ARIEL II

BIOGRAPHY

Ariel is an alien from the world called Coconut Grove, a planet devoted to pleasure. It’s not clear when the people of the Grove first became aware of Earth, but supposedly it was at least as early as the time of Shakespeare, for his character Ariel from The Tempest was apparently based on an ancestor of the modern Ariel.

Despite their preoccupation with leisure, the leaders of the Grove became concerned when they learned that their species was at an evolutionary dead end. Ariel was one of their people recruited to help rectify the problem. Traveling to Earth, it was Ariel’s ultimate intention to assemble a large enough sample of Earth’s mutant population to bring back to the Coconut Grove for its scientists to examine.

All people of Coconut Grove possessed the ability to open interdimensional doors and teleport from one location to another, and so the trip to Earth was covered in no time at all. Ariel soon found herself affiliated with a group of young thieves formed by the Vanisher and called the Beat Street Club, later known as the Fallen Angels. A striking young woman with an extroverted nature, Ariel immediately struck up a friendship with teammate Chance, an apparently human member of the Vanisher's group. Without explaining why it was important, Ariel paid Chance to be her partner for help in recruiting mutant teenagers into the group, such as Sunspot, Warlock, Boom-Boom, Siryn and Madrox.

To her teammates, Ariel remained secretive not only about her powers, explaining that she actually did not know how it worked besides being "physics," but also about her past. When Sunspot asked for information about her people and her home, she told him that he was not interested in that right now... a sentiment with which Sunspot and Warlock both suddenly agreed. In fact, when Ariel was asked about any question she did not want to talk about, people easily found themselves changing the subject, or agreeing with her when she made decisions that implicated the entire team, such as sending them to an alternate world to collect Devil Dinosaur and Moon Boy and bring them back to Earth. [Fallen Angels (1st series) #2-4]

As the roster of mutants in the Fallen Angels increased, Chance reminded Ariel of her side of the bargain. She also brought up the theory circulating among the group that they both might be mutants as well, but Ariel dismissed it as nonsense. As the two further discussed their secret pact, the powers of everyone suddenly and mysteriously began acting up. Seeing this as an opportunity, Ariel easily convinced everyone that they need to get someplace safe and teleported them all to her homeworld, Coconut Grove. [Fallen Angels (1st series) #5-6]

On Coconut Grove, the Fallen Angels were treated like celebrities and given flamboyant costumes to wear, matching Ariel's garish look and the odd looks of the Grove residents. However, Ariel's friend Chance was beginning to grow wary of why Ariel wanted her assistance in luring everyone to Coconut Grove. During this time, Ariel revealed that she was quite aware of how easily she was able to convince people to do things for her, and informed Chance that William Shakespeare used a relative of hers in his play "The Tempest" - the character of Ariel.

Though she maintained that she was not a mutant like many others in the group, Jamie Madrox seemed to believe otherwise when he produced a mini-Cerebro unit he carrier with him, which detected her as a mutant. Ariel, however, disputed the readings, explaining that her people had not mutated in countless years. In fact, that was why she had brought the Fallen Angels to Coconut Grove, because they were mutants and therefore precious. Unfortunately for the Fallen Angels, they learned that their presence at the Grove was not optional and that Ariel betrayed them, having brought them to Coconut Grove so that her people could experiment on them and conduct research about mutations. When Ariel's friend Chance was also revealed to be a mutant, Ariel found herself in a difficult situation: help her one friend, or betray her people. Sadly for Ariel, she herself was double-crossed when her persuasive ability was identified as a mutation, and her people placed her in a stasis field, to prevent her from teleporting away. [Fallen Angels (1st series) #7]

Ariel asked her teammates for forgiveness, assuring them that she didn't know what her people were planning to do to them, simply that they needed them. Chance didn't believe Ariel though and, along with the other Fallen Angels, plotted an escape. Ariel would have been left imprisoned on Coconut Grove, if Siryn had not pleaded her case to the others. Chance even agreed to forgive her friend, and suggested the other Fallen Angels do as well. Ariel was freed from the stasis field, and joined the other Fallen Angels in escaping. She was instrumental in the young mutants’ defeating their captors by using her powers to convince their captors to release them back to Earth. . This was helped by pointing out the blindingly obvious fact that if Ariel was a mutant, then the people of Coconut Grove were NOT at the evolutionary dead end they believed. Through Ariel's powers, everyone was teleported back home to the safety of Earth. [Fallen Angels (1st series) #8]

In the aftermath of the Fallen Angels' return to Earth, some of the team, including Ariel, remained together. However their adventures have never been chronicled and how long they stayed together remains unknown.

It would be some years later that Ariel joined up with the X-Men when they relocated to San Francisco. In need of teleporters, she was deputized and made her debut during the riot crisis, rescuing several mutants from HAMMER operatives. Ariel sported a sleek new look, equally as striking her previous, but her confident attitude remained. [X-Men Legacy (1st series) #226-227]

Ariel then joined most of mutantkind on Utopia, where to her annoyance she found herself having to assist the X-Club. Presumably her time spent on Earth had given her a taste for a materialistic life, as she would often talk about clothes and her appearance. [X-Men Legacy (1st series) #229-230]

When Hope returned to the present time,  Ariel was forced to give up her rather inactive duty on Utopia as the X-Men were once again in need of teleporters. She was assigned to Wolverine's squad and, horrifically, perished in a missile attack as the enemy sought to take out the X-Men's teleporters. [X-Men Legacy (1st series #235]

Despite her very apparent death, Ariel actually survived the missile attack by opening a doorway and stepping through it. However, in the process, she became confused and turned back, resulting in her being trapped between life and death. When a team of X-Men returned from space along with the Shi'ar warrior Korvus, Ariel was able to "latch on" to them through Korvus' sword. Rogue was then able to open Ariel's door through Korvus' sword and found her within. Ariel was traumatized, though mostly because her hair had been ruined. Rogue led a squad of X-Men back through Ariel's door, and brought her back through to Earth. After some medical rehabilitation, Ariel recovered and, finding a new friend in Rogue, accompanied her to the Jean Grey School in Westchester following the X-Men's "Schism." [X-Men Legacy (1st series) #259-260]

It is unclear whether Ariel remains at the Jean Grey School as she does not actively participate in X-Men missions and, being older than most of the students, does not attend classes. Perhaps Ariel is too busy shopping.