Xavier Institute / M-Day Prior to
M-Day, Nezhno Abidemi was part of
Storm's unseen squad. He retains his powers following M-Day, when the
Scarlet Witch removed the powers of most mutants on Earth, and remains at the
Xavier Institute. When the remaining students compete to join the X-Men,
Emma Frost does not allow Nezhno to participate. It is later noted that Nezhno is from
Wakanda, and he was the only student allowed to attend the wedding of Storm and the king of Wakanda, the
Black Panther.
Quest for Magik Nezhno is among the students who are listening to
Blindfold's story about
Magik,
Belasco, and
Limbo. He, with the other students are transported to Limbo. It is revealed that Nezhno's codename is Gentle and he has the ability to temporarily increase the mass of his muscles.
Messiah Complex After escaping from Limbo, Nezhno goes into a deep meditative state to calm himself and to pray about his "violence" in defense of his friends. It is revealed that his power places large amounts of strain on his body and could potentially kill him. When a
O*N*E Sentinel attacks the
Xavier Institute, Gentle pushes his powers to their limits to protect his fellow students, despite being warned against doing so by headmaster
Scott Summers. He is attacked by the Sentinel and rendered unconscious. When
Predator X attacks the Institute, Gentle and
Armor hold off the creature while
Pixie teleports them to what remains of
Muir Island. Once there, they continue their fight with Predator X.
Divided We Stand Days after the events of "
Messiah Complex", Nezhno decides to return to Wakanda. He is relieved to be free of the pestering of his former classmates, saying that they "nearly destroyed [him] with their insanity". During his return, he is ostracized by his fellow Wakandans, including his mother. His father was Russian, and therefore he is seen as an outsider. Nezhno reflects that the only people who accepted him were the New X-Men, and he regrets having pushed them away.
Worlds Apart Nezhno kills a Wakandan priest and is then placed in jail; however, Storm does not believe he is responsible until she is shown security footage. Storm notices Nezhno acting out of character when he winks at the camera. She asks him to wink for her, but he does not know how to do so. Storm has Nezhno freed, declaring him innocent. Later the Black Panther orders his execution and winks at Storm. It is revealed
Shadow King has possessed Nezhno and framed him. After the Shadow King is defeated, Nezhno returns to the United States.
Manifest Destiny and Utopia After
Norman Osborn declares martial law on San Francisco and the X-Men fight the
Dark Avengers, Cyclops moves the mutants to Utopia, an artificial island off the coast of San Francisco. After a rogue Sentinel attacks Utopia, Gentle sides with Wolverine and moves to
Westchester to enroll in the newly established Jean Grey School.
X-Men: Red Team After
Jean Grey is resurrected, Gentle joins her newly created
Red Team, along with Storm,
Namor, and
Trinary. During the arc
The Long Shadow, Black Panther visits a terraformed Mars to talk to his ex-wife Storm. A secret meeting between T'Challa and Gentle reveals that Gentle had been part of a Wakandan
sleeper agent program. == Powers and abilities ==