BIOGRAPHY - Page 6
The silver lining of all these pitfalls was that Angelica could progress with her college studies without any distractions. With Vance behind her and retired from super-heroics, Angelica's initial art major carried her into a masters' program studying Byzantine and medieval art. She didn't leave the world of capes and costumes behind altogether, either. A chance encounter at a mixer introduced Angelica to a new group of friends: Patsy Walker (Hellcat), Felicia Hardy (Black Cat) and Monica Rambeau (Captain Marvel Photon Pulsar Spectrum). Despite their diverse and eclectic backgrounds, the four women soon became inseparable girlfriends. They became a regular foursome for drinks, movies and gossip. [Marvel Divas #1]
Angelica soon needed all the friends and support she could find. Six months had long since passed since Hank Pym gave Angelica the bio-circuitry suit to help jumpstart her natural microwave immunity. When the deadline came and went, Angelica stopped wearing the suit and tried to put the whole ordeal behind her. Perhaps foolishly, she made no follow up appointments with Dr. Pym or any other doctors to confirm she was indeed safe from further microwave exposure. This decision cost her dearly when she discovered a lump under her breast. Regular science, super-science and mystical scans all agreed: cancer. Patsy, Felicia and Monica helped Angel prepare for a rigorous schedule of chemotherapy and the negative side effects of her treatment. Patsy also helped Angelica set up a blog to educate others about her experience and bring public attention to the issue. [Marvel Divas #1-2]
Eventually, Angelica went into surgery to remove the malignant tissue, but the success of the procedure was by no means guaranteed. While waiting by Angelica's bedside for the results, Patsy was approached by her ex-husband, the Son of Satan. Daimon offered to magically ensure Angelica's good health in exchange for Patsy returning to Hell with him. A groggy Angelica woke up just in time to hear Patsy accept the offer, and disappear with Daimon in a flash of brimstone. Unwilling to let Patsy make such a sacrifice on her behalf, Firestar gathered Monica and the Black Cat, who found a way to storm Hell and get Patsy back. Daimon's magic was reversed in the process, but the surgery turned out to be successful anyway — Angelica's cancer was gone, but she needed to be attentive for any possible signs of relapse. [Marvel Divas #3-4]
During her recovery, Angelica went back to living with her father in New Jersey. She was surprised and pleased to hear Bart had starting dating again, but surprised and less pleased to hear it was the mother of her old high school tormentor, Cassie. A dinner with the four of them was a disaster thanks to Cassie's rudeness and drinking. 
After learning Cassie was going through a bad divorce, Angelica tried to reach out to her on another night, but Cassie rejected her efforts. Cassie got behind the wheel and nearly killed herself on the drive, but Firestar managed to stop her car safely, if not comfortably. While Cassie was recovering at the Jones residence, Angelica opened up to Cassie, showing her the wig she still had to wear because of her chemo treatments. Despite her own troubles, Angelica still found it in her to reach out to her childhood rival, and rededicated herself to making a difference in the world and continuing to live her life. [Firestar One-shot]
One day, Firestar found herself allied with several young heroes against the murderous Bastards of Evil, teen super-villains claiming to be the unwanted children of famous villains. The battle turned tragic when one Bastard named Warhead deliberately committed suicide with his nuclear powers, making a statement by blowing up at the Ground Zero site in Manhattan. Firestar and the former Initiative hero Gravity partnered up several times while investigating the Bastards, who turned out to be the brainwashed victims of a gamma mutate called the Superior. Together with Nomad, Spider-Girl and El Toro, they put a stop to the Bastards and their mission of hatred and anarchy. With Gravity's help, Firestar soaked up the various forms of radiation put off by the Bastards and released it harmlessly into space before anyone else could get hurt. [Young Allies #1-5]
Despite their team-up, Firestar refused to join Nomad and a team of "Young Allies" full time. She also rejected Emma Frost, who arrived in New York to make a rather heavy-handed offer to join the mutant community on Utopia. Angelica deflected Emma, saying she was done letting herself be defined by her cancer, her teams, or her relationships — she was ready to find who she wanted to be, not who other people wanted her to be. Despite her newfound independent streak, Firestar still agreed to stay in touch with her new friends from the Bastards fight, particularly Gravity, who was looking for a regular partner to go on patrol with him. [Young Allies #6]
After an adventure in Murderworld with the students of the Avengers Academy, Firestar and Gravity were invited to a "prom" for young heroes at the Infinite Mansion. Justice was an instructor at the Academy, and Angelica was initially tolerant of socializing with him and his new girlfriend, the buxom blonde Ultra Girl. At least, until Ultra Girl mentioned they were sleeping together. Firestar was furious with Justice, particularly because of the "waiting until marriage" speech he once laid on her. After Angelica stormed off, Vance caught up with her. He told her that when they were together, he was willing to wait because he could see their whole future unfolding. After their break-up, though, Vance wasn't sure what the future held anymore, particularly when he and Suzy first got together during the underground resistance against Norman Osborn's corrupt Initiative. Angel forgave Vance, mostly, and they finally talked about how badly their relationship had ended, reaching a kind of peace with one another. [Avengers Academy #13]
Firestar and Gravity continued working together, and still occasionally partnered up with Nomad and her friends. However, their non-team fractured even further after El Toro returned to Columbia and Nomad was killed during a battle with Onslaught. [Onslaught Unleashed #1-4] Despite their losses, Firestar and Gravity kept up the good fight, stopping an earthquake from consuming Las Vegas and holding the line defending Manhattan during the Spider-plague outbreak. [Fear Itself: Youth in Revolt #1-6, Spider-Island crossover]
Perhaps because of a chance encounter with Wolverine after the defeat of the Spider Queen, Firestar was turned on to the idea of working at the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning. (Certainly the fact that Emma Frost was no longer associated with these X-Men may have helped her thinking.) Although her initial teaching application was rejected by headmistress Kitty Pryde after she expressed some interest in Iceman, [Wolverine and the X-Men (1st series) #19] 
Angelica eventually found herself accepted to the faculty at the Jean Grey School and as a member of the ever-uncanny X-Men. Where Justice was once giddy and nervous at the idea of being an Avenger, Firestar felt the same way about joining the X-Men. Before arriving at the school, Angel was concerned about the X-Men's rather chaotic reputation. However, on her first day, she went to Hell and made it burn. [Amazing X-Men (2nd series) #1-5] Angel spent a few months with the X-Men, dealing with the various threats and crises that seemed to follow the X-Men everywhere. She fought against a Wendigo invasion in Canada and traveled to Vietnam to oppose the resurgence of the Juggernaut. [Amazing X-Men (2nd series) #8-19] She faded from prominence among the X-Men after the threat of M-Pox began to threaten the world.
Firestar was among the mutants who made a home in New Tian when Steve Rogers and Hydra took command of the United States. Possibly receiving a secondary mutation under the influence of Mothervine, Angelica served under the seemingly peaceful mutant ruler, Xorn. She would have been devastated to learn that Xorn was only a puppet being used by Emma Frost to guide the fate of mutantkind. [X-Men: Blue #7-9]
Despite her membership with the X-Men ending after so brief a time, Firestar remained on call for the team in times of need. She responded to defend the tomb of Wolverine when it came under attack by the Reavers. Angelica Jones has proven herself as a New Warrior, Avenger and now an X-Man, and her veteran experience will continue to support the heroes of Earth in the years to come. [Hunt for Wolverine #1]