Storm, she travelled to Los Angeles to meet up with Puck, who had discovered a drug ring involving a mutant. When the group got a look at the dealer, they saw it was Spiral and Psylocke instantly saw red. Spiral quickly teleported away once Psylocke attacked, just as the rest of the team discovered the source of the drug was a newly emerged mutant. Things became even more complicated when Bishop suddenly appeared in a crazed state and tried to kill the young mutant. Spiral escaped with her whilst Psylocke went into Bishop’s head to free him from the entity which was possessing him. She failed and Bishop seemingly killed the young girl they were trying to save. [Uncanny X-Force (2nd series) #1-4]
With Bishop unconscious, Storm and Psylocke entered his mind to try and find out what had possessed him. Inside they found a Demon Bear, a psychic entity that had taken over him and caused him to go insane. Psylocke discovered the Demon Bear had been placed in there and was acting out because it was in pain. She stopped the Bear’s pain and transplanted it from Bishop’s mind and into hers. Whilst all that was going on, Cluster had kidnapped her body and was fleeing with it. When Psylocke came to, she was outraged at Cluster and refused to help when it was revealed that Fantomex had been kidnapped by the third evil clone, Weapon XIII. Spiral intervened and teleported Psylocke away as they had unfinished business. The two women fought a brutal battle, during which Spiral told her how far she had fallen and the only one who had helped her was Ginny, the young girl Bishop killed. Psylocke eventually found it in herself to forgive Spiral for her past transgressions and let her go free to live her life. [Uncanny X-Force (2nd series) #5-6]
Psylocke had a change of heart about helping Cluster out and so she travelled to Madripoor in an effort to find Fantomex. A trap was awaiting them though and Psylocke was kidnapped by Weapon XIII, who tied her up and declared his love for her. He showed her that he loved her more than his other two clones and, for them to be together, she must kill Fantomex. She went along with his plan but, when it came down to it, she couldn’t make the kill. Weapon XIII was furious and tried to kill her but the Demon Bear residing in her came to her aid and knocked him out. Afterwards, she made peace with Cluster and Fantomex and returned to Storm in Los Angeles. [Uncanny X-Force (2nd series) #7-9]
It was soon revealed that Cassandra Nova was the one who had planted the Demon Bear in Bishop’s mind. She was planning on setting loose an army of psychic dopplegangers known as revenants from the astral plane and into the real world. When Nova killed a telepath and triggered the start of the invasion, the team tried in vain to stop her. Psylocke was captured by Nova and the malevolent woman tried to strike a bargain with her. She conjured Psylocke’s own revenant and fashioned it into the form of her original British body, promising Psylocke that she could inhabit it once more if she promised to help Nova.
Psylocke naturally declined and fought back as the ritual to bring the revenants to Earth neared completion. Only the death of another telepath could stop it and so, when Nova jumped her consciousness into the body of Psylocke’s revenant, her plan came undone. Psylocke stabbed her with her psychic dagger, sealing Nova’s mind in the body, and then stabbed her through the chest, casting her through a portal and back to the psychic plane. The world was saved but Psylocke was saddened by the realization that she broke her promise to her brother and she had only managed to go twenty days without killing anyone. [Uncanny X-Force (2nd series) #10-15]
Storm’s ad-hoc team had one last mission when Cable’s own X-Force team came calling for them. Cable and his daughter Hope had a vendetta against Bishop and the two teams clashed over his fate. The situation was eventually resolved and the team disbanded but Psylocke stayed on with Cable, as she decided her talents were better suited to the darker side of the X-Men. [Vendetta crossover]