DEATHBIRD: Page 4 of 4

Luckily for her, Deathbird was saved by the Imperial Guard, who had also been sent to apprehend her. When the prison state on Earth ended, Lilandra put Deathbird in a maximum security Shi’ar prison for her crimes and left her there to live out her days. Her salvation would come from a very unlikely source when an enemy of the Shi’ar, called Vulcan, was also sent to the prison. Vulcan had a grudge against the Shi’ar, Deathbird’s brother D’ken in particular, and had cut a bloody path across the galaxy until he was finally beaten into submission by the Imperial Guard. Still, there were those who wanted him to succeed in his plan to destroy the Shi’ar leadership and they freed him from prison, pointing him in the direction of Deathbird too. Vulcan freed her and the two immediately joined forces, laying waste to any Shi’ar outpost or space station they came across.

The time she had spent in prison seemed to have enhanced Deathbird’s volatile nature and bloodlust, as she showed no remorse to anyone who stood in her way. Vulcan was captivated by her ferocity and their attraction soon turned to romance. They were soon summoned by one of the people who oversaw the comatose D’ken and together travelled to the remote facility to investigate. Deathbird learned that her brother’s body had healed but he still remained in a coma, because his mind was damaged. To her surprise, Vulcan used his powers and woke D’ken but also vowed that he would kill him one day too, something which Deathbird hoped she could stop her lover from doing. For the moment, she was rather pleased that her brother was once again awake, as she no longer had any desire to rule the Shi’ar.  [Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #480, 482-483]

D’ken took over the Shi’ar throne again and one of his first acts was to officiate the marriage of Deathbird and Vulcan. Lilandra had once more been forced to act as a rebel and, with the X-Men’s help, she stormed the wedding ceremony in a bid to take down Vulcan. A massive fight broke out and Vulcan took the opportunity to kill D’ken, which enraged Deathbird. To complicate things further, because Vulcan killed the Shi’ar Emperor in combat, he declared himself the new ruler. Despite not wanting the throne again, Deathbird immediately capitalized on the power and rallied the Imperial Guard around her. When Vulcan was wounded, Deathbird rescued her husband and they fled to assess the fallout of recent events. [Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #485-486]

Deathbird stood next to her husband as he began the command of the empire. There was a lot of discontent within the population about a non-Shi’ar sitting on the throne. Deathbird proved to be a surprising element on Vulcan’s side, as she acted as a calming influence to him, convincing him that the people would soon love him as much as she did. Lilandra and the Starjammers once again acted as leaders of the rebellion, hell bent on bringing an end to Vulcan’s reign. Deathbird found herself working alongside them though when the greater threat of the Scy’ar Tall race emerged and threatened the empire. [X-Men: Emperor Vulcan #1-5]

Vulcan’s reign was looking to be a deadlier affair than Deathbird’s was and the longer it progressed the prouder Deathbird became of her husband. Whilst he was on the front line of many battles, she remained behind on Chandilar and acted as a spin doctor, telling the planet of his exploits and winning them over to his side. However, Deathbird’s control over her husband’s temper wasn’t absolute and even she was shocked when he murdered an envoy from the Galactic Council. More concerning was the constant threat the Starjammers posed and, when they broke out of the prison Vulcan had put them in, he decided enough was enough. Deathbird, Vulcan and the Imperial Guard teleported to the prison planet to put an end to the Starjammers once and for all. During the fight, though, Deathbird squared off against her sister and, despite being the formidable fighter, she was impaled through the stomach with a javelin. The doctors treated her as best they could but she had slipped into a coma due to the extensive damage done to her spinal cord. [X-Men: Kingbreaker #1-4]

Deathbird remained in a coma for a while and, during that time, Vulcan was killed when he went to war with the Kree. Gladiator was forced to take the throne and in the chaos Deathbird’s body slipped through the cracks. A secret group of people known as the Providian Order acquired her body, as they were very interested in a secret Deathbird had been carrying. Additionally, she was pregnant with Vulcan’s child, making the life inside her a unique mix of mutant and Shi’ar DNA. Fortunately for them, Deathbird had been kept in stasis due to her injuries and so her baby was still in the early stages of development. The Providian Order was interested in creating the perfect species by mixing the DNA of various others and analyzing the outcomes. Unfortunately for them, they underestimated quite how deadly Deathbird was, even when she was unconscious. When they began splicing Kree DNA into the unborn baby, Deathbird felt the intrusion and woke from her coma. Her feral instinct took over and she viciously attacked the scientists experimenting on her.

Some managed to escape but Deathbird tracked one of them down to SWORD’s Peak space station. Deathbird was unconscious when she arrived, so station personnel put her in their medical bay and alerted the X-Men. Needing to remain a secret, the Providian Order sent some Sidri hunters to retrieve the pregnant Deathbird. Whilst the X-Men investigated the mystery, Deathbird woke up and went in search of man she had tracked to the Peak. She found him but the rest of SWORD had become aware of his betrayal and he was being interrogated. Deathbird did not care, though, and she slashed the man’s throat, killing him instantly. She told SWORD everything she knew, just as the Providian Order arrived to put an end to the situation. The X-Men managed to defeat the Order and, despite a request to have Deathbird handed to the Shi’ar, she remained on the Peak station to recuperate. [X-Men (4th series) #18-22]
 

Now that she was out of stasis and the baby could develop naturally, Deathbird stayed on the station during her pregnancy. Unfortunately, the Peak was soon attacked by a swarm of symbiote-covered Brood and Deathbird was caught up in the struggle. The symbiotes knew of the child she was carrying and she was soon converted into one of them, assuring the Brood’s place on the Shi’ar throne. By chance, though, Spider-Man and a group of the X-Men’s students became involved and helped turn the tide on the Peak. Spider-Man spoke to the symbiote-covered Deathbird and reminded her to fight for her baby. This was the push she needed to repel the symbiote’s influence and free herself of it, allowing the X-Men to apprehend the deadly creatures. [Spider-Man and the X-Men #4-5]

Deathbird is currently on the Peak space station, waiting to give birth. What the child will mean for the Shi’ar Empire remains to be seen but, if it is anything like its mother, then it will be a force to be reckoned with.