BIOGRAPHY - Page 8
As well as her secret life with X-Force, Psylocke still remained on active duty with the X-Men. When Emma Frost was injured in battle, Psylocke stepped into her role on Cyclops’s Extinction Team. Unfortunately, her first mission was to go to the town that had been destroyed by Archangel and investigate the area, now called Tabula Rasa. Even though X-Force hadn’t destroyed the town directly, Psylocke felt guilty as she could have prevented it by killing Warren when she had the chance. Since no other heroes knew of X-Force’s or Warren’s involvement, Psylocke kept quiet and followed orders as the team split up to uncover the truth. As they walked through the dense jungle where the town once stood, Psylocke’s teammate Magneto revealed he knew the truth. After a tense conversation, he vowed to keep the secret but things became complicated when they discovered sentient beings who worshipped X-Force as gods. After helping out the native population to Tabula Rasa, the Extinction Team left without any of them finding out Psylocke’s secret. [Uncanny X-Men (2nd series) #5-8]
As part of Utopia’s security team, Psylocke ended up investigating a plot to reactivate the Sentinel program, as well as helping Jubilee deal with a clan of vampires. [X-Men (3rd series) #20-28]
As the rest of the team dealt with the fallout of recent events, Psylocke tried to get to grips with the new Warren. As much as she tried to will herself to accept the man she loved was gone, she couldn’t. As Warren left the team, an unwanted distraction came in the form of her brother, Captain Britain, who kidnapped her one night and took her back to Otherworld. He explained that, when the alternate Jean had entered her psyche, she had inadvertently reconnected their psychic bond. Brian was able to see all the things that his sister had done over the past few weeks and he was not happy with any of it. There were slightly more pressing matters though, such as the battle waging on across Otherworld. Psylocke also met up with her other brother Jamie in a meeting that was a little tense, given their history together. She was offered a chance to regain her old body and Captain Britain powers in return for her aid. Fantomex had also been kidnapped by the Captain Britain Corps and was sentenced to death for the murder of the infant Apocalypse. Psylocke took Brian up on his offer and became Lady Britain but immediately betrayed him and broke Fantomex free as he was being executed.
When her brothers cut off her path back to her home world, Psylocke fled into the wilds of Otherworld to find help. There she learnt that Fantomex had purposefully propositioned her weeks before so that she would have doubt in her mind about her love for Warren and in return be able to kill him when the time came. She was furious with Fantomex, but even more so at herself as she still felt compelled to protect him from her family. As they travelled across Otherworld looking for a way home, they were constantly attacked by a multitude of adversaries. Psylocke soon realized that the person behind the war raging across the land was a future version of Jamie. She contacted Brian and told him what was happening. She explained the only way to save every reality was to kill the present Jamie, but Brian was unable to kill his brother. Psylocke reluctantly took control of Brian and snapped Jamie’s neck, instantly ending the threat to Otherworld. Afterwards, the two sibling coldly parted ways as Psylocke returned home with Fantomex and X-Force in tow. [Uncanny X-Force (1st series) #19-23]
Fantomex noticed a difference in Psylocke and, when he pushed her on it, she explained that in order to save his life on Otherworld she struck a bargain with a wizard. She gave up her sorrow and the ability to feel it ever again so that Fantomex could live. After sleeping with Fantomex, she decided to quit X-Force to try and deal with everything that had happened to her recently. [Uncanny X-Force (1st series) #24]
Psylocke wouldn’t get the chance to relax though, as the various members of X-Force came under attack from a new group of foes. Psylocke was tricked by the Shadow King and trapped in an illusion that preyed upon her current mental state. She was freed by Fantomex, who sacrificed his life to get her to safety. She rejoined X-Force just in time to discover that it was Wolverine’s son Daken and his Brotherhood that were behind the attacks. When X-Force’s base was about to be destroyed, Psylocke took control of the dying Gateway’s mind and created a portal sending them all to the future. There they found a grim world that had taken X-Force’s kill-them-before-they-can-kill-you mantra to the extreme. Ruling over it all was a future version of Psylocke known as Magistrate Braddock. She knew immediately what she had to do and, with the rest of X-Force pre-occupied with fighting, she stabbed herself with a katana to end the threat before it could even begin. She didn’t quite kill herself though and, before she could finish the job, she was stopped by the future Punisher. Adamant that she should die, Psylocke escaped from him and kept trying to kill herself, though someone would stop her every time.
After falling unconscious and dreaming of Warren, she woke up to find herself being healed by Magistrate Braddock. The two talked and Psylocke was shocked at how callous and cold she would become. X-Force was sent back to the present to stop Evan, another clone child of Apocalypse, from be corrupted into turning evil. Psylocke was determined that the child wouldn’t die this time but came up against opposition from her team. When X-Force stormed the Brotherhood’s base to save Evan, Psylocke once again faced off against the Shadow King, only this time she won by locking his mind away in a vegetative body. X-Force managed to defeat the Brotherhood and save Evan but, in the process, Fantomex had been killed. [Uncanny X-Force (1st series) #25-34]
Psylocke continued to operate on the security team, even following Storm when she took the team globetrotting in an effort to uncover the mystery behind a strange mutant. Her telepathy came in very useful as she discovered the mutant was hundreds of years old and belonged to an ancient race of now-extinct mutants. [X-Men (3rd series) #30-37]
When the X-Men went to war with the Avengers over the fate of the re-emerged Phoenix Force, Psylocke naturally stood by her team. Some of her fellow Extinction Team members became possessed by the Phoenix Force and were subsequently captured by Mr. Sinister. Psylocke and the remaining members broke into his base and freed them. In the fallout of the war, Utopia was destroyed and Psylocke took some time off from superheroics whilst she made a decision about her future. [Avengers vs X-Men crossover]