BIOGRAPHY - PAGE 2
Following prizegiving in which the Hellions were awarded the overall winners of the Field Day assignments, the Institute was attacked by the Blob, who was being psychically manipulated. The Hellions and New Mutants squads worked well together, and ultimately defeated the Blob. After the battle, Julian once again asked Wind Dancer to vacation with him but was turned down, though the two did share a kiss. Before Julian departed for his summer vacation, he was spoken to by Emma Frost, who told him that she had no doubt he could be an X-Man one day, but that he needed to stop causing trouble and work on his attitude. [New X-Men: Academy X #14-15, New X-Men: Academy X Yearbook #1, New X-Men: Hellions #1]
When Julian and his teammates arrived at the airport, security opposed them boarding the plane, mostly because of Mercury and Rockslide's obvious mutations, and the comfort of other passengers. Julian was furious about this and initially fought back against the security guards, until his reluctant squad mate Dust convinced Julian to take a lighter approach and talk to security. Julian then contacted his parents' lawyer, who got in touch with Homeland Security. Homeland Security then forced the airport to let Julian and his teammates travel. However, upon arriving at his family's mansion in Los Angeles, Julian was surprised to find his parents waiting for him – and they were not happy that Julian had used their connections to get himself out of a difficult situation. Julian's father was ashamed that Julian had dragged his family into a personal mess, and his parents clearly wished Julian was more like his brother, who was off running family business affairs. Julian was defiant when his father su
ggested he act discretely, given he could hide his mutant abilities. Ultimately, Julian's parents felt they had no choice but to write Julian out of their will. After his parents departed for their own vacation, Julian sought revenge on his parents, and began sorting through all of their personal files and documentation. His teammates were curious as to how Julian's parents, who seemed to earn an average income one year, were suddenly extremely wealthy the next. Amongst the documents, Julian discovered what appeared to be a magic scroll with reference to someone called the Kingmaker. Julian and his friends performed the ritual to summon the Kingmaker, and the next day the Kingmaker arrived on Julian's doorstep. [New X-Men: Hellions #1]
The Kingmaker happened to be a well-connected businessman who made people's dreams and wishes come true, by using the many connections he had to enable the fulfillment of said dream. In exchange, those who had their wish come true would be called on to help the Kingmaker ensure another person's wishes would come true. The Kingmaker would only make all six of the Hellions Squad's dreams come true, but Julian's reasonable and cautious teammate Dust was not sure they should be bargaining with him. Julian convinced Dust to allow the Kingmaker to show them a glimpse of what he could offer. And so, the Kingmaker arranged for the six young mutants to have their dreams come true.
In Hellion's case, it was that he became a celebrated superhero, literally overnight. When the Kingmaker's officials retrieved the Hellions from their individual successes, they were presented with the option of agreeing to the Kingmaker's terms and having their dreams come true, in exchange of course for carrying out the Kingmaker's bidding. When Julian's teammate Mercury was hesitant about signing on because it wou
ld mean she would no longer be the only one who could be close to the usually withdrawn teammate of theirs known as Wither, Julian showed he was a compassionate person and offered her some advice. Julian and his teammates soon learned what their task for the Kingmaker would be: retrieving a device from an organization called Genetassist, a weapon that many others wanted and which the Kingmaker had promised one of his clients. Ultimately, the young mutants decided their dreams coming true were important, and signed their contracts to work for him. Upon breaking into the Genetassist facility, however, the young mutants were confronted by the mercenaries Diamonback and Paladin, who, according to them, were hired by S.H.I.E.L.D. to obtain the device. Julian didn't care about that and proved himself well-able to handle the experienced mercs with his telekinesis, even taking Diamondback out by smashing a table on her.
T
he Hellions Squad escaped Genetassist with the device, but some of them were conflicted about what to do after Diamondback and Paladin told them it was a biological weapon. Mercury was able to open the briefcase containing the device and the Hellions Squad discovered that, indeed, they had obtained a deadly weapon for their new employer. Some of them were reluctant to hand it over to the Kingmaker, but Julian decided a deal was a deal and handed the weapon over to the Kingmaker – but with one condition – the Hellions Squad were to be released from their contracts. The Kingmaker reminded each of the young mutants what they would all be missing out on, but the young mutants all agreed to be released. However, the moment the Kingmaker freed the young mutants from their contracts, Julian ordered his teammates to take the case back. Despite their great teamwork, the Hellions Squad were no match for the Kingmaker, who defeated them. When they recovered, the Hellions Squad tracked the Kingmaker down en route to the airport, where he was going to transport the weapon to his associate, Doctor Octopus. This time, however, the Hellions Squad were able to defeat the Kingmaker and, in the process, destroyed the biological weapon, which Diamondback was not happy to learn when the weapon was handed over to S.H.I.E.L.D.
In the aftermath, Julian's parents once again expressed their disappointment in him, but this time Julian gave them some advice. He notes that they should be trying to support him, given that he has the power to protect them from the Kingmaker, should he come looking for them. Returning to the Institute, Julian was met by a proud Emma Frost, who told him that he and his teammates performed well when facing down temptation and that she would make a hero out of him yet. [New X-Men: Hellions #2-4]