When the X-Men relocated to the remnants of Asteroid M, which now floated just off San Francisco, many of their old charges went with them as students, though the Institute as it was still remained closed. [X-Men: Manifest Destiny #1] Tensions among these semi-students arose when Magik rejoined the fold, as some of the students such as Trance still very much distrusted her. [New Mutants (3rd series) #1]
The X-Men's sudden appearance in San Francisco was not without its controversies. When protestors on both sides of a statewide ballot initiative seeking to regulate mutants’ rights of reproduction led to a riot, Trance found herself trying to escape the city, along with former criminals Toad and Dragoness. Unfortunately, the amoral Normal Osborn, having recently risen to prominence and power following his role in helping fight the Skrull invasion [Secret Invasion] sent both the Dark Avengers and his forces of H.A.M.M.E.R. to take advantage of the situation by pouring gasoline on it. Trance was injured during the ensuing conflict and began having trouble re-integrating her astral form back to her body, resulting in her powers responding explosively. 
No one understood out of control powers quite like Rogue, so she approached Trance while her powers continued to flare. Rogue theorized that H.A.M.M.E.R.’s weapons had not destabilized Trance's powers at all and she was essentially having a panic attack, due to the high stress situation. Rogue attempted to calm her and held her as Moonstone (one of Osborn's Dark Avengers) appeared on the scene. A venerable powerhouse in her own right, Moonstone took out Gambit and Danger quickly, forcing Rogue to intervene, leaving Trance alone with her
anxiety. Fortunately, Rogue's words had been enough and Trance managed to calm herself and regain control. As Moonstone was choking Rogue, it was Trance who actually saved her as she had done earlier with Wolverine. Trance's astral form was able to attack Moonstone while she was phasing, which proved to be the surprise attack needed to turn the tide. Gambit tagged back into the battle and held off Moonstone long enough for Pixie to arrive and teleport them all to safety. Back on Asteroid M (now dubbed Utopia), Trance was hospitalized. Still the incident had created a bond between her and Rogue. [X-Men Legacy (1st series) #226-227]
The X-Men ultimately prevailed over Osborn and defeated Task and his ballot initiative. Nevertheless, there were always ongoing threats from within their own race. Trance's friend Bling! was abducted by the psionic vampire Emplate to a pocket dimension. Fortunately, Trance's powers allowed her to perceive the doorway through which Emplate had fled. Dr. Nemesis was unable to ascertain if her perceptual skills were a temporary side effect of her unstable powers or a permanent advancement. Regardless, Trance was now a much braver young woman given her experiences and she wanted to pursue Bling! herself, as the two were friends. She was cautioned against this by Cyclops, given her inexperience, and Rogue even offered to steal Trance's powers and go herself. Hope was not happy, as she wanted to save her friend, but trusted Rogue and allowed her to temporarily take her “gift.” As Trance regained consciousness, Emplate’s home crashed into Utopia. Rogue had succeeded and Bling was free. Emplate was sucked back to this dimension soon after. In the aftermath, Bling and Trance bonded on the basketball field, along with some of the other teen girl mutants. [X-Men Legacy (1st series) #228-230]
In a strange coincidence, the island was soon under attack by yet another psionic vampire, Selene, the former black queen of the Hellfire Club. Selene had gained additional power through both mystical and scientific means and now led reanimated dead mutants under her control. As the island was overrun by zombies, Trance along with Husk and Indra had to defend themselves against a reanimated Skin and Synch, both of Generation X. With some difficulty, the X-Men regained control of the Utopia. During the battle, Destiny had communicated with Blindfold, a kinswoman of the long dead pre-cog and Trance's classmate, stating that she had fled to Muir Island and held the key to defeating Selene.
Nightcrawler was selected to lead a team to Muir Island and Trance, as Rogue's new wunderkind, was drafted to join the party of veterans. The team searched the island but could find no trace of Destiny. In reality, they had all been duped, Destiny included, by the villain Proteus (a deranged reality warper) into luring the X-Men to the Muir Island for revenge. Proteus possessed Blindfold and tore through the X-Men with relative ease before possessing most of them, Trance included. Fortunately, Magneto managed to outclass Proteus, removing his hold on Blindfold (his primary host) before dissipating him back into the ether with his magnetic powers. In the meantime, Rogue had stolen Psylocke's powers and already freed Trance and some of the others. Overall, the event was a milestone for Trance and was the first time she served in an X-Men line-up. [X-Men Legacy (1st series) #231-233]
The caper with Proteus was not Trance's last. When the messiah baby, now a teenage girl named Hope Summers, returned from the future, she was being pursued by Bastion, who targeted teleporters as part of his master plan. A decision was made by Cyclops to send a team to Limbo to rescue Magik, who had been sent back to that dimension by Bastion's forces, and Trance was assigned for the mission. Initially, Trance said no but agreed provided she didn't have to take her body. Arriving in Limbo, the team quickly found themselves in the middle of an ambush and splintered
. Alone with Pixie, Trance found their predicament terrifying and kept screaming, despite the fact that nothing could touch her in her astral form. As they flew across the Limbo wastelands, Pixie thought they should find Magik first and foremost but Trance wanted to go back for the others. The debate was cut short as the girls were intercepted by the demons Sym and N'Astirh, who offered them a deal. They wanted Magik's soulsword and would return Pixie’s soul shard if they gave her to them. Trance knew this was a lie and kept trying to get Pixie's attention. However, as they had been there too long, Trance’s astral form was being pulled back to Earth. Trance woke up back in Utopia, brave again, demanding they all go back to Limbo to save her friends, but it was too late. The Sentinels had arrived. In an act of good fortune, the X-Men prevailed against the Sentinel forces and Trance's team managed to escape Limbo without her. Pixie even saved Magik, possibly Trance's words had an impact. [X-Men: Hellbound #1-3, Second Coming crossover]
Trance's profile started to wain around this time. She attended Jubilee's birthday party [X-Men (3rd series) #11] and helped maintain the peace on Utopia during the attack by the genocidal Evolutionaries. [X-Men (3rd series) #13-14] Another moment of tragedy would soon impact Trance's life in a major way. She attended a museum opening dedicated to mutant history with some of her classmates, including Idie, one of the first new mutants since M-Day. When the event was attacked by the new, human-led Hellfire Club, Idie was forced to kill to protect herself and the others. The event caused an ideological break between Cyclops and Wolverine. Wolverine felt the teen mutants needed to be children, whereas Cyclops felt that ship had sailed, given the world they now lived in. When the disagreement led to a schism among the X-Men, Trance sided with Wolverine and enrolled in the newly founded Jean Grey School for Gifted Youngsters. [Generation Hope #10, X-Men: Schism #2-3, X-Men: Regenesis #1]
Life for Trance during her time as a student in the Jean Grey School was largely uneventful. She seemed to prefer it that way, even cutting across Blindfold before she had a chance to speak so she could not give her news of any impending disasters (Blindfold just wanted to know about the homework!). [X-Men Legacy (1st series) #261] Still, she did occasionally have her moments, such as when she both admonished Colossus for damaging the Danger Room and gave him a pep talk at the same time. [Amazing X-Men (2nd series) #15] Notably, she did show up at two special occasions, such as Genesis' birthday party [All-New X-Men (2nd series) #9] and Cypher and Bei The Blood Moon's wedding reception. [New Mutants (4th series) #15]