Real Names: Sophie, Esme, Mindee, Celeste and Phoebe (last name unknown)With their no-nonsense attitude, powers and natural intelligence, the girls quickly became star pupils, equaled only by Quentin Quire, whom they basically reviled as a gross geek. However, they proved their mettle when the U-Men attacked (though their powers were ineffective) against the bio-enhanced warriors. Afterwards, Esme started going out with a fellow student, Kato, and the others were miffed, and felt something was wrong. Their fears were soon borne out as Kato revealed himself to be the Imperial Guardsman Stuff, a shape-shifter. When the Shi'ar subsequently invaded the school under the control of Cassandra Nova, the girls collectively possessed Oracle and re-programmed Stuff. They and Angel IV came up with a plan, freed Emma from the telepathy-blocking helmet the Shi'ar put her in, then helped come up with the plan that trapped Cassandra in Stuff's body.
Later, the girls were involved with the Open Day plans, as Quentin tried to attract Sophie, who rejected him. Interestingly, Glob Herman could only see four of the five girls, and it's unclear whose genetic makeup (his or theirs) caused that lapse. By this time, the girls were all uneasy around Quire, but Emma and Professor X didn't take their fears seriously, leading to "Kid Omega" and his gang starting a riot on Open Day. Sophie prompted the other girls to join her in Cerebra, and with the help of a dose of Kick, she was able to boost the others' powers, allowing them to blast through the wall and send a force wave to stop Quire, also high on Kick, before he could kill the Professor. Unfortunately, the effort killed Sophie, and she was buried in the Institute's cemetery. The girls earned a special award at that year's prize-giving ceremonies for their heroism.
However, Sophie's death soured the relationship between Emma and the girls, and the girls announced their intentions to leave Xavier's to study with Madame LaFarge in Switzerland, and they refused to erect a memorial to Sophie, feeling it would only inspire more kids to fruitless self-sacrifice. Furthermore, they telepathically alerted Jean Grey to Cyclops's and Emma's virtual affair, leading to the X-women's showdown. When Emma was found shattered to bits, Bishop and Sage discovered that Esme of used Angel to shoot Emma, which was part of a larger plot stemming from Esme using Kick to overpower her sisters, even putting Sophie on a path towards self-sacrifice when she resisted the takeover. However, Xorn (Magneto IV) was influencing Esme to do all of these things, which she did in the hopes of becoming his paramour. Esme stopped Bishop and Sage with her telepathy, then escaped in a limousine service.
When Xorn revealed his true nature and took over Manhattan, Esme was with him, hoping to increase her status by becoming his consort. She had changed her look to punk-goth to differentiate herself from her sisters, and led the effort to kill the humans in the city, brandishing a whip in a completely over-the-top move. The other kids from the special class taunted her, and even Magneto eventually rejected both her advice and her advances, as Kick had made both of them unstable.
Meanwhile the other Cuckoos had dissociated themselves from Esme and were functioning as a triad aboard E.V.A. (Fantomex's ship/nervous system, saving Beak from being killed in Mutant Town, and helping to control the crowds on the streets.
Esme attacked Magneto IV for delaying the executions and for rejecting her, giving him the telepathic equivalent of Alzheimer's but she was killed with her own metal earring by the faux Master of Magnetism.
Following Jean's funeral, the three remaining Stepfords were holed up in the Salem Center X-Corp office when the townspeople rioted against mutants, and they had to save Emma when she was hit by a rock and sustained a concussion. They still maintained their desire to leave Emma's tutelage, however, when the Institute was re-organized with Cyclops and Emma Frost as co-headmasters, they apparently decided to stay, and were members of Cyclops's Corsairs Squad.
Shortly afterwards, the Phoenix Force's return awakened Quentin Quire, who partially resurrected Sophie to be his girlfriend, and Sophie was completely returned to life when Quire accessed the Phoenix. However, Sophie was so disgusted by Quire and his actions that she willed herself to die again. The remaining Cuckoos stayed out of the incident, but one was contacted by the Phoenix Force later that night...
In addition, Mindee took action on her own during the Brotherhood's attack on the Mansion, serving as Gambit's eyes (he was temporarily blinded) and then wiping Mammomax's mind before he was sucked into Xorn II's black hole of a head. Shortly thereafter, the girls accompanied Hellion to the school dance as his dates, and then used their abilities to fight off the Blob.
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