JUBILEE: Page 3 of 10

BIOGRAPHY - Page 3

Soon after that, Professor Xavier brought the homicidal maniac Sabretooth into the mansion. The feral mutant was very much like an evil incarnation of Wolverine. Jubilee was scared of him and had recurring nightmares about the villain breaking out of his cell and killing the X-Men one by one. Jubilee tried to overcome her fears and went so far as allowing herself to be assigned to bring Sabretooth his food. When the mansion's security systems suddenly shut down, Sabretooth's cell was unlocked. Creed attacked the X-Men, playing a game of cat and mouse with Bishop and nearly killing him. Her nightmare having come true, Jubilee fought back. At one point, Creed had her at his mercy but Jubilee refused to give in to him. She defied him even when he threatened to make her death slow and painful. Bishop intervened but it was Jubilee who finally brought Sabretooth down with a neural scattershot pistol. [X-Men (2nd series) #28, Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #311]

Surprisingly, it was Banshee, who had recently rejoined the team, who noticed that Jubilee was having trouble fitting in. Wolverine’s departure and the recent events at the mansion had shaken the girl much more than she let on to her fellow X-Men. Between their missions, her teammates seemed too busy to care for their youngest member. Sean decided that something needed to be done about the situation. [Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #313]

When the Phalanx co-opted the mansion and copied the X-Men's forms, Jubilee was one of the few who were not assimilated. She was forced to fight for her life in the Danger Room but escaped with the help of Banshee and the mansion's two prisoners, Sabretooth and the White Queen. Together, the four began gathering the young mutants listed in Xavier's files as potential recruits. The Phalanx had stolen Xavier’s files and had targeted

these young mutants as part of their pre-emptive strike. Jubilee and the others only reached one of these neo-mutants in time. The others were kidnapped by the Phalanx. Banshee’s ad hoc team eventually tracked the techno-organic creatures and aided in freeing their captives. In their final battle, the Phalanx leader called Harvest was destroyed thanks to the sacrifice of the young mutant called Blink. [Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #316-317, X-Men (2nd series) #36-37]

It was Jubilee who suggested that these young mutants stay together as the first class of a new school to train in the use of their mutant abilities. Along with the White Queen and Banshee, Professor Xavier rebuilt the former Massachusetts Academy. The Academy was renamed the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters and the original school in Westchester became the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning. Like with the New Mutants, Generation X was intended to provide a learning environment and not to function as an active "super-hero" team. However, like the predecessors, Generation X frequently found themselves in combat situations. The original class included Jubilee, Skin, Husk, Synch, M plus early additions Chamber and the mysterious Penance. Penance was brought to the school by Gateway and Jubilee couldn’t help but wonder if there was a deeper meaning behind the old Aborigine’s actions. It was Gateway who had knowingly transported Jubilee to the X-Men’s Australian base and she demanded answers from the silent teleporter but received none. [Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #318, Generation X (1st series) #1-2]

The team’s first battle was against Emplate, a mysterious mutant who survived by draining the marrow from mutant bones. In their first few months together, they faced other foes such as Omega Red, Gene Nation and Nanny and the Orphan Maker. Jubilee had a tough time making the transition from the "A" Team to the new “X-Babies.” Her classmates quickly learned to tune out any sentence beginning with, "When I was with the X-Men..." Despite this, Jubilation got along relatively well with the others. She and Skin had both grown up in Los Angeles and she soon became best friends with Synch. Occasionally, Jubilee appeared to think of him as more than a friend, though nothing ever came of it. She never acted on these feelings and he was unaware that she might be interested in more than being friends.

When Generation X visited the X-Men in Westchester, Jubilee was reunited with Wolverine, who had recently returned. Since they last saw each other, Logan had undergone a radical transformation that had given him a more feral appearance. Jubilee was happy to see her mentor again, though she felt sad for Logan. She offered to stay by his side and help him come to terms with his new look. Logan refused, telling Jubilee that he was proud that she was training in the use of her powers among kids her age. Wolvie told her to continue with Generation X and become the best X-Man she could be. Jubilee took his advice and even convinced him to serve as a guest lecturer on fighting skills at the new School for Gifted Youngsters. [Generation X (1st series) #6, Wolverine (2nd series) #94]

Jubilee took a liking to the mysterious and silent Penance and would often bring her apples and try to connect with her. She was not as fond of her teammate and rival Monet St. Croix. Jubilee jealously described M’s mutant power as "being perfect." Both girls were used to getting their way and frequently clashed. There was also some competition and conflict over who would serve as the leader of Generation X. Jubilee, Synch and Husk would all take charge on occasion when the teachers weren't available and the issue was never openly settled. Jubilee demonstrated quick thinking in several crisis situations. During one tense scenario, she taunted Emplate into supping off of her genes knowing this would cause her powers to flare up uncontrollably within him. Her intimate knowledge of her own abilities proved to be the key to the villain’s defeat. Similarly, when Synch was turned into a genetic vampire by Emplate and the team had to hunt him down, it was Jubilee who came up with the perfect strategy to take him down. [Generation X (1st series) #13-16]

Several months after the school opened, Banshee's evil cousin, Black Tom Cassidy attacked the Generation X team using his plant-life duplicates. Black Tom captured all of the Generation X kids except Jubilee. As she fled Black Tom’s minions, she ran right into Bastion, the head of Operation: Zero Tolerance. Bastion effectively dealt with Jubilee’s pursuer but quickly turned on her, subduing her with equal ease. Bastion brought his young captive to an old Hulkbuster base where her head was shaved to prepare her for mental probes. When she regained consciousness, Jubilee panicked and her powers flared up uncontrollably and took out several guards. Jubilee considered running but turned back to help the guards, one of whom was seriously injured. Only after she made sure that he would survive did she try to escape. Jubilee's act of heroism cost her the precious time she needed to make good on her escape and she was soon recaptured. [Generation X (1st series) #25-27]

In regular intervals, Jubilee was strapped to a machine that would display her thoughts and memories on a monitor. Bastion interrogated her about her time with the X-Men and falsely claimed that the rest of the group had been captured as well. His manipulations made her drop her guard a few times. However, Bastion overplayed his lies when he showed “Wolverine” begging for mercy in one of his illusory scenarios. Jubilation knew that Logan would never plead to someone like Bastion in this way and saw through Bastion’s deceptions. This gave Jubilee sufficient strength and resolve to build up a mental defense against further probing. When the X-Men were actually captured by Bastion’s forces a short time later, the villain could not resist gloating to the defiant Jubilee’s face. While reveling in his victory, Jubilee managed to press a control panel that released her former teammates, who escaped without knowing she was imprisoned in the base as well.

Among Bastion’s staff was a young girl named Daria, who couldn’t help but admire Jubilee’s strength. When she visited Jubilee in her cell, Jubilee seized this opportunity to escape and attacked Daria with her fireworks. This activated the nano-technology in Daria's body and her transformation into a Prime Sentinel. Unaware that she was a Prime Sentinel and seeing her body change before her eyes, Daria freaked out. Jubilee helped her regain control of herself and change back to her regular appearance. After this incident, Daria could no longer see Jubilee as a freak of nature that needed to be destroyed. She realized that she and Bastion were less human than Jubilee. Eventually, Daria switched sides and helped Jubilee escape, sacrificing herself so that the young X-Man could make it safely into the desert. [Wolverine (2nd series) #115, Generation X (1st series) #28-31]

Jubilee was saved by Wolverine and taken to a nearby camp where the X-Men were plotting to destroy a Prime Sentinel processing plant. Jubilee was overjoyed to be back among friends. She and the X-Men deactivated the plant but were about to be killed by a squadron of Prime Sentinels when SHIELD's Helicarrier arrived. Acting head of SHIELD, G.W. Bridge ordered the O:ZT forces to stand down, cutting off their government backing. In the confusion, the X-Men stole a SHIELD aircraft and escaped. They dropped Jubilee off at the Massachusetts Academy before returning home. [Wolverine (2nd series) #117-118]