BIOGRAPHY - Page 2
It’s not entirely clear what happened to Weapon Omega after that. He left CSIS and returned home, working to clean up and rebuild North Pole, Alaska. Presumably the other members of Omega Flight worked with Tony Stark to encourage his release from duty. He also seemed to overcome his addiction to the Guardian suit without going through fatal withdrawal. However, a 
new wrinkle to his power developed where Michael now uncontrollably drained energy from nearby mutants, like an aggressive and remote version of Rogue’s touch. Norman Osborn stopped by North Pole while recruiting for his officially-sponsored X-Men. He faked a terrorist attack which released aerosolized MGH into the atmosphere, making Michael a temporary danger to everyone around him. This naturally triggered Michael’s guilt and let Osborn manipulate him into joining his team. [Dark X-Men: The Beginning #2]
Osborn offered the services of Hank McCoy in studying and controlling Michael’s powers. Unfortunately, this was the Dark Beast of the Age of Apocalypse. The new version of Michael’s suit worked with McCoy’s Omega Machine, a device which tortured mutants while absorbing their energies for storage. Established at H.A.M.M.E.R.’s west coast base on Alcatraz, the Omega 
Machine served a dual purpose regularly inhibiting the powers of mutant prisoners subjected to its effects, then storing their bio-energies to be administered to Weapon Omega in a safe manner through his suit. Horrific as it could be, the Omega Machine seemed scientifically sound for charging Michael up and keeping him safely regulated. The problem was the psychological consequences, including renewed addiction, mania and other signs of distress and instability in Michael’s behavior from that point on.
None of this particularly bothered Norman Osborn. He assembled his Dark X-Men in response to anti-mutant riots breaking out in San Francisco, the X-Men’s new city of residence. Osborn brought out his Dark Avengers to restore order, then pass the torch to X-Men he could control. Osborn’s allies Emma Frost and Namor initially led the Dark X-Men, establishing themselves as successful protectors of the city over a week, to the detriment of Cyclops’ X-Men and their public image. Several X-Men, their students and associated mutants were arrested after opposing Simon Trask’s “march for humanity” and later Osborn’s imposition of martial law. Each of these prisoners was used to fuel the Omega Machine on Alcatraz, keeping Weapon Omega charged and dedicated to Osborn’s command.
The tide turned when Emma, Namor and several other “Dark X-Men” revealed their loyalty to Cyclops, helping the prisoners escape and re-group at the X-Men’s new private island, Utopia. A furious Norman Osborn assembled his remaining Avengers and X-Men to attack Utopia simply for making a fool of him. A junkie without his fix, Weapon Omega eagerly remained on Osborn’s side and fully charged off of the Omega Machine before lashing out at the X-Men. Unfortunately for 
Michael, Wolverine now had his first opportunity to express displeasure over the deaths of Alpha Flight. Weapon Omega was powerful, but not enough to put down Logan, and his finite energies began to deplete. One by one, Cyclops’ team took Osborn’s heavy hitters off the board, and Norman was forced to retreat with his X-Men and Avengers, declaring a victory in the media if not on the battlefield. [Utopia crossover]
Michael remained with a greatly-reduced roster of X-Men in Osborn’s service, including Mystique, Dark Beast and Mimic. McCoy continued refining the Omega Machine to keep Michael charged (and in line), a situation Michael resigned himself to. He was now addicted to the Omega Machine, but mutant energies affected his sanity, making him increasingly manic and crazed. Stability was hardly an outcome McCoy was interested in exploring. Pointer rationalized his role, 
even refusing the title of weapon and declaring he was merely “Omega,” but he couldn’t escape the truth. He was addicted to a process that stripped his sanity on a regular basis and still yearned for more. He found an odd friendship with the clinically depressed and detached Mimic, the only other “X-Man” who had good intentions, at least. When the X-Man known as Nate Grey returned from the dead to spar with Norman Osborn, Omega and Mimic mostly remained on the sidelines, unwilling to commit fully to either side. [Dark X-Men (1st series) #1-5]
Eventually Osborn’s reign ended and so Omega and Mimic were left to their own devices. Michael and Cal remained best friends and Mimic supported Omega as he fought through the withdrawal symptoms of no longer having access to the Omega Machine. They tried to wean him off mutant energies, and Mimic offered his own artificially-copied mutant power to Omega as an alternative to the real thing, but something went wrong. Mimic’s energies made Omega’s power even more unstable, and they couldn’t find a solution. Desperate, Cal thought to bring Michael to the real Hank McCoy, who once helped him when his powers went out of control.
Unfortunately, bringing a “detoxing” Michael into range of an entire school full of mutants was a mistake. Michael went into a manic state again until Rachel Grey telepathically calmed him down. Omega managed to find an even keel for his energies for the moment, but Beast’s tests showed he faced more severe problems. The combination of Mimic’s artificial mutant energies with the sudden influx of real mutant energy created an unstable explosive reaction in Michael’s system. He was now building towards critical mass, and neither he nor his surroundings would survive the release. Mimic and Rogue attempted to stabilize Michael by absorbing some of his power off into 
their bodies, but they only succeeded in creating three human bombs instead of one. Mimic and Rogue were able to short circuit the effect by turning their absorbing powers on each other, but Michael remained in danger. It was necessary to telepathically reduce Michael’s brain functions to near zero and place him in stasis until a cure could be found for his condition. At Michael’s request, Cal mimicked Rachel’s telepathy and took responsibility for putting his best friend under. [X-Men: Legacy (1st series) #264-265]
Hank McCoy eventually found the means of stabilizing Omega’s condition and he was released from stasis. [X-Men: Legacy (1st series) #275] Michael was now successful at self-regulating his mutant energy levels, and he and Mimic began traveling together again. They tried operating under the radar when it came to conflicting X-Teams fighting over Xavier’s legacy and whatnot. Instead, they focused on disaster relief, helping communities in need rather than fighting super-villains or other mutants. [X-Men: Legacy (1st series) #300]
Mimic has reappeared without Weapon Omega, leaving the current status of Michael Pointer unknown. For a man Nate Grey once called “the most important mutant on the planet,” he has certainly managed to avoid detection in recent years.