Shatterstar
Rictor and Shatterstar became a two man team during this
time, only crossing paths with X-Force’s members twice.
Their mission was to dismantle the Richter family’s gun
selling organization, and the two spent many months
attacking and sending its members to jail. It had been
hinted that Mojo was still after Shatterstar at this
time, but the Spineless One failed to obtain him. After
a brief (but unwanted) scuffle with Domino, ‘Star
managed to free Rictor from the clutches of the evil
Arcade. They then continued on their journey.
During the dismantling months, Shatterstar had really
settled into his role as a human on Earth. He was seen
cracking jokes and was upbeat and positive whilst with
Rictor. The two were closer than ever, so it seemed, and
they continued their vigilante campaign for the next
couple of years.
Then, without any explanation, they were separated.
Shatterstar had moved to the nation of Madripoor, where
he pursued a career in the international fight
circuitry. His status as a mutant during this time was
kept under wraps, as his organization frowned upon
people with ‘advantages’. Shatty was back to the angry,
hostile persona he had fought so hard to overcome; he
did not have any friends in Madripoor, and he also
seemed to take up drinking.
It was there he met up with Spiral once more. The time
dancer tricked him into obtaining a dagger (Five Fingers
of Annihilation) for her, and the two battled for its
possession through many dimensions. When he finally
tracked her down, it was in an alternate world where he
was supposed to be dead. She had claimed he fell through
time for over three years to get there, but whether or
not she was telling the truth remains to be seen. The
dimension he stumbled upon was nearly pre-historic, and
X-Force was operating there as a rebellion against
Spiral (or ‘Apocalypse’ in that ‘verse). Shatterstar
fought alongside them to defeat her for the dagger once
and for all. The end of the mission saw Cable send
Shatty to a Sacrarium to work on his personal
development again.
Months spent with the hypocritical monks only seemed to
irritate Shatterstar further, and he left the Sarcarium
with Cable and Domino to operate with X-Force once more.
The reunited team saw a massive battle against the alien
Skornn, and its defeat came with Shatterstar's Five
Fingers of Annihilation. X-Force (along with
Shatterstar) continued to operate as a unit for many
months after their victory, including after the
Decimation.
Following M-Day, Shatterstar was one of the mutants
who had retained his powers. A great majority of the
remaining mutant population was being kept hidden on the
estate grounds of the Xavier Institute (home of the
X-Men, and former base ops for X-Force). The group was
unhappy with being kept there, and in a rescue attempt,
Shatterstar and Domino blew open the walls surrounding
the mansion to free their fellow mutants. It was not
revealed who they were working for (although it was
hinted that they were employed by someone), but
they were operating once more under the name X-Force.
Both mutants fought alongside the X-Men against Tony
Stark and his pro-registration sentiment. However, when
it was discovered that the 198 was under attack in their
new base by a member of SHIELD and fellow mutant Johnny
Dee, X-Force, the X-Men, and the pro-registration heroes
fought together to take down them down. Shatterstar got
into an altercation during this time with a mutant
called Micromax. The man nearly quadrupled his own size
whilst fighting 'Star, so the warrior held no
hesitations for stabbing him through the gut. This
particular incident seemed to haunt him at the end of
the story, which would show -- that once again -- Shatty
did have some sort of emotional thing going on. Either
way, the heroes succeeded, and in the end everyone went
their separate ways with their lives spared.
After an undetermined amount of time, Shatterstar was somehow finally able to return home to his proper dimension and timeline. What happened there is still a mystery as of yet, but we do know that it changed-- 'and not for the better'. Shatterstar described the travel as being far too complicated to explain, and only returned to Earth because he'd missed his friendship with Rictor. It was while traveling between the realms that Shatterstar encountered the mysterious 'Cortex', and was brainwashed into hunting down X-Factor Investigations.