Dazzler
# 1: " Comeback"
Written By: Pat Donovan
Editor: Brian Provow

In a New York City alleyway, a light appears from nowhere, its intensity increases until the light expands. A teleportation portal is what it is, and someone is just now being transported here by that very thing.

A woman gracefully steps from the portal, in her possession only one duffle bag and the clothes on her back. The woman stands in the vicinity of five and a half feet tall, wavy, strawberry blonde hair flowing down to her shoulders. A vinyl white trenchcoat covers her body, beneath it an extravagant, sky blue costume she's obtained for quite a time, with different alterations.

Known to most, only as the Dazzler, a name picked up due to her light-transducing mutant ability, Alison Blaire has lived an exciting life. From disco-star to queen of another dimension, she's been through it at all, of course, heartbreak and emotional pain are included as well. That heartbreak being the very reason Dazzler returns to her home, Earth.

The portal minimizes with just a slight sound, as Dazzler heads out from the alley. "Home sweet, home," she thinks sarcastically as she emerges from the alley to find herself amongst a sidewalk flooding with people. Busses and cars drive by at immense speed, as smog spouts from their engine systems.

Now, Dazzler, having with her little money or any clue as to where her estranged lover, Longshot, may be, she must find him. Longshot left not too long ago, heading off for another of his adventures* [[*See the LONGSHOT SPECIAL and THUNDERBOLTS #13 -Pat]], but from what systems and scanners on Mojoworld had found was that he was back on Earth. She had waited awhile to find him, thinking he was working with the X-Men or another of their Earth-based allies and would call for her soon. She was wrong.

"Now what're you gonna do with yourself? You're here on Earth. Home. But with no way of doing anything. This is New York. Warren's [[*Angel of the X-MEN -Pat]] place is around here somewhere. Maybe I can get some help from him," thinks Allison as she infiltrates the sea of people on the sidewalks, walking along.

After a few minutes of walking, Dazzler is growing tired. The distance to the Angel's loft was much farther than it had seemed. With quite a distance still ahead of her, she longs for some way of transportation, specifically the roller-skates often used by Alison in the past. As Alison walks the streets, she barely has enough room to turn her head and find a dog charge into the street, a little girl following close behind, screaming, "FIDO!"

All traffic stands little chance of not hitting the girl unless Alison can do something. Dazzler strikes into action, putting a plan in her mind, as she quickly lowers the trenchcoat, revealing a skintight costume. It is the color of the sky, with a dazzle-burst ensignia on its chest, baring her mid-drift and shoulders, with gloves to match. A rush is the first feeling that hits Alison as the people walking beside and around her move back. "Mutie! Tramp! Freak! Whore!" both mutter and scream the crowd as she bursts from within them, and onto the street, a glow of light emanating from her and alerting the oncoming traffic of her presence indefinitely.

Alison quickly assesses the situation, noticing most of the traffic has stopped with the exception of only one vehicle, a large bus. The old, decrepit driver can barely see the cars and traffic lights nevermind a small child or a dog. Alison steps into action as she creates a powerful photon blast from both her hands, hitting right in front of the girl, who now held poor Fido in her arms tightly. The roadway moves and erodes, making a gash of space for the bus to be alerted with or stopped with if this next attempt didn't work.

Alison turns her attention to the half-aware driver as she emits from her fingertip a small, nearly powerless ray of light, aimed to precisely hit the rearview mirror in an angle that would hit the face of the driver directly. Dazzler is successful as the driver, startled by the light, sees the girl and stops the bus. Coming to a halting stop, the bus stops short of the gap forged by the work of the Dazzler.

The crowd has been changed slightly, as criticism and hatred turn to praise and cheer. "That! That's her! I don't believe it! After all this time, it's The DAZZLER!" screamed one man, as a small smile was brought to the face of the mutant heroine. "I could get used to this again, but of course I know this'll come with a price. Media coverage and probably some drunk off his can slob calling me a Mutie freak. Wouldn't be surprised if it was the kid's dad, either," Dazzler, thinks to herself with a slight sigh, as she heads back on her way, hoping to avoid both media coverage and ranting bigotry.

****

It is late.

Alison wanders still, having found no one at all home at the apartment of Warren Worthington III. The money she obtains with her now is bare to none after failing to retrieve money from an ATM. "Only one place to go that'll let ya do what you do best," repeated Alison over and over in her head. "I hope at least," thought the Dazzler, as she walked up the stairs of a run-down building.

She swings the backdoor upon, to find herself in the midst of a party of light, dancing, and marvelous sound. The interior of the building has changed greatly since she first step foot here. The club where Alison first got her start, was by far not what it used to be. The lights glow brighter now, as the crowds have increased by the masses. Techno music and bright strobe lights greet Alison as she walks towards a man, who seems to be the operator of the club, decked out in a suit. "What can I do for ya---Hey! You. I know you. You're... the Dazzler. You started out here. Man OH MAN. When I took over ownership of this club, I never dreamed you'd be here," speaks the man, putting his arm around Alison and leading her to a wall, clad with pictures, newspaper articles, and magazines covers of herself.

"Seems you know your stuff about me," smiled Alison, getting a chance to put in a word. "Listen, I'm low on cash. Need some so I can get resettled. I've been a bit of things lately. That's another story, though. So, how's about you let the Dazzler shine on that stage of yers?" questioned Allison, as she gave the owner a luring gaze, brushing back her hair and lighting her face with a devilish grin.

So, with an excited reply from the owner and some preparation, the lights lower, bringing the music and noise to a halt. The crowd's attention turns now to the curtain, as behind it a glow begins to show itself. Its intensity is nil to none at first, until the music chimes in. It starts out slow, gathering itself, the light and music synchronized, until the curtain then opens, bringing with it the Dazzler reborn.

Clad in her shimmering original show outfit, which was on display, she sparkles completely, from head to toe. At first, she gives a smile, then begins to start slowly into a song with a whole new meaning to Alison. A song which completely encompasses her life at this moment. "I Will Survive," is the selection is sings with as much energy and enthusiasm she can, with waves of light, every color of the spectrum flowing at the crowd. The response the crowd is give is cheer, dance, and astonishment at the voice of this woman.

Following the song, Alison feels ecstatic, like she never has before. The response of the crowd filled her heart with joy, almost more joy than that first night the Dazzler made her debut on this very stage. It was hard from holding back tears, but Alison moved on, light formations of bright, glowing colors awakening the eyes of the audience, as Dazzler continues her act. Dazzler sings and dances into the night, following up her initial performance with a mix of old and new hits covers. It was hard to keep up with recent things on Earth while on Mojoworld, but being the queen of the dimension helped. Alison reluctantly closed the set with another song with emotional meaning at this point in her life, "Strong Enough."

****

The night has ended, and now Alison is left with quite a bit of cash. Enough for a hotel, a plane ticket to Los Angeles, where in hopes Alison will still find her home, and with some more cash still on the side. It is near morning, but that doesn't phase Alison much, she feels vibrant and alive like never before. "I'll hit a hotel till tomorrow, just stay for alil while. Then maybe swing by the mansion. That's about it. Then I need to get to LA. Figure out how I'm doin' financially. See if I can't get a step into restarting my career, as a singer or as a super-hero," thinks Alison to herself, only a duffle bag on her, as her current costume shows itself in the wee hours of the morning.

****

Alison awakes from a long sleep, finding herself in her hotel room. She's dressed in a long T-shirt and quite short baby blue shorts. "So tired from the light-show I put on last night. I'll adjust though. It's been awhile since I've been using my powers this much," thinks Dazzler, groggily awaking from her bed. As she begins to clear her eyes, she hears a thump against the door. "UGH! WHO could THAT be?" she weighs in her mind, walking to the door, and looking out the peep hole, finding nothing though. Alison opens the door, possibly to find some troublesome kids, but instead finds a Daily Bugle at her doorstep.

"To think I thought all New Yorkers were bad. They even give us the paper here," thinks Alison, bringing a smile to her face. She breaths in some fresh air, well as fresh as it can in New York, and looks to find a dingy parking lot, amongst the tacky hotel. "On second thought, the sooner I get outta here and get my financial stuff straight, the BETTER!"

Dazzler then unravels the paper to find news regarding a battle of the Avengers* [[*AVENGERS #403-405 -Pat]], then something about a tussle between Sentinels and renegade mutants* [[*UNCANNY X-MEN #352 -Pat again]], a picturing revealing half of those renegades to be Rogue and Iceman. "The world still hates the X-Men, I see, and so does this fun-lovin' Sentinels, although they're bigger now," comments Dazzler in her mind, then finding an article on herself on page 4. "Mutant Songsters returns, saving child from bus," softly speaks Alison aloud, reading the headlines to herself, smiling, but frowning, finding no picture to go with the article. The pages turn again, as Dazzler browses through, coming to a stop at another page. "Oh ... no... Moira... dead?"* [[*EXCALIBUR #114- still Pat:)] questions Dazzler, to herself, with the door still open, as she begins to take the news in, reading the article.

Dazzler's attention is turned away from the horrible news, as a boy tried to control his dog, who was barking quite a bit, as then all on the streets turn their attention upward. Dazzler follows suit, but gasps at the sight. Approaching her are two horrific creatures, ones which strike fear into all mutants.

[MAIN OBJECTIVE CALLS FOR APPREHENSION OR ELIMINATION OF ALL MUTANTS.]

[MUTANT DESIGNATE: DAZZLER. ALISON BLAIRE. HALT OR BE TERMINATED.]

Dazzler bites her lip, as two of the sentinels seen in the paper fighting two of her former teammates, lower towards her. Dazzler is left with a choice. Fight or surrender? The choice seems obvious, as in Allison's hand, a large sphere of light gathers. "Eliminate this!" she declares, as then Dazzler raised her hand to one of the Prime-Sentinels, a blast of photons hitting him hard.

[MUTANT DESIGNATE: DAZZLER, ALISON BLAIRE, ATTEMPTS TO AVOID CAPTURE. PROCEED WITH EXTREME FORCE.]

Dazzler shrugs the voices off, as she joins her hands in the form of a gun, light intensifying, until the other Sentinel then raises its palm towards Dazzler, as a blast of energy expels itself, hitting Dazzler hard. The blast is too much to handle on her feet, as Dazzler now goes flying back into her hotel room. Alison hits the back wall, having flew through the air, then falling to the floor. She raises her hand to her head, soothing a bump, as she looks up to find the two Prime-Sentinels standing over. "This doesn't look good...."

NEXT ISSUE: How will Dazzler free herself of these dag-nab Prime-Sentinels? Why are they after her? And you'll never guess who's gonna come to Dazz's aid. Plus MORE ;O