PERSUASION: Page 3 of 3

BIOGRAPHY - Page 3

Kara was too busy keeping watch over Laura to acknowledge Manikin when he accepted a position at the new Department H, primarily working in the medical sciences field of the Gamma Flight support staff team. Rather, her attention remained with Laura and, when the young girl awoke from her coma (albeit mute), Kara remained watching over her while Alpha Flight was called to deal with an alien invasion. Nonetheless, when Alpha Flight required assistance, Kara was happy to finally get some field time. However, just as she, her teammate Witchfire and others were preparing to leave Department H, Laura suddenly started speaking. Suddenly worried about Goblyn, she announced they had to save her, at which point Kara and the others suddenly found themselves teleported away by one of Laura's portals. [Alpha Flight (1st series) #97-98]

Along with Witchfire, Laura Dean and her parents, Kara spent the next few weeks running for her life from Dream Demons on Liveworld, where they found Goblyn. The Dreamqueen was after the young heroes but, fortunately, Laura was eventually able to open a portal back to Earth, right into Department H. Windshear, Alpha Flight's Chief Administrator, was not happy about this and, although he prevented any Dream Demons from escaping to Earth, he told Beta Flight they were irresponsible and demoted them to Gamma Flight training status. [Alpha Flight (1st series) #109]

Despite being grounded, Persuasion, Witchfire, Laura Dean and Goblyn didn't want to be cooped up at Department H. Sneaking out one night, they found themselves dealing with a group of thugs that were causing trouble down an alleyway. Manikin had accompanied Kara and the others and expressed his concern that the girls would get into trouble, to which Kara expressed her annoyance that Windshear, someone who had been a Alphan for such a short period of time, was telling her what to do. When Manikin appeared to defend Windshear, Kara became upset and reminded Manikin that she and the others had been fighting for their lives on Liveworld for weeks. Unfortunately, it was only a moment later that she was knocked out by one of the thugs, prompting Manikin to get involved in the fight.

The night got more dangerous for Kara and her teammates when a young man they dubbed Firebug began spreading fires throughout the city with a strange power he had manifested. Persuasion and the others set about attending to the fires and other chaos that was spreading through the city. However, when an angry Windshear arrived on scene, he was unreasonable and couldn't see the good that the young heroes were doing during the crisis, so Kara possessed him to shut him up. Things got worse with the arrival of the new Omega Flight, the Master of the World's new team of lackeys, and the two groups engaged in a battle. Persuasion commanded Windshear to use his powers on one of the members of Omega Flight, Miss Mass. Even though she didn't fully understand how Windshear's powers worked, Kara proved resourceful enough in dealing with the villain. Kara even turned her powers on one of the Omega Flight members, using them to battle one of their own teammates. However, when Kara was put in danger during the fight, Manikin raced to her defense, saving her from one of the villains.

Persuasion eventually released Windshear from her control and, although he wasn't happy about being possessed, he did admit that the young heroes had done a good job in dealing with Omega Flight. Persuasion and the others soon engaged the Master of the World himself in battle, but he mysteriously vanished. After returning to Department H, Persuasion and her teammates were prompted back to Beta Flight status and provided with their own team uniform. [Alpha Flight (1st series) #110-112]

Persuasion and her teammates were soon sent on their first official mission, when someone claiming to be the son of the original Jackal began killing workers at a chemical research facility. The local chief of police was not happy that Beta Flight was sent to deal with the situation and Persuasion quickly possessed him to stop him from arguing. This led to another argument with Manikin, who asked Kara if she was going to possess everyone who disagreed with them. Kara didn't see it that way and reminded Manikin that they were given a job to do, so she's just doing her part. To her surprise, Kara was able to maintain control over the police chief even when the team was teleported to another part of the chemical research facility. Kara realized that lately she had been possessing people with no hesitation, that she was enjoying the feeling and wondered if that was how her father felt when he controlled people – and whether it would also lead her down the same path as him, to crime and insanity?

Kara had to put those thoughts aside though when Manikin was gravely injured during the mission, poisoned by the son of the Jackal. Kara was immediately concerned for Manikin and cried when his body began to wrap itself in a cocoon. Kara remained at the now fully-cocooned Manikin's side when they arrived at a hospital. Kara began to realize that even the hospital staff were not overly happy about treating Manikin, and probably at her presence. She wanted to lash out at them but kept her cool. When Manikin was transferred to Department H, Kara continued to remain at his side while medical personnel worked on finding out what caused Manikin to go into a cocoon. [Alpha Flight (1st series) #114-116]

As anti-paranormal paranoia began to sweep Canada, times got tough for the heroes of Alpha and Beta Flights. Persuasion had a particularly hard time, as Manikin remained in his mysterious cocoon. In fact, she never left his side, even when Heather Hudson called all personnel to battle. Kara declined, opting to remain at Department H to watch over Manikin, admitting to Heather how helpless she felt. When Department H was stormed by several mercenaries known as Judgment, Kara didn't get the chance to defend herself as they attacked her from behind and knocked her out. [Alpha Flight (1st series) #119]

Kara apparently sustained no injuries from the assault and, after Manikin recovered from his cocoon (albeit with his powers transformed), Kara participated in training sessions with her teammates in Beta Flight. It appeared that Kara and Manikin had not yet resolved any issues they had with each other in respect of their former relationship. However, when Kara was knocked out by her teammate Witchfire (who had transformed into her true demonic self), Manikin was very concerned that Kara wasn't breathing. Fortunately, she was later shown to have recovered and was seen watching the latest news updates on the Super Powers Bill that was before Parliament. [Alpha Flight (1st series) #122, 126]

Shortly after, the Super Powers Bill was passed, Department H was effectively shut down, with Alpha and Beta Flights disbanded as a result. [Alpha Flight (1st series) #130] It is assumed that Kara returned to Etobicoke to live with her mother, as Kara maintained an extremely low profile. The status of her relationship with Manikin during this time is unknown. Even when Alpha Flight was restarted by a new shady Department H, Kara was not invited to be part of the team. At some point, however, Kara was captured by a new Weapon X program, rounded up with dozens of other mutants and placed in a concentration camp known as Neverland. It is unknown whether she was ever made aware that her former father figure Madison Jeffries was responsible for Neverland. [Weapon X (2nd series) #5]

Eventually, Neverland was shutdown, and the former prisoners were left to pick up what was left of their former lives. It is assumed that Kara returned to Etobicoke, for when another Alpha Flight team was formed, she was not invited to be part of it. When the majority of the world's mutants lost their powers following the Decimation on “M-Day,” The Office of National Emergency identified Kara as retaining her powers. [X-Men: the 198 Files] A lot of the remaining mutants eventually relocated to San Francisco, and later to the mutant island nation of Utopia. While Kara did visit San Francisco during the Christmas holidays, possibly to make connections with other remaining mutants, she did not remain in San Francisco or live on Utopia. [Marvel Digital Holiday Special #1]

Seemingly forgotten about, Kara, now grown up and calling herself the Purple Woman, made a shocking return during a time when Canada was going through political turmoil, with the controversial Unity Party vying for election. She allied herself with the Canadian criminal known as Citadel, who kept members of Alpha Flight busy at a power facility, knocking out the power to much of Quebec, while Kara broke into the AmCan offices and stole a server, which she believed contained information on the Unity Party that the citizens of Canada needed to see. As she tried to leave the AmCan facility, she was confronted by a SWAT team, backed-up by Guardian and Northstar. Armed with a machine gun, Kara displayed proficient use of her power when she controlled the SWAT team, turning them on Guardian and Northstar, enabling her to flee. As she escaped, Kara displayed even greater control over her power by putting hundreds of civilians under her control and forcing them to take the form of a one, large humanoid that she sent to attack Northstar and Guardian.

However, when Kara arrived at her vehicle to make her getaway, she was confronted by Snowbird, who rapidly shifted forms over and over. This proved too much for Kara, who couldn't take control of her mind. After Kara was then knocked out by Snowbird, Heather Hudson retrieved the stolen mainframe, while lamenting what had happened to Kara. Kara was then taken into custody by Department H, as the Unity Party won the election. [Alpha Flight (4th series) #0.1]

Kara was imprisoned at Department H and, when most of Alpha Flight were captured and branded traitors, Northstar began a search for them, coming across the imprisoned Kara. Kara suggested Northstar free her so that she could help him but he declined the offer, to which Kara angrily called the man on whom she once had a crush a fraud. To her shock, Kara was told that she would be drafted into Alpha Flight's replacement team, Alpha Strike – under orders of the Prime Minister of Canada, the leader of the Unity Party. Kara resisted this but had no option, and was forced to undergo the mysterious brainwashing known as the “Unity Process.” [Alpha Flight (4th series) #2-4]

Alpha Flight's old enemy, the Master of the World, was revealed to have been behind the rise of the Unity Party and, with Alpha Strike at his side, set about to bring the renegade Alpha Flight down. To achieve this, Alpha Strike worked at getting to those close to Alpha Flight, so Kara participated in a mission to capture Northstar's boyfriend. [Alpha Flight (4th series) #5-6] When Alpha Strike finally located Alpha Flight's secret base of operations, Kara took part in the battle against her former allies. In a turn of events, Kara was not only captured but also placed into a machine that Alpha Flight had created which they believed could reverse the Unity Process – and all they needed was Kara's power. Despite the best efforts of the rest of Alpha Strike and the Master of the World, the anti-Unity machine worked and Kara's power reversed the Unity Process on those that had succumbed to the evil that spread across Canada. [Alpha Flight (4th series) #7-8]

For her part in the crimes of the Unity Party, Kara was imprisoned at Pace Federal Penitentiary in the United States. Around this time, she apparently learned that she had half-siblings. One day, she was visited by Hope Summers. Kara was perplexed by the visit and told Hope that she would not be able to give her a demonstration of her powers, as a power inhibitor prevented her from accessing them. The visit lasted only a brief amount of time, as Hope told Kara that she already got what she came for and left – the ability to copy Kara's powers so that she could use them in battle against the Avengers. [Cable and X-Force #9]

At some point Kara was released from prison and one evening was minding her business, walking down a street, when she was knocked unconscious by Jessica Jones. Kara began to wake while Jessica was flying her over the Hudson River. However, before Kara could fight back against Jessica, she found herself submerged in the river until she passed out again. Kara eventually came to, and recognized Jessica as her attacker. Kara assured Jessica that she had no idea where her father, the Purple Man, was and that she thought he was dead. Kara learned that Jessica's daughter, Danielle, had suddenly turned purple. Despite her recent questionable motives and activities, Kara offered some good advice to Jessica. After all, she knew first-hand about suddenly turning purple.

Kara later arranged for Jessica to attend a support group for victims of the Purple Man. Kara was unaware that her half-siblings, the Purple Children, were keeping tabs on her and found herself under the control of her half-brother, Benjamin, the one child of the Purple Man who did not inherit their father's abilities. Instead, he had discovered that he could mimic his powers by mixing his blood with his father's. Kara was manipulated into sending Jessica to a location where they could meet in secret and attacked Jessica from behind. Jessica broke Kara's arm and avoided being injected with a strange serum. Kara later recovered from her injuries and, with the rest of the Purple Children, kept both their troublesome brother and father under control until Jessica Jones could deal with them. Despite their uncomfortable beginnings, Kara Killgrave and Jessica Jones made a connection over their shared understanding of the Purple Man's impact on people's lives. [Jessica Jones: Purple Daughter #1-3]

Opting not to journey to the mutant nation of Krakoa and remain in New York, Kara was invited (thanks to an algorithm that decided her abilities would be useful) to join the new Thunderbolts team, the only super-hero team legally sanctioned to operate in New York City. Kara's abilities proved useful in defeating the Abomination and later communicating with an alien called Eergo the Unbreakable. While attempting to possess and put him under her control, Kara inadvertently mind-linked with him, enabling Eergo to learn English. This new Thunderbolts was required by contract to engage in various forms of publicity and, as part of hers, Kara launched a perfume brand. Kara demonstrated knowledge of the Russian language herself when the team was confronted by the primates who were formerly the slaves of the Red Ghost. Kara seemed to enjoy the limelight that came with being a member of the new Thunderbolts team. When the Thunderbolts were manipulated by Nightmare, Kara proved herself a team player in assisting with Nightmare's defeat. After her teammates weakened him, she put the master of dreams to sleep. [Thunderbolts (4th series) #1-5]

What's next for Kara remains to be seen. Perhaps she will finally find the happiness she has long craved as a full-fledged member of a team of super beings with the new Thunderbolts team.