BIOGRAPHY - Page 2
Life in San Francisco seemed to reactivate Bling's social activism, forming a friendship with some more extreme voices in their community, such as Nekra and Frenzy.
When the ballot initiative know as Proposition X was proposed, which would restrict mutant reproductive rights, Bling joined the protests on the streets.Just as everything reached a tipping point, Norman Osborn, who had recently ascended to power along with his Dark Avengers, entered the fray. [Dark Avengers / Uncanny X-Men: Utopia #1] Conflict between the two groups was inevitable and the Dark Avengers invaded the X-Men's new home, Utopia, after a string of smaller skirmishes. Along with Frenzy and Nekra, Bling took on uber-powerful Moonstone during the assault. The Dark Avengers eventually withdrew after being summarily beaten down by the more organized X-Men and Proposition-X itself, thankfully did not progress. [Dark Avengers / Uncanny X-Men: Exodus #1]
Unfortunately for Bling, she was about to encounter one of the X-Men'smost dangerous villains: Emplate, a mutant who fed on the energy of his own kind. Bling was wanderin
g around Utopia when he abducted her. [X-Men: Legacy Annual #1] Bling tried to defend herself against Emplate but he simply overpowered her and fed. She awoke to find herself in a cell with scratches on the wall from prior captives logging their incarceration. When Emplate came to her cell to feed again, Bling bravely stood up to him, hoping to goad him into revealing his secrets. She was somewhat successful, though he yet again fed from her, leaving her collapsed on the ground and feeling empty. [X-Men: Legacy (1st series) #228]
Meanwhile, Rogue had taken another student's astral projection abilities and traced Bling to Emplate's hideout, which existed in a pocket dimension.
Once her presence was detected, Emplate opted to suck Bling's essence dry, assuming the X-Men were tracing her not him. Faced with imminent death, Bling overcame her fear and opted to fight back and actually sucker punched the serial killer. Rogue had hidden in Bling and Emplate was not expecting her borrowed powers, so the surprise allowed the two women to gain the upper hand. Rogue and Emplate's ensuing brawl knocked his base of operations out of the pocket dimension crashing on Utopia. Bling and Emplate were thrown clear and yet again he attempted to devour her. In the broad daylight, she wasn't as scared of him as she had been, viewing him as almost pitiable. Fighting back with a vengeance, she held him off long enough for the cavalry to roll in. In the aftermath, Bling confessed to the other girls that she had actually never been more frightened in her life. But Bling! Wanting to save face, tried to play off the moment with of vulnerability with a joke about how “hot” Rogue was during the rescue attempt. The moment did however crystalize that Bling! was finally out to her peers. Still, her experience with Emplate would haunt her for some time to come. [X-Men: Legacy (1st series) # 228-230] The rest of Bling's time in San Francisco was largely uneventful, though she was ironically indispensable in helping defend the city during a time it was afflicted by vampires of a more traditional variety, her unique physiology making it impossible for them to bite her. [X-Men (3rd series) #5]
Wolverine and Cyclops split the X-Men in two, with Wolverine reopening the school, while Cyclops favored retaining a more militaristic approach,
given their species’ still endangered status. Most of the students, Bling included, opted to return to Westchester and enrolled in the newly dubbed “Jean Grey School for Gifted Youngsters.” [X-Men: Regenesis #1] Back at the school, Bling went back to her more studious pursuits though she did have some minor obstacles, such as the need to put Kid Omega in his place during a failed attempt to “woo” her. [Wolverine and the X-Men: Alpha & Omega #2] Her performance in A.P. Economics class even managed to earn her (temporarily) a place on the board of Worthington Industries. [Wolverine & the X-Men (1st series) #19]
Secretly, Bling had developed a crush on fellow student Mercury. Building herself up to ask her out was extremely difficult, however her advances were met with about as worst a reaction as possible. Mercury decked her. Mortified by what had occurred, Bling opted to keep the reason behind their fight a secret. Later, a more pressing issue arose when the ancient virus Arkea attacked the institute. Bling helped defend the school due to practically, though she did hope her performance would gain her some brownie points with the faculty after the altercation in the school corridor. [X-Men (4th series) #1-3]