Sidestep

Powers and Abilities

Sidestep can open portals in space, covering vast distances, and even allowing travel to other dimensions .

She is experienced at using these portals offensively. Either opening them under an unwary opponent, or opening them behind for her to make a sneak attack at her enemies.

When fighting alongside her team mates, she normally operates in a supporting role, so she’s ready in case an emergency retreat is called for.

Certain other dimensions can leave her disoriented and unable to open a portal until she can acclimatize.

History

When the mutants left Earth to avoid persecution, just prior the Martian invasion in the 20^th Century, the exodus eventually led them to a habitable planet they named Haven.

Over time the number of mutants dwindled as more and more of the births resulted in baseline humans. Eventually the nine remaining mutants became an elite ruling over the humans with an iron hand, with Rancor the undisputed leader of the mutants.

A resistance developed among the humans. When the mutants eventually tracked them down, they discovered that one of their own, Bear, was collaborating with them. They killed Bear and the other resistance members they found at the meeting.

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Step by step

The mutants were then contacted by the Guardians of the Galaxy, who had just located Haven.

Rancor and her lieutenants were suspicious of the newcomers but met with a few of them. When they discovered that other Guardians were meeting with the underground resistance, Rancor attacked them.

She also ordered the mutants to put down the revolting humans. They battled the Guardians, losing two of their number, Rhodney and Blaster. Then they had to face the threat of a new Phoenix host being empowered.

Realising there was little chance of victory, Rancor detonated bombs to destroy the planet. She was determined that if she couldn’t rule haven, no one could. Rancor led the mutants to safety, while the Guardians helped the humans escape to safety on Main Frame’s world.

The mutants followed Rancor as she began a quest to discover what had happened to her ancestor, Logan. In a museum near the former Shi’ar Empire, they discovered one of his broken claws on display, which Rancor took.

Doomed

The search led them then to Earth, where they again came into conflict with the Guardians. Rancor battled the new Guardian, Talon. But they were kidnapped by Doctor Doom, who forced their obedience. This caused violent resentment in Rancor, who took some time to realize she couldn’t easily kill him.

They worked for him for a while, again coming into conflict with the Guardians. At this point, Rancor used surprise to attack Doom. The battle was close at times, but ultimately the Guardians won, capturing the mutants. While it initially appeared that Rancor had won, Doom soon rose, revealing that his body had long gone.

His brain was now kept in a cyborg body which included the adamantium  skeleton he’d taken from Logan, encasing Victor von Doom’s brain. Rancor survived the fight due to the intervention of the Guardian, Yellowjacket, and escaped Guardian custody. From there she stole their med-shuttle, and freed her Lieutenants.

Inhumanity to man

Learning that the Inhumans had recently been abandoned by their dictator, Loki, they took advantage of it by enslaving them. Rancor’s crew then loaded their victims onto a spaceship they forced them to build, setting off in search of a new homeworld. They found one, naming it Haven II, where they set the Inhumans to work building for them.

Dispatched by Rancor, Sidestep met with Overkill. The job was to exchange one of Doctor Doom’s Realitee-vee nasal implants for stuff needed to frame the Guardian Charlie-27 as being the serial killer Ripjak.

While the Guardians were off their ship, Sidestep, aided by Mindscan, teleported onto it. She set it up to gas the Guardians unconscious when they returned to it. The trap worked, and the unconscious Guardians were transported to Haven II, where they were set against individual mutants.

Who guards the guardians

Sidestep was pitted against the far more powerful Aleta. While the initial element of surprise gave her a few good hits, it didn’t last long. When she tried to send Aleta to Nightmare’s dimension, the Guardian managed to pull her through too.

Too disoriented by her new surroundings, Sidestep had to ally with Aleta. This bought time until Sidestep could return them both to Haven II. The Guardians were eventually teleported away by Talon.

Unhappy at the way Rancor treated her, such as sending her against the most powerful Guardian, Sidestep begins a plot against her. She secretly provided the Guardians a clue to proving Charlie-27’s innocence, ruining Rancor’s plot against him. She remains an apparently loyal agent of Rancor, biding her time.

Personality

The least vicious of the group, Sidestep in almost likeable, except that she retains a slight arrogance and racial superiority.

Calm and cool in battle, Sidestep seems more joyful than the others.

While she appears a willing follower, she has a tough spirit that’s offended by the way Rancor sometimes treats her. While she recognises Rancor’s danger, and so is reluctant to openly face her, but works in secret to undermine her.

DC Universe History

The planet which became known as Haven was originally a prison planet for super-villains from Earth, where these unwanted were abandoned to their own devices. A number of the more powerful escaped, but the others were left. When events on Earth caused the influx of newcomers, they were completely isolated.

A society developed with the super-powered becoming the ruling class, and this continued down the centuries, even as the numbers of the powered diminished.

When they were eventually contacted by the UP, the rulers violently rebuffed offers to return to Earth, despite the normals among them wanting to leave. When the rebellion got out a request for help, the UP sent a squad of Legionnaires, who deposed Rancor and her lieutenants, the surviving members of whom escaped.

The two groups have clashed further, as Rancor has led the mutants in searching for another planet to dominate.

By Gareth Lewis.

Source of Character: Guardians of the Galaxy, Marvel Comics.