Bullied due to his fish-like appearance, the young mutant named Sammy was intent on exacting revenge by shooting them. However, a meeting with Professor Charles Xavier, the telepathic founder of the Xavier Institute For Higher Learning and the team of superhuman mutant adventurers known as the X-Men, changed Sammy's outlook on life, and he was enrolled as a student at the school.

Enroute to the Institute, Xavier found himself unable to contact the X-Men. On investigating, he found them assisting the Juggernaut in battle against their old nemesis - and Juggernaut's former partner in crime - Black Tom Cassidy. Sammy dove into the ocean and saved Juggernaut's life, forging a bond of friendship between the two.

Recently, the team of super-powered Canadian operatives known as Alpha Flight was charged with retrieving all the young mutants residing at the Xavier Institute, as the Attorney General's office, the Governor of Connecticut, and the Canadian government had deemed the Institute unsafe for children to inhabit. This led to a clash with the X-Men, which was quickly halted after Sammy agreed to accompany the Canadian heroes back to Canada.

There, Sammy's father continued to beat him until Juggernaut came to visit. Juggernaut attacked Sammy's father and was subsequently arrested by Alpha Flight. Nevertheless, Sammy's mother left her husband and Sammy returned to the Institute, where he became roommates with Jay Guthrie. One night, Sammy went looking for Juggernaut in the nearby woods and saw him conversing with Black Tom and the Brotherhood. Unaware that Juggernaut was acting as a spy for the X-Men in the Brotherhood's ranks, Sammy confronted him and was killed by Black Tom.