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Quote1 My name is Jeanne-Marie Beaubier. Aurora... is a sickness. A symptom of childhood trauma, which I demand be excised. I'll tell you the location of Alpha Flight's base. As soon as you turn on your machines and burn every last vestige of her out of my soul. Quote2
Aurora[src]

History

Early years[]

Born in Canada, Jeanne-Marie and her twin brother, Jean-Paul, were separated in infancy after their parents died in a car accident which caused them both to grow up without knowledge of the other. She was raised at Madame Dupont's School for Girls, a hyper-religious school in Quebec.[5] Extremely nervous and introverted to the point of suicide, she soon discovered her mutant powers of flight, believing them to be a divine gift due to her strict religious upbringing. Telling her story to Soeur Anne, Jeanne-Marie was severely and inhumanly disciplined for "blasphemy". This incident began the Dissociative Identity Disorder she would suffer for the rest of her life - her primary personality of a prim and proper, repressed woman, and a secondary personality of an uninhibited extrovert. As with most disorders of this type she could not remember what she did when reverting back to Jeanne-Marie. Because her problem wasn't understood or really looked at it caused her to be punished even more severely. Soon she buried the personality as well as the knowledge of her powers deep within her mind. At one time she even contemplated jumping off the roof of the school to see if her powers would save her. Instead she finished school and began teaching. Both personalities strongly disliked the other, and would switch in fear, despair, or severe stress.[citation needed]

Leaving school and learning of her acceptance as a schoolteacher, Beaubier's uninhibited personality exerted herself to revel in joy. She was attacked by muggers, however, and used her powers to defend herself. Wolverine, who was nearby at the time, noticed the commotion and stopped the second mugger. He told Jeanne-Marie that she should seek James Hudson in Ottawa. Noting her strong resemblance to Jean-Paul Beaubier, Hudson contacted him when she arrived. The two reunited and joined Alpha Flight as Aurora and Northstar.[citation needed]

The extroverted Beaubier personality reveled in the super hero aspect of her life, adventuring with Alpha Flight and having many affairs, including a long romantic relationship with fellow teammate Walter Langkowski (aka Sasquatch). Langkowski, at Beaubier's request, performed an experiment that would negate the twin's need for contact with each other to release their powers.[citation needed]

Later, when Alpha Flight sought the magic of the Fire Fountain which had briefly made Aurora's personality a cohesive whole[9], Loki, in revenge for Alpha Flight's tampering with his earlier schemes led the Beaubier twins to believe they were not mutants, but half-elves. Loki claimed that Beaubier's mental dysfunction (and her brother's current physical disease) was due to the broken gestalt that separated their powers. Aurora used her power on Northstar, which seemed to cure his illness and leave herself powerless. Loki transported Jeanne-Marie to a convent in Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré[10] which helped her regain a healed psyche but allowing her powers to manifest slightly differently (releasing inner light). When her former lover Walter Langkowski was on trial, she travelled to see him and used her powers to aid him in seeing through illusions. Sister Beaubier was forced by Talisman to return to Alpha Flight to help rescue her brother, who was trapped in Asgard by Loki.[1] The two remained with the team.[citation needed]

Beaubier's powers soon changed until they significantly resembled her original ones. She decided to join Gamma Flight in the role of a psychiatric counsellor when she was captured by the super villain Headlok. Headlok's psychological torture brought back the split personalities Beaubier had before. The result of returning to this condition created a psychic backlash that left Headlok dead and Beaubier able to escape.[citation needed]

Weapon X Vol 2 4 Textless

Aurora & Wildchild

During her time with Alpha Flight, she fell in love with her teammate Wildheart, formerly known as Wild Child. Beaubier pursued Wildheart mostly due to his handsome appearance, a recent physical condition of his that was created by the government's scientists. However, when Wildheart's appearance began to revert to his original inhuman visage, Wildheart left Beaubier and Alpha Flight, unaware that this sudden departure may have exasperated the deterioration of Beaubier's fragile psyche.[citation needed]

She was soon abducted under mysterious circumstances, presumably on behalf of the Canadian government. She was rescued by the mutant Havok during the time he was leading the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Havok brought Aurora to the extra-dimensional Dark Beast, who believed he may be able to cure her once and for all. Havok, eventually revealing himself to be a double-agent, challenged the Dark Beast and the Brotherhood disbanded. Havok set Beaubier free and told her to return to Alpha Flight. Aurora was eventually located by her brother, and accompanied him in joining the original Alpha Flight members Shaman, Sasquatch, and James Hudson to uncover the truth about the latest activities of Department H. The original Alphans ended up assisting the officially sanctioned Alpha Flight against the latest bearer of the name Weapon X, and afterwards combined into one Alpha Flight team. During her time with the team, Beaubier was exposed to a strain of sentient bacteria, which ultimately removed her alternate personalities once again.[citation needed]

Weapon X[]

Unfortunately, Beaubier later regressed into her fractured mental state and was remanded to a mental institution once more. Months later she was freed from the asylum by Wild Child on behalf of the new Weapon X program which (under the auspices of the mysterious Director) hoped to use the program's mutants for the benefit of humankind, even if that meant performing deadly missions and interning mutant captives. Beaubier was experimented on to relieve her mental condition and she joined the Weapon X program, although she rejected Wild Child due to his new freakish appearance.[citation needed]

Beaubier served the Weapon X program wholeheartedly, often attempting to seduce her superior, the Director, and performed missions such as recruiting other mutants to join the program. One such mission was a trap set by Weapon X turncoat Sabretooth, who seriously injured Beaubier as an example, leaving her horribly scarred. It was only with the Director's financial and emotional support that she recovered, albeit scarred like him. Beaubier began to have genuine feelings for the Director, although he refused to reciprocate.[citation needed]

Afterwards, unable to deny another urge, the Director entered Aurora's bedroom and the two kindled their romantic relationship. Soon, Beaubier urged the Director to have surgery to have his scars removed. However, agent Brent Jackson, who hoped to stage a coup against the Director, confronted the Director with the idea that he was a "mutie lover" due to his relationship. Too preoccupied with the idea, the Director lashed out at Beaubier, beating her unconscious. Afterward, he apologized, explaining his conflicting feelings, and Beaubier reluctantly accepted.[citation needed]

Soon, the Weapon X agent Brent Jackson had formed a resistance group with fellow agents and joined with the mutant Cable's team, the Underground. The Underground was able to infiltrate the Weapon X complex, ousting the Director and nearly crippling the program. The Director was nearly killed by traitor agent Washout, and as he contemplated his escape, Colcord flew into a rage, blaming his loss of control over his recent obsession with his new face and with Beaubier. Taking shards of glass, Colcord disfigured himself once more. He was rescued by Madison Jeffries and, with Colcord urging Beaubier, the three escaped the Weapon X complex using Beaubier's superhuman speed.[citation needed]

Jean-Paul Beaubier & Jeanne-Marie Beaubier (Earth-616) from X-Men Annual Vol 3 1 001

Northstar and Aurora

Children of the Vault & X-Men[]

Aurora would later return with Northstar. Just as she was about to kill herself, he stopped her. Under control by the Children of the Vault they attacked the X-Mansion and fought the X-Men. She was however taken out by Mystique's quick thinking.[11] Her mind was later saved by SHIELD equipment.[12]

Secret Invasion & Dark Reign[]

During the Skrull Invasion Aurora and Northstar assisted in fighting against the Skrulls in San Francisco. She was later in regular therapy, in order to repress her Aurora persona.[13]

In the wake of the Invasion, Norman Osborn assumed control S.H.I.E.L.D and turned it into H.A.M.M.E.R., and assemble his own team of X-Men.

Aurora - with her rebellious personality dominant was one of Osborn's choices, thus Osborn developed a headset for her that would electro-shock the weaker personality into dormancy. However she managed to overcome this by revealing she had mentally created a small cadre of other personalities to awaken her should her mind ever be tampered with again and with that she forcefully declined the offer.[13]

Returning to Alpha Flight[]

Aurora and her brother were later reunited with their friends from Alpha Flight when they returned from the dead.[14] When the team was reformed she decided to rejoin, but Northstar did not. This lead to much tension between the two siblings. The tension only got worse when Northstar showed up displaying considerable concern over Aurora's mental health based on how she was acting on the news.[15]

Fear Itself[]

The Serpent's invasion of Midgard was used by the Unity Party, lead publicly by Gary Cody, to gain power in Canada.[citation needed]

After being captured by Unity, she was tempted with a perfect scenario in a simulator created by Guardian. It was an offering to have revenge on the man who abused her as a child.[16] Eventually her brother and Guardian saved her from Unity although she refused to believe they were helping as she thought Unity had been trying to save her. Due to the emotional stress of rejoining the team, she ended up back at her old orphanage battling between her two identities. Aurora did not want to be "cured" by Unity while Jeanne-Marie did as it would protect her from all the problems she believed were caused by Aurora.[17]

Jeanne Marie agreed to submit to the Unity Party if they would remove her multiple personalities from her brain. [18] She attempted to convince her brother to go to Unity so they could "cure" him of his homosexuality and he could also lead a normal life. In the end, Jeanne-Marie realized that "There is no me. There is no you. Only us." Through this realization she achieved "true unity" and was able to stop her own internal battle and even help Sasquatch come to terms with his own duality.[19]

Schism[]

Later Aurora, Northstar and presumably the rest of Alpha Flight were deployed by Emma Frost to destroy rogue and defective Sentinels that had been activated around the world in response to Kid Omega's attack on a U.N. arms summit - setting the stage for the Schism between the X-Men.[citation needed]

All-New, All-Different[]

Aurora became a member of the Alpha Flight space program,[20] before leaving to join NASA instead.[4]

Krakoa[]

Aurora was of the many mutants that joined the mutant nation of Krakoa. Aurora and her brother Northstar were sent on a flyover scouting mission to Arakko by Krakoa's Captain Commander Cyclops, in their report they mentioned the island being full of giant hostile beasts.[21]

After disappearing without telling anyone, Aurora was in a car accident and drowned in a river. Her brother sensed her death and assembled a team to look for her. After finding her body in the water, the squad returned to Krakoa to deliver the proof of death to the “The Five”, so they could proceed with her resurrection. Sensing their abilities could be used in favor of the mutant nation, the squad became the new X-Factor Investigations, responsible for finding proof of death for mutants thought to be dead.[6] After recovering, Aurora too joined the team.[7]

While investigating Siryn's repeated suicides, Aurora's teammate Daken, who had been flirting with Aurora since her revival, was ordered to follow her and report anything suspicious.[22] At this point, Siryn had been completely taken over by the Morrigan and had manipulated Polaris into disrupting Akihiro's communication with the team. Luring him into an abandoned village in Alaska, she brutally attacked him and left him close to death. Luckily Northstar found him in time and got him back to Krakoa. There he healed and relaxed in the hot springs, where Aurora visited him and the two of them shared their first kiss.[7]

X-Factor would eventually confront the Morrigan after her attack on their HQ, which resulted in most of the team's demise. Eye-Boy and Prodigy, who were the sole survivors, got all their teammates resurrected, but Akihiro's last memory backup had been shortly before returning to Krakoa, so only Aurora remembered their kiss.[8]

Eventually, the whole team planned a counter-attack that successfully inhibited Morrigan's influence on Siryn and later freed Terry of her curse once and for all.[23]

She and Daken later attended the Hellfire Gala as a couple where he was attacked by her ex-boyfriend Wild Child.[24] It was revealed that she was not murdered but was in fact covering up her murder of Eddie Avidan. [25]

Jeanne Marie joined Kate Pryde's Marauders to find her boyfriend Daken along with his former lover who had recently been resurrected, Somnus. Together the newly formed team confronted Brimstone Love who had been torturing Daken as a scapegoat for their anger towards Krakoa.[26]

Fall of X[]

After the Orchis attack on the third Hellfire Gala left most of Earth's mutant heroes dead, captured, or banished,[27] Jeanne-Marie would work with Kyle, Jean-Paul, Akihiro, and their former Alpha Flight teammates, to help rescue Canada's young mutants from Orchis and Department H. Although most of the other Alphans would find themselves incarcerated as traitors, Jeanne-Marie, Jean-Paul, and Akihiro would help Marrina, Walter Langkowski, and Feedback evacuate the young mutants to the Alpha Flight Space Program's old space station.[28] The former X-Factor trio would then move to the X-Force safehouse in the Arctic Circle.[29]

Attributes

Power Grid[35]
:Category:Power Grid/Fighting Skills/Some Training:Category:Power Grid/Energy Projection/Single Type: Short Range:Category:Power Grid/Durability/Enhanced:Category:Power Grid/Speed/Speed of Light:Category:Power Grid/Strength/Normal:Category:Power Grid/Intelligence/Normal

Powers

Gestalt Photokinesis: Originally she could only generate light when in physical contact with her twin brother Northstar. Should she link hands with Northstar, they could generate a light equivalent to a lighthouse beacon (one million foot candles) by each sibling’s varying the rate of acceleration of his or her own molecules out of phase with those of the other's.[30]

Light Generation: She can generate from her body a bright white light equivalent at maximum intensity to half million-foot candles. She does so by varying the rate of acceleration of the molecules of her body out of phase with one another, thereby generating a cascade of photonic discharges.[30]

  • Calming Light: She has the ability to send out a calming light that the target feels emotions and memories that make them at peace. It can even be used to break telepathic control.[30]
  • Concussive Blasts: She has the ability to send out powerful concussive blasts that can do considerable damage. She can project these from her hand and out from her body in a series of concussive bursts.[30]
  • Lightning: She has the ability to project lighting blasts with devastating results.

Superhuman Speed: She possesses the ability to propel her body at superhuman speed, becoming a living projectile. Through an act of concentration, Aurora can channel a portion of the kinetic energy of the atomic motion in her body’s molecules in a single direction.[30] This can accelerate her body in a velocity in direct proportions to the amount of kinetic energy she has tapped. It was once theoretically possible for her to reach 99% of the speed of light (186,272 miles per second in a vacuum), although she never traveled at anywhere near that speed since if she did, she would wreak great damage upon herself and her environment. Aurora can also move a portion of her body at superhuman speed at a time. Dr. Langkowski's actions in molecularly restructuring Aurora's body greatly reduced the potential limits of her speed.[31] When her original powers were restored she also regained her original speed level.

  • Molecular Acceleration: She has the ability to accelerate the molecules within an inanimate object or a living being by touch, causing the target to tear itself apart from the subsequent stress generated upon it.[30]
  • Heightened Reflexes: She possesses reflexes far above the average human. Reflexes are so advanced that she can go through an entire apartment, checking all the rooms and taking out the survivors in just mere seconds.
  • Flight: She has the ability to propel herself through the air.[30] To hover in mid-air Aurora applies thrust downward in a carefully controlled manner. When carrying another, unprotected human being aloft, Aurora does not move faster than 60 miles per hour in order that her "passenger" may be able to breathe easily (Aurora herself can breathe at somewhat higher rates due to training) and so that the "passenger" will not suffer harm from wind, friction, or air turbulence.
Quote1 True, I can fly at Mach-50 without effort and emit regenerative energy when I touch my brother, but mostly that's behind me. Quote2
Jeanne-Marie[src]
  • Accelerated Metabolism: She possesses a boosted metabolism that can be used to heal wounds quickly.
  • Enhanced Durability: As a side effect of partially robbing her molecules of their atomic motion, the binding forces within and between the molecules increase. This enhances the sheer toughness of Aurora's entire body. This effect gives her skin enough durability to withstand the ravages of wind, friction and air turbulence.[30]
  • G-Force Compensation: She has the ability to use her super speed to automatically compensate for any G-Force difference.
  • Invisibility to Technological Detection: Langkowski claimed he had made Aurora undetectable to gene-scan devices that look for mutants.

Abilities

  • Hand-to-Hand Combat: Aurora was trained in hand-to-hand combat.[32]

Weaknesses

  • Mental Ilness: Aurora is schizophrenic as well as having 'dissociative identity disorder', also known as multiple personality disorder. Aurora originally only possessed two distinct personalities, but later displayed that not only did she take advantage of her psychological ailment to her advantage, but she actually learned how to spontaneously create new personalities when needed:
    • Jeanne-Marie Beaubier Personality (One): Her primary personality of a prim and proper, repressed woman.[33]
    • Aurora Personality (Two): A second personality of an uninhibited extrovert.[13]
    • Personality Three:[13] Likes fine wines, horse racing, and casual ultra-violence.
    • Personality Four:[13] A weekend goth, who occasionally self-harms, and has an inexplicable aversion to shellfish.
    • Personality Five:[13] Likes sports activities, photography, and is an amateur paleontologist (someone who studies prehistoric life). Spoke only in French.
    • Personality Six:[13] Likes opera, gardening, and creationist literature.
    • Personality Seven:[13] Likes graffiti, mild S&M, and gambling.
    • Personality Eight:[13] Is reckless and is a committed masochist.

Paraphernalia

Equipment

Aurora's costume is specially made so it does not tear while she uses her powers.

Transportation

Alpha Flight Omnijet.

Notes

  • Aurora's Identity is known to certain Canadian government officials.

See Also

Links and References

References

  1. In Alpha Flight #50 he was named Jean-Claude Baptiste.
  2. Loki claimed that she was a Norse elf named Danae.[citation needed]
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