BIOGRAPHY - Page 6
Back home in Canada, Jean-Paul and Jeanne-Marie began building a life for themselves outside of super-heroics. Where once he had to hide his mutant abilities to ski in the Olympics, Jean-Paul now decided to cash in on the unique opportunities his powers provided. He became Chief 
Executive Officer of “Team Northstar Extreme Snowsports,” making high-velocity, high-altitude jumps and tricks on a snowboard part of his signature exhibitions. Jeanne-Marie became his Chief Operations Officer, and a man named Kyle Jinadu was brought onboard for public relations and branding. Not only did Team Northstar make Jean-Paul very, very rich in a short time, he and Kyle also found love together after office hours.
Northstar couldn’t escape the X-Men forever, though, and soon Wolverine came calling to recruit him for the team. Jean-Paul was initially reluctant to return because of the optics, becoming the X-Men’s “queer mascot” now that they lived in San Francisco. Logan defended the recruitment as a tactical decision, saying the X-Men recently suffered a loss because of the absence of a speedster on their roster. Comfortable he was being courted for the right reasons, Northstar agreed to put in some time with his friends down south. After all, what’s a thousand-mile commute for a man who can fly at the speed of light? [Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #508]
Northstar’s introduction to life with the X-Men and San Francisco wasn’t an easy one. His news interview announcing his membership was superseded by word of Proposition X, a ballot initiative by Humanity Now! to legislate and control the mutant right to reproduce. Simon Trask’s march on the capitol led to counter demonstrations, a riot and finally martial law in San Francisco. After conflict with Norman Osborn’s Dark Avengers and Dark X-Men, Northstar and the team relocated to 
Utopia, an artificial island off the coast of the Bay Area, to maintain the peace. Jean-Paul became fast friends with Allison Blaire (Dazzler) and one of the newest and youngest X-Men named Megan Gwynn (Pixie). They often maintained a presence as the “street team” of local heroes in San Francisco while Cyclops and the X-Men’s higher-ups focused on the bigger picture. [Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #509-522]
Jean-Paul made an effort to maintain his relationship with Kyle back in Toronto. However, while he was fast enough to make the trek regularly, the commute started to wear on his stamina in combat situations. Jeanne-Marie gave Kyle some time off to come visit Jean-Paul on Utopia, but the cramped quarters, rustic island amenities and hectic schedule of getting attacked by super-villains was too much for Kyle to live with. Kyle couldn’t handle the X-Men lifestyle, but he and Jean-Paul agreed that they cared about each other enough to continue their relationship, even if it had to remain long-distance for the time being. [Nation X #2]
The X-Men reached a turning point when Hope Summers, the mutant messiah, returned from the future fully grown. She made it to Utopia from Westchester, but at great cost. Several X-Men were killed along the way and Magik was banished to Limbo by Reverend Stryker and the anti-mutant militants hunting Hope. Northstar, Dazzler and Pixie were tagged by Cannonball as part of a team 
sent into Limbo to retrieve Illyana. There, Jean-Paul and Allison were corrupted temporarily by the influence of the realm, but they soon managed to regain their senses and Northstar gained a greater respect for Cannonball’s leadership abilities. [Second Coming crossover, X-Men: Hellbound #1-3]
Northstar was given an opportunity to shine as an X-Man when an engineered virus infected the mutants of Utopia. Cyclops was forced to order a quarantine of the island until the infection could 
be treated. As a result, a small number of X-Men active in San Francisco at the time became the only active X-Men off-island for the foreseeable future. Northstar, Dazzler and Pixie were joined by Angel and Storm in dealing with local threats. They confronted the Collective Man trying to seize power in Chinatown as well as a group of kids artificially empowered with mutant abilities who declared themselves the “new X-Men.” [Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #528-534]
During the Chaos War event, the Chaos King Amatsu-Mikaboshi attempted to wipe out all of creation, including various pantheons of gods and their afterlifes. Sasquatch made a deal with the Great Beasts for their aid against the King, and Guardian, Vindicator, Shaman and Marrina returned from beyond the grave to assist. Northstar, Aurora, Snowbird and Sasquatch were overjoyed to be reunited with their formerly fallen comrades, and Alpha Flight flew once more. Although the Beasts claimed it was only through their power that some of the Alphans were alive again, their lie was uncovered as Alpha Flight sent the Great Beasts back to their realm. [Chaos War: Alpha Flight #1]
Although Alpha Flight was reformed, Jean-Paul chose not to rejoin them officially. Instead, he honored his commitment to the X-Men which, along with his business and personal commitments with Kyle, left him spread too thin. As much as he missed his old friends, Northstar also had strong reservations about getting into bed again with Department H and the Canadian government. Still, when Citadel and the now-villainous Kara Killgrave attacked AmCan in Montreal 
where Jean-Paul and Kyle now lived, Northstar made a point of responding with the rest of Alpha Flight. Kyle got caught up in the violence trying to get publicity for Jean-Paul as his PR representative, leaving Northstar even more convinced he should keep Kyle away from the dangerous side of his life. [Alpha Flight (4th series) #0.1]
Northstar couldn’t stay away permanently, though. He was concerned about the stress of super-heroics affecting Jeanne-Marie’s therapy. Even from news footage, Jean-Paul could see signs of regression in Aurora’s behavior, and his attempts to address the issue with her only reaffirmed that she was struggling. Northstar’s priorities shifted once he went to confront Guardian about Aurora’s health and instead saw Hudson’s wife Vindicator blast him unconscious. Northstar learned all of Alpha Flight had been taken into custody by Department H under orders from the newly elected Unity Party in Canada. Northstar infiltrated ‘H’ and freed the Alphans who had not embraced Unity. However, his sister’s mind had crumbled and defaulted back to her early days with Alpha Flight, with the Jeanne-Marie persona opposed to Aurora and wanting to join Unity like Vindicator. [Alpha Flight (4th series) #1-3]
Northstar and Alpha Flight were forced to go on the run as Gary Cody and the Unity government (under the control of the Master of the World) painted them as traitors and terrorists. Jean-Paul struggled when he learned Unity agents had attacked Kyle at their apartment in Montreal, and he had been seriously injured. Kyle was biologically rebuilt by the Master’s Unity procedure, but also brainwashed to serve as a public relations agent for Unity to draw out Alpha Flight. Northstar 
avoided their militant opposition, Alpha Strike, to rescue his boyfriend. Guardian and Sasquatch developed a way to harness Purple Woman’s pheromone powers to broadcast an effect undoing Unity’s mind control. The narrow-minded Jeanne-Marie persona was reintegrated with Aurora, and Kyle’s mind was freed along with the rest of Unity’s victims, ushering in Alpha Flight’s return to grace. [Alpha Flight (4th series) #4-8]
Perhaps because of this close call with Kyle, Northstar began to pull back from his duties with both Alpha Flight and the X-Men. He avoided choosing between Cyclops and Wolverine during their schism at first and instead returned to Canada on a regular basis. Still, Kyle was American-born and wanted to return home, especially since Jean-Paul wasn’t as active on the sports scene 
anymore and didn’t need as much of his PR services professionally. They moved in together at an apartment in New York City, where Kyle could continue his career. Because of the locale, Northstar also decided to make himself available to Wolverine and his Westchester school as a French teacher or reserve X-Man, when the situation called for his services.
The situation did, and Northstar joined Wolverine and the X-Men when they got involved with the Hatchi Corporation and a plot involving the Marauders. Kyle decided to follow behind Jean-Paul again when he was called away, but proved to be a liability and nearly got himself killed in the streets. Kyle struggled after that with how little he could offer Jean-Paul in his life. As much as he 
felt loved by Northstar, he didn’t feel needed. Jean-Paul took the wrong message away from their talk, and tried to propose to Kyle the next day. The romantic gesture flopped, because Kyle felt like it was a “pity proposal,” made to end an argument and not as a sincere gesture of their love. He walked away, leaving Jean-Paul holding the ring.
Embarrassed and heartbroken, Northstar flew away from their meeting before being attacked. Susan Hatchi had previously mind controlled the Marauders into ambushing the X-Men, and now she took control of her own half-sister, Karma, to make the other X-Men attack Northstar. Hatchi and Karma also took control of Kyle and forced him into the encounter with a gun. Jean-Paul was terrified for Kyle, but he managed to avoid Kyle’s shots at him and prevented Kyle from being forced to kill himself with the gun. The X-Men were freed from Hatchi’s control through Karma, and Kyle and Jean-Paul were overwhelmed with relief after being reunited. Kyle accepted now that 
there were plenty of good reasons to marry Jean-Paul in spite of their problems, and he reversed course and accepted the proposal. Jean-Paul Beaubier and Kyle Jinadu had their wedding in Central Park before the assembled heroes, friends and family, with Jeanne-Marie standing for her brother at his side during the ceremony. [Astonishing X-Men (3rd series) #48-51]
Susan Hatchi attacked Karma and Wolverine again after the wedding reception, sending Northstar and the X-Men to Madripoor to foil her schemes. [Astonishing X-Men (3rd series) #53-56] Jean-Paul and Kyle eventually got their honeymoon away in Paris, but mutant business interrupted again. The Friends of Humanity arranged for assassination contracts on “race traitors” – humans who loved or supported the X-Men, family members and so forth. Northstar’s speed was needed to track and eliminate multiple threats around the world. In exchange, his team of X-Men stayed behind to guard Kyle and ensure he was safe. Kyle got to know the X-Men better while Northstar located the FoH cell responsible for the contracts. When Northstar and the X-Men left to confront them, though, a Friends unit doubled-back and attacked Kyle and Karma at the hotel. Kyle weathered the hostage situation well, and kept the leader talking long enough for Jean-Paul to return and rescue him. [Astonishing X-Men (3rd series) Annual #1]