SLIPSTREAM

BIOGRAPHY

Davis and his sister Heather were raised by a family by the name of Cameron in Surfer’s Paradise, on the East Coast of Australia. Unbeknownst to either, however, was that they were actually the children of an Australian crime lord known as the “Viceroy.” [X-Treme X-Men (1st series) #7]

Davis grew up to love the beach, and became a skilled surfer. He was riding a wave on a sunny day when Storm came to Surfer’s Paradise to keep an eye on he and Heather, should the assassins that killed their biological father come after them. Davis was instantly captivated by Storm’s beauty but, before he could even speak with her, he was knocked off his surfboard by a giant shark. His sister Heather was a lifeguard at the beach and rushed into the water to save him. Assisted by Storm and her teammate Thunderbird, Heather rescued Davis from the shark and brought him back to shore. Davis wasn’t breathing, however, so Storm used a bolt of lightning to restart his heart. Davis woke and was very pleased to see Storm.

Storm agreed to go out on a date with the enthralled Davis, and the two were accompanied by Heather and Thunderbird when they were ambushed by assassins. Powerless, Davis had no choice but to hide, while Heather revealed her own mutant power and assisted Storm and Thunderbird in holding off the assassins. Watching Storm in action just made Davis feel even more enthralled towards her. When the assassins were defeated, Davis and his sister learned the truth about their parentage, and wondered whether being the Viceroy’s children meant that they would inherit his power over his mob or just get them killed. Davis and Heather (now calling herself Lifeguard) agreed to accompany Storm and Thunderbird to a safer location with their teammates. [X-Treme X-Men (1st series) #6-7]

When the X-Men were attacked in Sydney by the troops of the inter-dimensional warlord Kahn, Lifeguard and Gambit were both captured. To his surprise, Davis learned from the X-Men’s Sage that he possessed mutant genes after all, only they were latent. However, Sage had the ability to activate Davis’s latent mutant gene, granting him mutant powers which would assist the X-Men in locating their missing teammates. Thunderbird was vocal in his opposition to this, but Davis desperately wanted to save his sister, so Sage jumpstarted his latent x-gene, activating Davis’s ability to teleport via riding a warp-wave. To Davis, this was just like surfing, something he had done for years, and he was able to teleport the X-Men to Madripoor, riding a shortened surf board in the process. Davis also donned a red and black costume in keeping with the standard uniform designs of Storm’s team of X-Men at the time. [X-Treme X-Men (1st series) #10]

While in Madripoor, Davis took the name Slipstream and, after rescuing his sister, the X-Men found themselves protecting the invader Kahn. Slipstream became jealous of the attention Kahn was giving Storm, even though there was nothing serious between he and Storm since their earlier date. [X-Treme X-Men (1st series) #11]

When the X-Men found themselves caught up in Kahn’s inter-dimensional war, they spent some time in the catacombs beneath Madripoor, where refugees had started to gather. Taking some time to himself, Davis began to realize the life-changing decision he made by accepting Sage’s offer. He even started to cry, but Thunderbird, who previously warned Davis about accepting Sage’s offer, comforted his new friend. [X-Treme X-Men (1st series) #12]

As the X-Men continued the battle against Kahn’s forces, some of them, including Lifeguard, went into space. Slipstream, however, was left in Madripoor, doing what he could to combat the invaders. In doing so, Slipstream came into conflict with the X-Men’s enemy, Vargas. Though he thought he would be able to deal with the villain, Slipstream had not quite mastered his ability and was overpowered by Vargas. Flying on his warp-board at the time, he fell from the sky into a building which then crumbled around him. Luckily, Davis was later found by Rogue, but he was already feeling that he was not cut out for this new mutant life. [X-Treme X-Men (1st series) #14-15]

Davis was left out of the rest of the battle with Kahn and the invaders as he was too badly injured. When his sister and the other X-Men returned to Madripoor, Davis was reunited with his sister, who in her absence had been transformed into a new, avian form, denoting her Shi’ar heritage. Not recognizing her, Davis panicked at her appearance, believing her to be one of the invaders. Thunderbird tried to tell him that it was his sister, but Davis wouldn’t believe him. [X-Treme X-Men (1st series) #16-17]

As Madripoor recovered from the devastation of Kahn and his invaders, so did the X-Men. Slipstream’s physical wounds were tended to, but his mental wounds were more difficult to heal, as he now believed that his sister must have been killed, not willing to see that his sister simply went through a transformation. Davis was later counselled by the visiting Nightcrawler and, while he was convinced that the transformed Lifeguard was indeed his sister, Davis could not accept that transformation and worried that by allowing Sage to jumpstart his latent mutant gene, something worse might happen to him. Rather than continue to hang around with the X-Men, Slipstream departed, without even saying goodbye to Storm or Thunderbird. He simply left a note for Lifeguard, which Nightcrawler gave to her. [X-Treme X-Men (1st series) #18]

Lifeguard and Thunderbird later left the X-Men to go in search of Davis. It is unknown whether they ever found him, or if they did how that meeting went. However, soon after, Thunderbird and Lifeguard joined the X-Corporation based in Singapore. When M-Day struck, Davis was among the many mutants de-powered. He probably counted himself among the lucky ones. [New Avengers (1st series) #18]

At some point, Slipstream's powers returned, either through Mothervine, or perhaps he participated in the Crucible on the mutant nation of Krakoa where he now resides. Slipstream was on hand to defend the island from an invasion of Russian armed forces and, following the invasion, he was seen gathered with several other mutants waiting for Colossus to explain himself for his involvement in the invasion. [X-Force (6th series) #11-12] Surely by now, Davis has been reunited with his sister, Lifeguard, as she has also resurfaced on Krakoa.

ALTERNATE VERSIONS

In the reality known as The End, Slipstream worked alongside Multiple Man and Siryn as Hounds for the Slavers. He had refined his mutant power so that he could now teleport across inter-galactic space. Unlike the other Hounds, Slipstream worked for the Slavers for free - because he wanted to. It was later revealed that Slipstream was under the influence of Cassandra Nova at this time.

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On Battleworld, in the Domain representing the Age of Apocalypse, Slipstream and Lifeguard were members of the Elite Mutant Force serving under the Horsemen. As was common for Sinister, he recruited mutant siblings to serve together as an example of good genetic material.