BIOGRAPHY - Page 2
Sometime later, after taking a second expedition trip to Nova Roma, Roberto returned to the School for Gifted Youngsters. [New Mutants (1st series) #43] Not long after his return, his alien teammate Warlock’s father Magus ambushed the New Mutants. To save them, Magik shunted them first to Limbo and then through time, accidentally splitting up the team in the process. Sunspot ended up stranded in a future in which Sentinels had overrun the planet and wiped out almost all the mutants and superheroes, save for that timeline’s versions of Cannonball, Moonstar, Lila Cheney and a few unnamed others. Roberto was horrified to learn the few remaining mutants were fleeing the planet to live in Lila’s Dyson Sphere across the universe, and scolded them for running instead of fighting. He vowed to prevent that reality from coming to pass—by any means necessary. [New Mutants (1st series) #46-50]
After defeating Magus and returning home to Xavier’s School, things returned to normal. However, during a casual soccer game, Sunspot overreacted to a collision with Sam and lashed 
out at him with his mutant powers, nearly killing him. Torn apart by guilt and shunned by his teammates, he went to Magneto’s office for guidance, only to find the office empty and his confidential student file lying on the table. Roberto made the mistake of reading what former headmaster Professor X wrote about him during an evaluation: that Roberto’s arrogance and quick temper may one day lead him down the same path as his father. Horrified, Bobby fled the school and went to New York City. His teammate Warlock, worried about Roberto’s wellbeing, followed suit. [Fallen Angels #1]
Once in New York City, Roberto— concluding he was not cut out for a life of superheroism— declared himself a villain. Contrary to his stated motives, however, he saved the life of a street 
urchin named Chance and became embroiled with the gang to which she belonged, the Fallen Angels. Led by the Vanisher and comprised primarily of super-powered teenagers who engaged in petty thievery, the Fallen Angels traveled to different planets all over the universe, courtesy of their resident teleporter, Ariel. They eventually discovered Ariel was gaming all of them and intended to deliver them as prisoners to the other members of her race, who needed mutants to catalyze their race’s own stagnating mutative process. Upon escaping, Roberto forgave Ariel for her treachery. However, his exposure to true criminals, traitors and thieves revealed the difference between them: although he had resigned himself to villainy, Roberto could not stop caring about people or protecting the weak— something the Fallen Angels had no trouble doing. With Warlock at his side, he decided to leave their gang. [Fallen Angels #2-8]
Unfortunately, Roberto found himself lacking the confidence to return to his former friends and teammates, as he still believed himself unworthy of heroism. In an attempt to boost his confidence, he tried to fight crime in New York City. Unfortunately, he succeeded only in mistakenly attacking other heroes, like Spider-Man and Power Pack. To boost his confidence, Power Pack staged an elaborate ruse that positioned him to save the day, but even that failed to convince him. Out of ideas, Power Pack directly pleaded with Bobby to return to Xavier’s School. Warlock promptly forced him to return home. [Power Pack (1st series) #33, New Mutants (1st series) #59]
Sunspot returned to the New Mutants just in time to witness their teammate Cypher die in battle. Like most of the New Mutants, Roberto initially blamed himself for Cypher’s death, but later blamed Magneto’s absentee leadership. His anger festered. [New Mutants (1st series) #59-61]
During an unsolicited adventure into to space, Sunspot became smitten with the alien girl called Gosamyr, without realizing she was manipulating his emotions with her powers. Much to the befuddlement of their teammates, he and Cannonball vied for her attention, growing quite hostile toward each other. Meanwhile, Gosamyr’s exposure to a group of people who truly cared about each other and were willing to assist complete strangers induced a change of heart in her. When a situation developed in which they desperately needed her help, she came to their aid. Upon returning to Earth with her, however, she was deemed too dangerous to remain on the planet. Sunspot fought to keep her, but Gosamyr, agreeing with the assessment, voluntarily chose to leave. Sunspot, however, was sad to see her depart; he had genuinely grown to care about her. [New Mutants (1st series) #67-74]
The New Mutants returned to their school in Westchester, only to find it in ruins. While there, they encountered their headmaster Magneto with the other members of the Hellfire Club’s Inner Circle. The New Mutants overheard Magneto freely admitting to molding the New Mutants into soldiers for the coming battles against mankind. Enraged by this revelation, Roberto and the New Mutants rejected his leadership and parted ways. Bobby even made a point of saying he would never join them. Magneto told him, however, that he would not only join the Hellfire Club in the future, but that he would be the first of the New Mutants to do so— and that he would be welcome when that time came. [New Mutants (1st series) #75]
With their school destroyed, the New Mutants merged teams with X-Factor's young charges the X-Terminators, adding to their ranks Rusty, Skids, Rictor and Boom-Boom, the latter of whom Roberto had met during his time with the Fallen Angels. These “new” New Mutants lived aboard X-Factor’s Ship and operated without direct oversight. [New Mutants (1st series) #76, X-Factor (1st series) #41]
Not long after the New Mutants allied themselves with X-Factor, a mysterious mutant named Cable took them under his wing and fashioned them into a more proactive, militant squad. Although occasionally resentful of Cable, Roberto soon warmed to him and vowed to do him proud in battle. He respected Cable as a leader in a way he never did either Professor X or Magneto. [New Mutants (1st series) #87-94]
Unfortunately, Roberto soon received news that his father, Emmanuel, had died of a heart attack. Accompanied by Gideon, an old family friend and fellow mutant, Roberto returned to Brazil to attend to his father’s business—and, much to his surprise, learned that he was now the CEO of DaCosta Industries. Unaware that Gideon had induced his father's coronary to lure him back to Brazil for his own purposes, Roberto decided to commit himself to his new responsibilities full-time and formally resigned from the New Mutants. Although angered by Cable’s indifference toward his departure, Sunspot shared a heartfelt goodbye with his remaining teammates and friends, Cannonball and Boom-Boom. [New Mutants (1st series) #98-99]
During the six months that followed, Roberto learned the ways of the cutthroat business world from his new mentor, Gideon. Roberto was elated when Gideon acknowledged his business prowess by inviting him to participate in the stock buyout of a powerful rival firm. [X-Force (1st series) #1-3]
What Roberto didn’t realize, however, was that Gideon’s interest in him stemmed solely from his mistaken belief that Roberto was a member of the immortal mutant race known as the Externals. Upon learning that Roberto was not an External, Gideon ended his tutorship as abruptly as he had started it. He attacked Roberto, imprisoned him and turned him over for genetic experimentation 
at the hands of his lead scientist, Dr. Segismund Joshua. Sunspot suffered immeasurable pain as the scientists bombarded him with gargantuan amounts of solar energy in order to test the limits of his energy storage capabilities. He nearly died in the process. Fortunately for him, his former teammates, now calling themselves X-Force, learned of his imprisonment and rescued him just as he was about to die. Sunspot escaped with X-Force. However, unbeknownst to any of them—including either Sunspot or Gideon— Dr. Joshua had performed another experiment on Roberto that would eventually have severe ramifications. [X-Force (1st series) #12-15, 79-80]
Sunspot joined his old friends Cannonball, Boom-Boom, Siryn and Rictor as a member of X-Force. Having long lived with the sole power of strength (without oft-corresponding invulnerability), the now powered-up Sunspot grappled with his enhanced abilities, which allowed him to redirect the solar energy he absorbed as concussive blasts. He would eventually discover even new applications for his boosted powers, such as flight and the ability to receive physical sustenance from sunlight. [X-Force (1st series) #19, 28, 71]
After the apparent death of Cable, X-Force jumped at the opportunity to salvage their late leader’s former headquarters, the orbital ship Graymalkin. While there, Sunspot and Cannonball uncovered some startling personal revelations about Cable—namely, that he valued the two of them as if they were his own sons and that he considered them to be his legacy. [X-Force (1st series) #20-22]
It was not long before X-Force once again clashed with Gideon and the immortal mutants called the Externals. After the Externals kidnapped three of his friends, Sunspot led the attack on their headquarters in order to rescue them. He personally defeated Gideon and further humiliated him by outwardly rejecting his training in deference to that received from Cable. Shortly after purging Gideon from his life, Roberto was reunited with Cable, who delivered him some astounding news: his father Emmanuel had not died of a heart attack at all—Gideon had poisoned him. [X-Force (1st series) #23, 25]
Sunspot continued his streak of surpassing his mentors when Magneto, deeming him and Cannonball invaluable because they represented Xavier’s second generation of recruits, invited them to join his Acolytes on Avalon. They accepted, but only to get help for their brainwashed friends Rusty and Skids. Once there, they rejected their former headmaster’s invitation and explained they had chosen their own path for mutant-human relations. Their courage and leadership inspired even Cable, who was astounded to discover he was learning lessons from two young men who used to be his pupils. [X-Force (1st series) #25]
It was not long before a mysterious mutant called Reignfire appeared as the leader of the latest incarnation of the Mutant Liberation Front, whose ranks included former New Mutant Dani Moonstar. This new MLF tried to assassinate Project: Wideawake director Henry Peter Gyrich, but Sunspot and X-Force intervened and forced them to abandon their mission. As Reignfire, Moonstar and the teleporting mutant Locus prepared to flee, they dropped Gyrich from the sky and took one final shot at him. Sunspot, applying his newfound ability to rechannel solar energy, managed to fly into the air and position himself in the way of Locus and Moonstar’s attacks. This noble act saved Gyrich’s life. However, Sunspot’s interception created an unforeseen reaction with Locus and Moonstar’s powers. He and Locus both let out horrible screams, as if they were being torn apart, and disappeared amidst a large explosion. Both went missing and were presumed dead. [X-Force (1st series) #26-28]