Skids (comics)
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Skids (Sally Blevins) is a Marvel Comics mutant. Created by writer Louise Simonson and artist Jackson Guice, she first appeared in X-Factor vol. 1 #7 (August 1986).
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[edit] Character history
Little has been revealed of Sally Blevins' past. It is known that her power first manifested itself after she was abused by her stepfather. The current status of Skids' parents is unknown. She ended up a runaway, living on the streets (or rather under them) with the Morlocks, a group of homeless mutants. Most Morlocks voluntarily (or, in some cases, involuntarily) took on inhuman appearances at the hands of the Morlock facial sculptor, Masque. Sally's force field protected her from Masque's power, allowing her to maintain her normal appearance. At one point, Skids encountered Rusty Collins, who was being pursued by the Freedom Force (government-chartered mutant enforcers composed of former members of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants) and a mob of mutant-hating humans. Rusty had accidentally injured a woman with his pyrokinetic powers and was wanted by the U.S Government. Skids' force field allowed the two to easily escape, but were eventually overtaken by the Freedom Force on the edge of Central Park.
Before the evil mutants could take them in, a mob of humans attacked the Freedom Force. In the confusion, Skids and Rusty escaped. Skids tried to get Rusty to the safety of the underground home of the Morlocks, but the Freedom Force caught up with them again, this time in the sewers beneath New York. The Force member Blob was pounding Rusty into the sewer wall when the mutant hero team X-Factor arrived. After a brief skirmish, Freedom Force retreated. With X-Factor's mentorship, Skids and Rusty began to learn more about their powers, and were the first of several X-Factor trainees. They shared other adventures alongside the rest of X-Factor's trainees, at one point calling themselves the X-Terminators.
During the Inferno storyline, the X-Terminators teamed up with the New Mutants to help rescue mutant babies from N'astirh, who was using them to help keep open a portal to Limbo. At the conclusion of Inferno, Skids joined the New Mutants, along with Rusty, Rictor and Boom Boom. Skids and Rusty, however, learned instead that Freedom Force were taking mutant infants that were abducting during the demonic invasion into government custody. They tried to save the children but were imprisoned. The other New Mutants were unable to rescue their friends due to their concurrent adventures. Due to a fight with Nitro and Vulture, Rusty was brought back into the sights of Freedom Force. While attempting to escape, he was severely injured by the Blob. While recovering in the hospital, he and Skids were contacted by members of the Mutant Liberation Front. With soldiers opening fire on them, they felt there was no other choice than to join them.
Shortly thereafter, Rusty and Skids were brainwashed by Stryfe into following him blindly. Due to this, Rusty and Skids had no qualms about attacking former teammate Cannonball during the X-Cutioner's Song storyline. At the end of this story, the Mutant Liberation Front were turned into the authorities.
Shortly after, Rusty and Skids were kidnapped by the Friends of Humanity. While being transported, X-Force (the team created by the former members of the New Mutants), rescued them. Arriving back at their base, X-Force was soon confronted by Exodus. He was inviting original New Mutants Cannonball and Sunspot to Avalon, a "safe haven" for selected mutants. Cannonball refused to go unless all former New Mutants present (Boom Boom, Rictor, Rusty and Skids) were invited also. While Exodus complained that Rusty and Skids were "damaged" due to their brainwashing, he finally acquiesced.
Upon arriving at Avalon, the mutants were taken to "the Savior" (in reality Magneto), who used his powers to undo the brainwashing done to Rusty and Skids. When X-Force arrived to save their friends, Rusty and Skids decided they would stay with Magneto, feeling that they owed him. With thus being done, they joined the Acolytes.
Shortly after the Age of Apocalypse storyline, a mutant body (Holocaust) was discovered floating in space near Avalon. It was brought on board. While on guard duty watching over the thought-to-be frozen body, Rusty's life force was drained by Holocaust, killing him. Holocaust then destroyed the Avalon space station leaving Skids stranded on a piece of debris plummeting away from the station, struggling to maintain her force field. Skids was rescued by Jean Grey and taken to the X-Men's mansion for medical attention. Upon recuperation, Skids left the mansion without being noticed.
Skids had become a college student, studying biological sciences. She was contacted by her friends of the New Mutants who had long since become members of the team X-Force, but they were all attacked by the villain Reignfire, who was then leading an incarnation of the Mutant Liberation Front. During the adventure, Skids' force field disrupted the teleportation abilities of MLF member Locus, causing both of them to be caught in a trans-spatial backlash which deposited them in the Balkan country of Latveria. Skids and Locus were then captured by an age-old sorceress named Pandemonia, the self-styled Queen of Chaos, who sought to recruit mutants into her own personal army. With the assistance of the young sorceress Jennifer Kale, X-Force managed to defeat Pandemonia and rescue their ally.
After the events of M-Day, she was among the remaining mutants who took refuge at the Xavier Institute. It was revealed that she, Outlaw and Magma are tent "roommates".
Skids was also one of the few mutants to willingly follow Apocalypse after the 198 members were stricken with hunger by the Horseman Famine.
[edit] Powers and abilities
Sally Blevins has a personal protective deflection field that provides nearly total protection from all attacks. Her force field disperses energy assaults, reflects kinetic impact off itself, and even negates friction, making it impossible for anyone to hold on to her. Therefore, Skids cannot be grabbed or entangled and can move at moderate speeds by "skating" the surface of her force field across the ground. If Skids concentrates, she can extend her force field to protect others in her immediate area.
[edit] Appearances in Other Media
Skids made an appearance on the X-Men animated series in the episode, "No Mutant is an Island." In the episode, Cyclops, still in mourning after Jean Grey's "death", quits the X-Men and returns to his orphanage home and encounters his friend Sarah. She tells him that a wealthy man (Zebediah Kilgrave, the Purple Man) has decided to adopt all the mutant children, but his intentions are to make them into his personal strikeforce to attack humans. Skids is featured as one of the orphan mutants alongside Rusty, Boom Boom and Wiz Kid.
