NANNY II & ORPHAN MAKER: Page 2 of 4

Publication Date: 20th Jul 2023
Written By: Gremlin.
Image Work: sixhoursoflucy and Gremlin.
Biography

BIOGRAPHY  - Page 2

After taking a little time out to recover and rebuild their lost ship, Nanny decided to try a different tactic in a bid to protect mutant children. Whilst spying on Donald Pierce, she learned of his plans to destroy the X-Men.  The mutant team was living in the Australian Outback at the time and Nanny took pity on them and decided to “save” them, whether they wanted her to or not. Whilst Nanny captured Psylocke, the Orphan Maker attacked Havok and Dazzler. Nanny then regressed their minds to a child-like state and placed them in battle suits. With these new Lost Boys and Girls under his command, the Orphan Maker confronted the remaining X-Men until only Storm remained. However, Nanny was caught off guard when she stumbled upon Jubilee, who she didn’t realize was staying at the base. When her Lost Boys and Girl came to Nanny’s aid, Storm used the opportunity to free the rest of the X-Men but was subsequently captured and taken aboard Nanny’s ship. As Nanny and the Orphan Maker made their escape, a disoriented Havok blasted their ship, destroying it and seemingly killing Storm in the process. [Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #247-248]

However, the Storm found in the wreckage was actually a life model decoy. Nanny had created the LMD and placed it within a decoy ship. When Havok blasted the main ship, the shields absorbed the damage and Nanny deployed the second ship, which the X-Men believed was the main one. With the X-Men none-the-wiser, Nanny escaped and enacted her grand plan. Deeming the adult Storm to be too strong-willed to control, Nanny used technology to de-age her both mentally and physically. With her mutant powers and memories stripped, the young girl was significantly easier to manipulate. However, Storm still managed to escape from them and they spent the next few weeks tracking her down. Their hunt wasn’t helped by the fact that the Orphan Maker felt jealous over Nanny’s dedication to Storm so he constantly hindered her operations.

Eventually, Storm was located but Nanny was horrified to discover the Shadow King was also after her. Apparently, Nanny had some prior dealings with the malevolent telepath and her desire to save the young girl now had an added level of urgency. With the help of a new ally, Gambit, Storm managed to give the Shadow King the slip. However, while flying in a plane, Nanny had her ship latch on to theirs. The Orphan Maker boarded the ship but his suit was severely damaged when Gambit fought back.

With her little boy hurt, Nanny flew off and let Storm escape. They soon found her again but, more interested in neutralizing Gambit first, Nanny and the Orphan Maker captured him and planned to make him undergo the same process Storm had gone through. What they didn’t know, however, was that Storm had snuck on board their ship and commandeered a spare battle suit. She fought and defeated the Orphan Maker, enraging Nanny enough to want her dead. Unfortunately for Nanny, Gambit broke free and hit her with a charged card, causing Nanny to shoot the controls of her ship. The ship crashed into a swamp and, whilst the X-Men escaped, Nanny and the Orphan Maker’s fate looked bleak. [Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #265-267]

Somehow, both Nanny and the Orphan Maker survived, though they kept off the X-Men’s radar for a few years. During this time, they had to downsize their operations, as Nanny was unable to fund the expensive technology she used to track the children.  Eventually, she found a way to escape from her egg-suit but, having grown accustomed to wearing it, she chose to keep it on. She was also unable to prevent the Orphan Maker from growing up and, much like any other child, he started to outgrow his clothes, or in this case his battle-suit. Nevertheless, Nanny managed to build him a new suit that was able to contain his growing mutant powers. Living in a secluded cottage and working from a kitted out ice-cream van, they resumed their quest to save mutant children. They came to the aid of a young disfigured boy who had been cornered in a school by a mob who thought he was a mutant. The Orphan Maker went in, all guns blazing, ready to kill the boy’s parents and take him away. What he didn’t know was that some of the Generation X team had also responded to the situation. They fought the Orphan Maker and, after realizing he was outmatched, he fled. [Generation X (1st series) #3-4]

Soon after, whilst the Orphan Maker was on a mission to orphan a child, he picked up mutant readings in the area. Wanting to save some children by himself and make Nanny proud, he went after them alone. The readings belonged to the members of Generation X who were out at a mall doing some Christmas shopping. The Orphan Maker eventually prevailed, using some of the pixie dust, and took them back to base. Nanny was pleased with the Orphan Maker’s work, but as he had not completed his original mission, she sent him back out to orphan the young child like he was supposed to. He made his way to what he guessed was the right house and was about to murder the parents as they slept in bed but he was disturbed by Jubilee, who had spotted him earlier. He fled the scene but managed to take the young boy with him anyway. When he got back, Nanny was angry as he had kidnapped the wrong child and she sent him back out again. When he arrived at the right house, he blasted his way in but was stunned to see Santa Claus there, who told him he was a bad boy. The Orphan Maker was dumbstruck but, before Santa could tell him how he could change his ways, Nanny radioed through. The Generation X students had broken free of their restraints and tied her up in return. The Orphan Maker showed where his heart truly lay by rushing back to Nanny to save her. [Generation X Holiday Special]

After all the years that had passed, Nanny had never forgotten about Johnny Gallo, who was to be her second Lost Boy. After they had killed his mother, Johnny went to live with his father. Eventually, the young boy grew up to become the costumed hero Ricochet and joined the Slingers. Nanny decided to make up for not “saving” him when she could, so she sent the Orphan Maker to capture him. Ricochet was having a particularly bad day and was easily knocked out by the Orphan Maker.  When he woke up, he found himself on Nanny’s ship and was confused about what was going on. Nanny happily explained that she would make up for things by turning him into a child again so he could grow up with the love and care he deserved. When Ricochet realized the Orphan Maker was on his way to kill his father, he made a break for freedom. He managed to crash the ship and then made his way home, returning just in time to stop the Orphan Maker from killing his father. During the ensuing fight, he realized how close the Orphan Maker was to Nanny and played into his insecurities. Thinking that Ricochet would become Nanny’s new favorite child, the Orphan Maker abandoned his assault and escaped. [Slingers #9]

When the world’s mutant population was reduced to a fraction of its number, most of the remaining mutants moved to the X-Men’s mansion. Nanny was unable to kidnap any of the younger mutants with the senior X-Men always watching over them. However, when the X-Men disbanded, albeit temporarily, the students were all sent home. Nanny decided to target the mutants she felt were most in need. Top of her list was Hope Abbott, also known as Trance. Thankfully, one of the precognitive mutants foresaw the situation and alerted the senior X-Men. Wolverine waited outside Trance’s house for any sign of attack but was still caught off guard when her house exploded. Trance’s parents were injured but alive, so the Orphan Maker entered to finish them off. Wolverine intervened but was severely injured during the fight. Before the Orphan Maker could finish him off, Nanny stopped Peter as she had use for Logan.  Trance and Wolverine were tied up on Nanny’s ship but, like every other time before, the X-Men broke free. Nanny ordered the Orphan Maker to shoot them but Wolverine fought back. He brutally attacked the Orphan Maker until he was shot by Nanny, who dragged her bleeding child away. The X-Men escaped and once again Nanny’s ship was destroyed. [Wolverine: Killing Made Simple]