BIOGRAPHY - Page 3
After the other Warriors returned from Asia, Firestar got Nova and Namorita to join her in a brash attempt to break Vance out of Guardsman custody before he reached the Vault. Vance quickly put a stop to their escape attempt, however, and insisted that they allow him to stand by his conviction and do what the law required. The Guardsmen gave him a few minutes alone with Firestar to say their final good-byes, and Angelica offered to make love to Vance for the first time in the privacy of the woods. Vance did not accept, however, and said that he loved her enough to wait. Vance promised Angel that their first time would be special, and on their wedding night. Although not explicitly a proposal, Angelica took comfort and strength from Vance and their "someday" plans, and vowed to continue with the Warriors until he was released. [New Warriors (1st series) #26]
Angel was troubled for some time after Vance's departure, a feeling only exacerbated when her father 
lost his job and the Warriors began tackling thornier legal and moral problems in their adventures. All of this pushed Firestar to begin letting loose more with her powers, and she began manipulating a tremendous amount of microwave energy. Originally rather passive in battle and timid in the use of her power, Firestar evolved into being the Warriors' "big gun." More than one battle plan could be simplified as "Clear the area of everything we want to keep, then unleash Firestar." On one occasion, she held off nearly a dozen super-villains and assorted goons with ease, and later routed an entire armed forces battalion in Trans-Sabal. [New Warriors Annual #2, New Warriors (1st series) #29-30]
One day, Angel received a phone call from Sam Guthrie, Cannonball, informing her that the Hellions had been killed and the White Queen put into a coma by Trevor Fitzroy. 
Because of her brief association with the Hellions, Angelica decided to accompany Cannonball and the former Hellion named Warpath down to Nova Roma, the hidden Roman civilization in Brazil where two other former Hellions, Empath and Magma, were currently residing. Once there, however, they discovered that Empath had been using his empathic powers to manipulate the entire city. Firestar had developed enough control over her microwave emissions to scramble Empath's psionic frequency, which only forced her to fight off the other three who had been turned into his pawns. Angel managed to pressure Manuel into releasing his influence, and the people of Nova Roma had their self-control returned to them. After this adventure, burying her past with Emma Frost and the Massachusetts Academy, Firestar decided to update her look. With Namorita's help, she discarded the costume Emma Frost had provided her in exchange for something totally her own. [New Warriors (1st series) #31]
Firestar's self-confidence in her abilities continued to grow as time and time again she proved to be an important player in major conflicts. 
She was the only hero in a city of heroes able to seriously halt the spread of the invading Darkforce Dimension, overshadowing many veteran members of the Avengers and Fantastic Four fighting at her side. During the spree killing and mob rule of Manhattan instigated by Carnage and his gang, Firestar's microwave power was the only weapon that consistently scared the psychopathic symbiote into stopping his atrocities. At a low moment in the conflict, Angel let herself be prodded into microwaving Carnage onto the point of death by her ally, Venom, but Spider-Man eventually spoke up and convinced Angelica to hold back before she became a murderer. Although her moral center remained intact, Firestar's power levels became highly respected by friend and foe alike, and she was often cited as the most powerful member of the New Warriors. [New Warriors (1st series) #32-34, New Warriors Annual #3, Maximum Carnage crossover]
Sometime thereafter, a street gang named the Poison Memories decided to strike at their nemesis Night Thrasher through the New Warriors, and at the Warriors through their families. After surreptitiously acquiring Namorita's address book, the Memories began systematically kidnapping or assaulting the Warriors' family members. 
Angelica came home from a night out with her friend Jupiter only to find her father in the front doorway, bleeding out from a gunshot wound to the chest. Angel took her father in her arms and flew him to the nearest hospital, revealing her identity to Jupes in the process. With her father on the critical list in the ICU, Firestar went to the Warriors' Crash Pad to meet with her teammates, where they were contacted by the Poison Memories. Making it clear that they still held Speedball's father and Nova's brother hostage, the Mems demanded that the Warriors surrender themselves to the gang as prisoners in order to draw out Night Thrasher. They were successful in that regard at least, but Thrash managed to defeat the Memories' enforcer and free his teammates. Armed with the knowledge of where their loved ones were being held, the Warriors assaulted the last of the Poison Memories, recovered their families, and defeated the gang's leader, Kimeiko Ashu. [New Warriors (1st series) #37-38, Night Thrasher #1]
Angelica returned to her shattered life, and sat by her father's bedside until he was elevated out of critical condition. Time passed, as Angelica helped Bart Jones recover from his wounds and adjust to using a cane in order to get around. Events took a turn for the better when Vance was let out on parole three months earlier than expected, and Firestar and the Warriors came out to the Vault for his release from custody. Initially, it seemed as if Vance had changed for the worse while in prison, his view of justice twisted by anti-mutant advocates and hate groups who came out to protest his release. Vance left Angel soon after his release to work with the unscrupulous businessman named Shinobi Shaw. [New Warriors (1st series) #39, 43]
In fact, however, Vance and Night Thrasher had been setting up a sting to take down Shinobi and his associates in the criminal club known as the Upstarts. The Upstarts had made a game out of hunting mutants for sport and profit, and Vance's information indicated that the next victims being targeted were former members of the New Mutants and the Hellions, including Angel herself. The situation got sticky when Vance, now known as Justice, was forced to play the part of Shinobi's agent and "kidnap" Firestar on behalf of the Upstarts' game and their sponsor, Gamesmaster. Being an omnipath, Gamesmaster was well aware of Shinobi's plans to betray him, and Vance's plans to betray Shinobi, and so he took mental control over Justice and Firestar mere moments after they entered his chalet. Gamesmaster used the two Warriors and the other captives as his pawns, but a united front of X-Force and the remaining New Warriors managed to rescue their friends and end the Upstarts' association. With that, Justice and Firestar truly reunited and he returned to the New Warriors full time. [New Warriors (1st series) #45-46, X-Force (1st series) #32-33]
Shortly thereafter, Angel and Vance were flying home from dinner with their friends, talking over Nita's offer to take on Vance as a roommate, when they were struck by bolts of chronal displacement energy. The New Warriors' nemesis the Sphinx had returned, and he wanted to clear his old enemies off the playing board before restarting his plans for world domination. Each launched into a different timeframe, and Angelica found herself in 1692 outside of Salem, Massachusetts, during the time of the Salem witch trials. She was nearly burned at the stake because of her mutant powers, but was saved partly through the intervention of an actual sorceress. The two women spent time discussing the similarities between the 17th century plight of Salem's witches, and the modern era's fear and mistrust of mutants. [Time and Time Again crossover]
One night after her return, Angel went to a high school party with her friend, Jupiter. During the party, Jupiter was raped by one of the guys at the house. When she broke down and confessed what had happened to Angelica on the way home, Angel was furious. She changed into Firestar and took off after the guy when he left the party. After forcing his car off the road, Firestar beat the boy and came within inches of blasting him with microwaves in such a way that would ensure he never had a chance to rape any girl ever again. She stopped herself from mutilating the boy at the last second, but it was still a dark experience for both her and Jupiter. [New Warriors Annual #4]