Origin
Fleeing Korea, Chance’s family arrived in America as desperate illegal immigrants. Upon their arrival, they were introduced to Reverend Yune Kim Park’s Glorification Church, which was a glorified front for cheap slave labor. Promising to make them American citizens, he forced Chance to work on the streets of New York selling calendars of naked Asian girls to passers by. She grew tired of the Reverend claiming all the money that she and her family earned. She was also angry at her parents for their refusal to leave the Glorification Church. So she ran away.
Creation
Chance was created by Mary Jo Duffy, Joe Staton and Kerry Gammil and first appeared in Fallen Angels issue 1 (1978).
Major Story Arcs
Fallen Angels
On the run and on the streets, Chance was found by by the X-Men‘s former foe, the Vanisher. He took her to the Beat Street Club where she joined his group of Fallen Angels, an all-girl group of young thieves and pick-pockets. There she met Ariel, and the two became fast friends. Ariel confided in Chance that she was really a teleporting alien from a world that had reached the pinnacle of evolution. Thus, she had come to New York (a city populated with many super heroes and mutants) to gather evolved lifeforms and take them back to Coconut Grove (the galaxy she hailed from) where they could be studied. Together they would recruit various teenage runaways with mutant abilities or other skills, while ridding the group of any regular human members.
Sunspot
One night as Chance strolled around the streets looking for pockets to pick, another young teenager mistook her for a boy and tried to sell her the same Nude Asian Girls calendar that Chance had sold so many of in the past. She put 2 and 2 together and realized that this teenager was working for Reverend Yune Kim Park. She flipped out, destroyed the calendars, and stole the kid’s money. However, a couple of street thugs nearby saw what had happened and demanded that she hand over the money. Chance was ready for a fight until she saw that they had knives. Being defenseless, she ran away, but was soon cornered in a nearby alley. Unexpectedly, a young Brazilian man ran to her defense. He turned pitch black and fought the thugs with his mutant super strength. It was Sunspot, who had run away from the New Mutants. However in the midst of the battle, his mutant powers mysteriously disappeared. Just then, Ariel teleported into a nearby doorway and Chance ran away with her alien friend. However, they fled using Ariel’s powers, abandoning Sunspot to his fate.
The next morning, the Fallen Angels scoured the city for signs of Sunspot. Not only did they find Sunspot, but they also took in Warlock, Siryn, & Multiple Man who had been searching for their seemingly depowered teammate. These 3 were added alongside Gomi the telekinetic cyborg and his cyborg lobster friends Bill & Dom (the latter of whom was considered to be a mutant because of his unusual blue coloring). The Angels also brought Boom-Boom back to the group, and later found Devil Dinosaur with Moon Boy (both evolved from their own species thus classifying them as mutants) on a jungle-forest planet.
Chance had been surprised by Sunspot’s chivalry, but he was angry that the girls had abandoned him while he was powerless. His relationship with Chance was continually strained, for whenever Chance found herself feeling sympathetic toward him, she left herself open to Ariel’s teasing. So Chance, being the fiercely independent tom-boy she was, would snap back and play practical jokes on Sunspot, often verbally deriding him in front of the others. Since Moon Boy saw Sunspot as a friend, he would often attempt to speak to him. Chance would mock Moon Boy’s attempts to be friendly, claiming that it was a new budding relationship. Sunspot would then retaliate claiming he would prefer the company of a loyal friend to hers. Their relationship continued as an awkward mixture of curious attraction and polar opposites.
Emerging Powers & The Coconut Grove
Once the team had been fully assembled, more conflicts and rivalry arose. Boom-Boom’s reckless behavior was a constant source of trouble. A prime example of this was when she caused a tremendous explosion near the Beat Street Club. Of course, Boom-Boom claimed she didn’t mean for it to be so dangerous. Then, Chance threatened to cut Boom-Boom with her knife, when Siryn’s sonic powers accidentally caused the blade to shatter. Another instance was when Boom-Boom’s time-bomb failed to detonate. Arguing over the incident escalated out of control and Warlock began chasing her around the club in a murderous rage.
Multiple Man, who had been carrying a portable version of Cerebro in order to locate Sunspot, claimed that he was picking up new mutant readings during the times that Sunspot;s powers fluctuated. However, he could not deduce whether the mutant was Chance or Ariel. Chance was often outraged at the accusation claiming that she did not need mutant powers (proud to be a regular human being). Ariel on the other hand would convince the others that she could not possibly be a mutant, later revealing that she was a member of a race of beings who couldn’t evolve any further.
Chance and Ariel eventually decided that it was time to relocate the Fallen Angels. Using Ariel’s teleportation-based alien powers, they took the team across the universe to the Coconut Grove. In Ariel’s home galaxy, the Fallen Angels were treated like VIP guests. As per the local custom, they were all given a complete make-over with bright outfits that made them look like 1980’s rock stars. However, one member of the team was not comfortable with the attention or the make-over. Losing her usually calm and sarcastic demeanor, Chance screamed like a damsel in distress. Sunspot ran to save her, not knowing what all the raucous was about. Startled, and covered in glitter, Chance pulled herself off the floor; humiliated. Sunspot had discovered her weak point, that underneath the tough persona was just a little girl who was scared to show off her feminine side. To teach him a lesson, she convinced Boom-Boom to drop a time-bomb down the back of his pants, causing him to expose his bare buttocks to everyone.
Betrayal
Later, when the group gathered together, Multiple Man realized that the portable Cerebro was picking up mutant signatures from both Ariel and Chance, and that when all of their mutant powers had abandoned them, it only registered signatures from Chance. Unbeknownst to the team, they had been overheard by the Coconut Grove’s guards. When they attacked the Fallen Angels, all of them were suddenly depowered again, leaving them unable to defend themselves. Unipar ordered the guards to take Chance as well. Ariel attempted to dissuade him, but failed. Their plan for all the young mutants had been exposed, but instead of betraying their teammates, Ariel & Chance were kidnapped too.
They were locked in a cell that dampened their powers, and among the heated conversation it was revealed that Chance’s mutant abilities reflected those of her outlook on life; double or nothing. While her powers were developing, she had (unwittingly) either boosted the powers levels of the others to double, or removed them completely.
Resolution
It was difficult for the others to reconcile with Chance and Ariel, but after Bill arrived to free them from their prison, the young team banded together to ensure that no one would pursue them ever again. During their fight for freedom. Boom-Boom encouraged Chance to focus on her powers, enhancing everyone else’s powers doubly. She soon came to grips with her new abilities and boosted Ariel’s mutant power to sweet talk others into doing what she wanted.
The combined forces of Ariel’s sweet talk and Devil Dinosaur’s raw savage violence were enough to persuade Unipar and the Coconut Grove’s forces to leave the Fallen Angels and all mutantkind alone. They returned home and the majority of the team members went their separate ways. Sunspot and Chance finally formed a firm friendship, and Chance stayed with the few remaining Fallen Angels who had no where else to go.
Chance has not appeared since the Fallen Angels officially disbanded. Therefore it is unknown whether she still retained her mutant powers Post-Decimation. Given the high percentage of mutants who lost their powers, it is most likely that she has become a normal human being, which she once so firmly insisted she was.
Personality
Chance is an unrepentant tom-boy. Her appearance reflects her personality. She normally wears a leather jacket with tight jeans (often being mistaken for a boy). She is aggressive and wields a pocket switchblade.
After living on the streets for so long she is always ready for a fight without having to rely on anyone else. Therefore she struggles to accept her softer side, including her attraction to Sunspot.
Her mottos to live by are, “What’s life without a little chance?”, and “Double or nothing.”
Powers
Reflecting her motto of “Double or nothing”, Chance’s mutant powers affect the powers of mutants in the surrounding area by either boosting them to twice their intended capacity, or completely removing them.
Double
When she increases the powers of other mutants, their skills can become uncontrollable.
Even someone like the Vanisher who (as an adult) had full control over his teleportation power found that he would unexpectedly disappear without intending to; something he had not done since he was a young teen. Other examples included Siryn’s sonic scream shattering the metal in a knife’s blade instead of simply knocking it out of Chance’s hand, and Sunspot becoming strong enough to knock a dinosaur unconscious.
Nothing
In a complete reversal of her ability to boost powers, Chance (like Leech) can completely remove any mutant abilities on a temporary basis. This effects any mutant in the surrounding area.
She has previously disabled one of Boom-Boom’s time-bombs during the ‘countdown’ period after it had been created. Once the negating effects of Chance’s power subsided the bomb finally exploded.
The power to negate mutations has an affect on alien mutants as well. Occasionally Ariel found that her persuasive sweet talking would fail, and she couldn’t convince others to do what she wanted. An even more extreme example affected Warlock. As a non-mutant Technarch, Warlock should have been a murderous and hateful creature like his father, Magus. However, his mutation meant that he was able to love and appreciate other lifeforms. But when Chance’s power cancelled out his mutation, Warlock was easily angered and chased Boom-Boom around the Beat Street Club trying to kill her.
Potential
It is not known whether Chance further trained her control over her powers. As she began to understand them, she could switch between Double or Nothing at will. It is possible that with further practice she could have targeted specific individuals instead of affecting a whole surrounding area. As she has not appeared since the Fallen Angels’ intergalactic adventure, it is unknown how much control she gained over her powers.